I don’t know how much they’re paying Jerry Zaks, the director of the musical Mrs Doubtfire which has just opened at The Shaftesbury, but he’s worth every penny.
Based on the 1993 Robin Williams film of the same name, which was itself based on Anne Fine’s award winning 1987 novel, Madame Doubtfire, Mrs Doubtfire is the story of a family torn apart by divorce, and the lengths to which Daniel Hillard (Gabriel Vick) will go in order to see his children.
Under Mr Zaks’ watchful eye, the story is so compellingly and entertainingly told that it’s fully possible to see why the theatre has been booked out for a whole year in advance. This is a crowd-pleaser which is, I suspect, likely to be a hit despite the critics, rather than because of them. And even though I have some reservations, it’s a far better screen to stage adaptation than several of the other recent American imports.
Although set in San Francisco the show draws heavily on the British tradition of theatrical transvestitism, and the changes from Hillard to Doubtfire are numerous, entertaining, and beautifully realised.
The fact that this is the case is down to the apparently almost limitless energy displayed by Gabriel Vick giving a performance which must surely be the most vigorous currently on offer on a West End Stage.
And what of Mr Vick? Having not had the chance to read the programme until the interval I had presumed that he was one of those extra-special leading men that Broadway seems so effortlessly to foster. How wrong could I be? He’s someone who, I’m sorry to have to admit, had never crossed my radar, but he is a wonder. A Brit who, from curtain up to the very end of act two holds the audience in his hand through the power of his charisma.
Elsewhere Laura Tebutt as Daniel’s ex-wife is nicely realised, and their children – certainly the two youngest – act way beyond their years, with Angelica-Pearl Scott as Natalie proving a particular crowd pleaser.
There’s a nice running gag with Daniel’s brother, Frank (Cameron Blakely) that I won’t spoil, and as a fully paid-up member of the LGBT community myself I loved, both him and his partner Andre Mayem – Marcus Collins – who give the show a very useful dollop of pizzazz. Their song together in Act One, ‘Make Me A Woman’ is a highlight, if only for the references it pulls in when creating Mrs Doubtfire.
Indeed, it’s when the show moves away from so closely following the film that it’s at its best, and the various scenes of surreal fantasy engage and surprise.
There are however some things which, although very funny, come across as rather jarring; contemporary references to things happening in politics, and in the UK. Would a character in San Francisco really be making jokes about Boris Johnson? I don’t know. And anyway, I suspect the references may change during the run as humour and the news dictate.
So, why isn’t the show a glowing five star hit? Well, two reasons.
Firstly, though I was immensely, and genuinely entertained from beginning to end, I was never moved. Sure, I laughed a lot – a LOT – but there was nothing that made me cry.
Secondly, and this is the real issue I have with the show, the score is just a bit, well, bland. Two minutes after leaving the theatre I couldn’t remember a single thing about it. The lyrics are fine on the whole, and well set, but the music. Nah. It just didn’t do it for me.