COMMENTARY
By SHARON EBERSON
When I see the words “Starring Rob McClure,” I think, “I’m all in.”
So tonight, when he and wife Maggie Lakis take the Benedum Center stage in the musical comedy Mrs. Doubtfire, I’ll be there.
I have a soft spot for McClure, and not just because he’s a multitalented two-time Tony Award nominee (for Chaplin and the show in Pittsburgh through December 2), but also, I picture him behind the wheel, driving through a snowstorm to get from New York to Pittsburgh, just to make it in time for a Trust Cabaret gig in 2016.
in the touring company of Mrs. Doubtfire. (Image: Joan Marcus)
Or maybe it’s because during an epic dump of snow earlier that same year, he was the star who stuck around to help entertain stranded attendees like me at the first-ever BroadwayCon in New York.
I’d like to think it’s because as a performer, he never disappoints.
Mrs. Doubtfire is the kind of challenge you’d expect of someone who also has channeled Charlie Chaplin on Broadway. The show is by the creators of Tony-nominee Something Rotten!, which McClure starred in – also alongside Lakis – during that show’s 2017 national tour.
McClure also was one of the best things (although underused, I thought) about Beetlejuice when I saw its pre-Broadway run in Washington D.C. He left that Broadway show to take on Mrs. Doubtfire and gave a little preview, with the children in the cast, at BroadwayCon in January 2020 – and we all know what happened to shows due to open in March of that year.
Stepping into the wig and dress of Mrs. Doubtfire, the dad in nanny drag role forever associated with Robin Williams, was put on hold.
The musical’s Broadway opening was long delayed by the COVID shutdown, opened for a time, closed again due to the Omicron outbreak, reopened, and closed again.
Critics were not particularly kind to attempts to make a story that was somewhat cringy, even when the movie opened in 1993, more family friendly. The original depicted Williams as a childish but devoted divorced dad in disguise, trying to be close to his children and sabotage his ex-wife’s new relationship.
However, of McClure, The New York Times’ Maya Phillips wrote, he “steps into Mrs. Doubtfire’s sensible shoes [and is] vivacious on the stage, and his impressions, including a hilarious tongue-wagging Gollum, are precious.”
Writing in New York Magazine, Helen Shaw highlighted the differences between McClure and the antic brilliance of Williams:
(Image: Joan Marcus)
“McClure has a … more glancing touch, though deft as a diamond cutter. (I spent the shutdown watching his “conductor cam” videos, which demonstrate how much humor one man can milk from just exasperation and a tuxedo jacket.) He’s lovable and quick, a spinning top who isn’t afraid to seem like an out-and-out pill before his Doubtfirean redemption.”
The tour stop in October at the National Theatre inspired Maryland Theatre Guide to report, “McClure’s Doubtfire is zany, snarky when necessary, especially with Miranda’s new love interest Stuart, an appropriately buff Leo Roberts. He is all over the stage with excitement in contrast to the more reserved Miranda, played by McClure’s real-life wife, Maggie Lakis. This is a great showcase for McClure.”
The show boasts a book by Karey Kirkpatrick and John O’Farrell, music and lyrics by Wayne and Karey Kirkpatrick, direction by four-time Tony-winner Jerry Zaks, scenic design by David Korins (Hamilton), choreography by Lorin Latarro (Waitress), and music supervision by Ethan Popp (Tina: The Tina Turner Musical).
But honestly, you had me at, “Starring Rob McClure.”
TICKETS AND DETAILS
PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust present “Mrs. Doubtfire: The New Musical Comedy” tour through December 3 at the Benedum Center, Downtown. Tickets: visit https://trustarts.org/production/86815 or call 412-456-4800.
Categories: Arts and Ideas, Feature Stories, Preview, Show Previews
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