Goodness … where do I begin?
When I received tickets to attend the musical production of “Mrs. Doubtfire” at the William Saroyan Theatre Tuesday night, I thought I knew what I was getting into.
There would be a few playful songs, some bright-red lipstick and faux wrinkles on a relatively young man and a very, very long line for the restroom. But by the end of the show, I felt a need to go up and individually shake each one of the cast members’ hands.
The most surprising part of the show? Well, there’s two.
The oh-so-pretty production
For one, how quickly Daniel Hillard, played by Craig Allen Smith, could transform from a regular-shmegular father into an old Scottish nanny on-stage, and two, just how many little things go into a theater production.
At first, I thought it was wild that Smith changed backstage from Daniel into Mrs. Doubtfire in just a few moments. Then, it was even wilder when he did it right in front of everyone — turning what was already impressive into a suspenseful and slightly humorous scene with the suspicious social worker.
I grew up doing dance, and actually just stopped doing ballet last year (my feet thank me every day), so I know partly what goes on when performing on stage. Hairspray, sweat and pretending to be comfortable are all trademarks of the performing arts.
But what I didn’t have to do in a tutu and pointe shoes was also sing and act — or fully drop into the splits — like Connor Barton, “swing” and original Fresnan-gone New York City, did, on more than one occasion.
I also didn’t have to, as a father, wear the fake body of an elderly woman and dance around to model a pseudo-clothing brand in front of my ex-wife and her new lover. There’s some key differences here.
There was an acute attention to detail, from the fake-food that Mrs. Doubtfire cooked for the kids to the several other Mrs. Doubtfires who entered the stage and danced, as if it were the most (absurdly) normal scene.
It was like a scene from “Ten Little Monkeys: Jumping on the Bed.”
I’m not sure how much it costs to replicate Mrs. Doubtfire roughly ten times, but that sure is a lot of measurements to take down. I would have loved to be a fly on the wall during that first practice day.
Now that I’ve put on my critic hat, I realized that, often, those little things make or break a show.
Yay … divorce and dishonesty?
In general, the storyline of Mrs. Doubtfire is questionable, at best.
When the pretty costumes and lights are taken away, the show is really about an initially unemployed father who lies and deceives his burnt-out ex-wife to see his children, since the court prohibited his custody for relatively sound reasons.
And, as all of this is happening, Daniel gets to watch the mother of his children date another man and replace Daniel at the dinner table. Goody!
Yes, the show highlights important themes for many parents and children around the world, that families come in all different shapes and sizes, and what truly matters is the love that they all share.
That’s phenomenal — don’t get me wrong — it just took jumping through a whole lot of hoops to get there.
But, given the peculiar plot, the cast did a fantastic job making it hilarious and heartwarming at the end.
The show, despite its thematic oddities, gets an “A” from me.
