Perhaps as early as the middle of the first act of the touring musical version of “Mrs. Doubtfire” — which is early on in its run at Cleveland’s Playhouse Square as part of the KeyBank Broadway series — you’ll find yourself looking forward to taking part in a standing ovation for star Rob McClure.
No one can make you forget about the late, great Robin Williams, who in the 1993 movie “Mrs. Doubtfire” portrays Daniel Hillard, a struggling voice actor who, after a divorce, disguises himself as a European nanny and housekeeper, Euphegenia Doubtfire, to remain involved in his kids’ lives.
That said, McClure — who inhabited the dual role in the show’s ill-fated, COVID-19-hampered Broadway production — is likewise skilled at physical comedy and is easily the biggest reason this “Mrs. Doubtfire” is a crowd-pleaser from beginning to end.
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He’s pretty fun merely as Daniel, a guy with a gift for humor — at least some think so — and an unquestionable love for his kids: older daughter Lydia (Giselle Gutierrez), young son Christopher (a role shared by Cody Sawyer Braverman and Axel Bernard Rimmele) and youngest child Natalie (Emerson Mae Chan and Kennedy Pitney). However, his wife, Miranda — portrayed by Maggie Lakis, McClure’s real-life spouse — is tired of feeling like he will never grow up.
“He has three kids,” she says early on in the show. “I have four.”
When a birthday party for Christopher that Miranda insisted need not to be a big affair goes off the rails with Daniel at the controls, it’s the nail in the coffin of the marriage.
When he learns Miranda, who’s busy trying to launch a clothing line, is hunting for a nanny, he turns to a pair of makeup artists — his brother, Frank (Aaron Kaburick), and Frank’s partner, Andre Mayem (Nik Alexander) to turn him into a woman. They use a humorous collection of legendary women — and just a bit of Oscar Wilde — as the inspiration for the woman Daniel ultimately decides to call Mrs. Doubtfire, who hails from Scotland.
That the show is so enjoyable isn’t all that surprising when you consider its creative team: Brothers Wayne Kirkpatrick and Karey Kirkpatrick wrote the music and lyrics, with the book being the work of John O’Farrell and Karey. That’s the trio largely responsible for another consistently entertaining, often uproarious musical, “Something Rotten!”
As with those of that show, the songs of “Mrs. Doufbtfire” aren’t necessarily the type you’ll be playing for days in your car, but they do serve the story well. And a couple of them are the backbones of cleverly choreographed stand-out musical numbers.
The first is Act One’s “Easy Peasy,” when Daniel — trying to find his way through his first day on the job as Mrs. Doubtfire — turns to a certain digital assistant to help him figure out how to cook a promised nutritional meal for the kids. (When you hear how many times “Hey Siri” is said, you understand why the production puts its back into a humorous pre-show request, which continues even after the curtain is drawn, to silence all phones in the theater.) It’s hilarious stuff, thanks in no small part to the show’s talented ensemble, most of which whirls around him dressed as chefs.
The other is the climactic “He Lied to Me,” led by a flamenco singer (Lannie Rubio) at a restaurant where Daniel is switching between his identities, with the help of Frank and Andre, for the benefit of two distinct parties. No doubt veteran theater director Jerry Zaks (“Little Shop of Horrors,” “A Bronx Tale”) earned his money figuring out how to stage this complicated sequence.
While “Mrs. Doubtfire” scores with these big moments, it also wins with the little ones. The Natalie character gets a couple of early laughs thanks to what we’ll call the show’s family-friendly-but-with-an-edge vibe, while Frank and, later on, nephew Christopher earn chuckles with the habit of shouting whenever they’re lying.
Seriously, it’s funny every time.
This “Doubtfire” sticks with the major story beats of the movie but does inject some modern updates, such as the aforementioned “Hey Siri” affair, the nanny taking control of the home’s “wee-fee” to control the children’s screen time and Daniel impressing a TV station executive with a bit of wizardry on a digital loop machine.
That’s all well and fine, but this show goes as McClure — nominated for a Tony Award for “Mrs. Doubtfire” and more than a decade ago for “Chaplin” — goes. And, man, he just goes and goes and goes.
Rob McClure has extra pair of hands for quick changes of ‘Mrs. Doubtfire’
We can only imagine that he collapses into a heap backstage after helping earn the company that standing ovation, as, yes, he did during a recent performance at the Connor Palace.
Take a bow, Mr. McClure. And then, by all means, take a nap.
‘Mrs. Doubtfire’
Continues through Jan. 23 at Playhouse Square’s Connor Palace, 1615 Euclid Ave., Cleveland. For tickets, $49 to $149, visit PlayhouseSquare.org or call 216-241-6000.
