‘Mrs. Doubtfire’ to close on Broadway

The musical returned from a hiatus in April.

Mrs. Doubtfire is on the way out, dear. The musical, which reopened on April 14 after a hiatus, is set to close at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre on May 29.

Mrs. Doubtfire, an adaptation of the 1993 Robin Williams film of the same name, had its world premiere in Seattle in 2019. The musical played its first three performances in March 2020 before the industry shutdown, resuming performances on October 21, 2021 and opening on December 5.

On January 2, the show's producers announced that Mrs. Doubtfire would go on hiatus for nine weeks, from January 10 to March 14, "to keep the virus from prematurely ending our run on Broadway," said producer Kevin McCollum. That announcement came after multiple shows, including Mrs. Doubtfire, were forced to cancel some December performances due to Covid-19 cases in their companies, and multiple others closed prematurely.

"By taking this break we can afford to launch an extended run starting in March," McCollum said at the time. The hiatus was later extended to April 14, when the show reopened with most of the previous cast.

"Even though New York City is getting stronger every day and ticket sales are slowly improving, theatre-going tourists and, especially for our show, family audiences have not returned as soon as we anticipated," McCollum said in a May 12 statement about the permanent closure.

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Mrs. Doubtfire stars Rob McClure in the dual role of Daniel Hillard and Mrs. Doubtfire. (For his performance, McClure received the musical's sole 2022 Tony Award nomination.) Daniel is an out-of-work actor and father who has divorced from his wife. Desperate to see his children, Daniel adopts the disguise of Mrs. Doubtfire, an elderly British woman, and gets hired as the children's nanny.

The New York Theatre Guide review praised McClure's performance, reading, "The always nimble McClure (Chaplin) gamely throws himself into the nutty nanny's antics and brrr-ing brogue. He's arguably the hardest-working actor on Broadway right now as he channels Williams and ping-pongs madly between Mrs. D and Daniel, whose masquerade makes him a better man."

At the time of closing, the Mrs. Doubtfire cast also included Jenn Gambatese as Miranda Hillard, Analise Scarpaci as Lydia Hillard, Titus Landegger and Tyler Wladis as Christopher Hillard, Austin Elle Fisher and Ava Gail Prince as Natalie Hillard, Brad Oscar as Frank Hillard, Peter Bartlett as Mr. Jolly, Charity Angél Dawson as Wanda Sellner, Mark Evans as Stuart Dunmire, and J. Harrison Ghee as Andre Mayem.

John O'Farrell and Karey Kirkpatrick adapted the film's script for the stage, with Karey and Wayne Kirkpatrick providing original music and lyrics. Direction was by Jerry Zaks and choreography by Lorin Latarro.

Mrs. Doubtfire will release a cast album in June. The show will then play a limited engagement in England this summer and launch a U.S. national tour in October 2023.

Get Mrs. Doubtfire tickets on New York Theatre Guide.

^{Photo credit: Rob McClure in Mrs Doubtfire (Photo courtesy of production)}