DETROIT – Rob McClure and Maggie Lakis, married in real life, play Daniel and Miranda Hillard, immortalized by Robin Williams and Sally Field in the beloved 1993 film, in Mrs. Doubtfire, the new musical making its way to the Fisher Theatre.
Together, they have toured the country three times and have acted together in a total of seven productions. This time around, they’re bringing along their 4-year-old with them.
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McClure, who originated the role of Daniel/Mrs. Doubtfire on Broadway, will now get to show off his comedic talent (and quick-change ability) all across the country alongside his family. McClure and Lakis share what it’s like to share the stage together again and why this round feels like a new adventure.
How is the tour going for you both?
MAGGIE: It’s been wonderful. It’s been such a gift that we get to do this together. This is actually the third tour together and our seventh time working together. But this is our first time touring with our daughter in tow. She’s 4 and a half, so it’s not quite the same but it’s a new adventure for us.
ROB: It’s great, the show is being really well received. I’ve been part of the show for a very long time and the timing on Broadway was so unbearably brutal in terms of trying to get it up on its feet, and then COVID hitting and then us coming back just in time for Omicron. It was really brutal, we never really got on our feet.
To finally get to have this run where we’re getting to bring the show to people where they’re at, it’s landing in a brilliant way. Everybody’s laughing and this show has this subversive heart that really hits hard. It’s just beautiful to see it working all over the place and seeing enthusiastic audiences who are laughing and crying. It’s really thrilling.
So does it feel like you’re getting your second chance with the show?
ROB: I’ve been calling it unfinished business. I had done the show for three years, but probably only less than 200 performances because it was constantly on and off because of the state of the world. So when they called and asked if we wanted to do the tour, it felt like we were getting to be part of the happy ending for this show.
How does having your daughter with you change everything about touring?
ROB: We have a joke that we have our own Mrs. Doubtfire. We have a nanny who’s traveling with us who she hangs out with backstage with the offstage children during the show. We have two sets of children in the show, and they alternate every other night, so whichever pair of children is not on that day hangs out with Sadie backstage.
The role of Daniel/Mrs. Doubtfire is a tireless role and now you don’t have the luxury of staying home with one theater. How are you balancing the role with the added stresses of touring?
ROB: I wish I could tell you successfully. We joke that I get a lot of help from vitamin “I,” ibuprofen. In all seriousness, I call it Dr. Footlights. Whatever’s going on in your day, however tired you are, when the curtain goes up and that audience is there, and touring audiences are also the best audiences in my mind, because they’re meeting you with a mutual gratitude. Broadway audiences are thrilling obviously, but they come with expectations. On tour, the curtain goes up and there’s an audience of people who are so grateful that you brought this to their home, which makes for a really engaged, thrilling and enthusiastic audience everywhere we go. And no matter how tired we are from the grind of the tour, you can’t help but immediately reciprocate when audiences bring that kind of energy. We’re so honored to do it.
So even though this is your seventh show together, does having your daughter add an extra layer of depth, especially since this is a show about a family?
MAGGIE: Absolutely, you just think of it more from the kid’s perspective. You can’t help but be reminded of the real consequences of what’s going on in the show. It’s interesting, Sadie still hasn’t seen the show, but she’s seen movies with people being sad and she’ll be like, “I didn’t like that you looked sad.” That just reminds you that when kids are this young, they’re still dealing with how to process their feelings. It really makes you think about the Hilliard children and what they’re going through and how they’re processing this divorce.
I think what this show does successfully is that it delves a little bit deeper into what the kids and Miranda are going through. You’ll still get the greatest hits from the movie like the pie in the face or Mrs. Doubtfire with a vacuum cleaner, but you’re also going to get a little bit more music. In adding songs, you can explore the emotions that the whole family is going through. You’re still going to laugh, it’s still a funny show for the whole family, but you’re also going to feel those emotions. We get a lot of people telling us they were crying at the end.
ROB: It’s an amazing thing to remember the percentage of kids coming to see the show are amidst a divorce in their life.
MAGGIE: When looking back at the movie and it being this landmark comedy, it was also pretty ahead of its time. It was the first time that the happy ending isn’t a couple getting back together, but they find a way to make this new family and that they’re happy that they can co-parent. That’s a word that’s thrown around a lot now, but that was new when this movie came out and this show embraces that message and expands up on what it means to be a family. And if you surround yourself with people who love you and who you love in return, then you have a family, and it really means a lot to people who come from families that are different than your typical mom and dad.
And how does it feel to divorce each other eight times a week?
MAGGIE: It’s funny, before the show, we give each other a hug and say, “I love you. Let’s get a divorce.” So unlike Daniel Hillard, Rob is a dream to work with. Daniel’s constantly getting fired for being selfish and Rob is the most wonderful actor to be on stage with. If something’s wrong, he’s going to be right there and I just trust him. Onstage, there’s just this history and trust so I have so much fun, even when we’re arguing on stage because I feel like he’s there with me and we’re telling this story together. I love it so much.
ROB: Maybe the audience can pick up on people who have a real history. I think the audience, whether they know we’re married in real life or not, knows that these are two people who are very comfortable with each other and that definitely translates.
Maggie, you watched Rob’s process of bringing the show to Broadway, what was the most surprising thing to you now that you have joined the show?
MAGGIE: Because of COVID, I was never really backstage. There were strict protocols, so when I watched it, it was just as an audience member. I had no inside scoop or information. So the first time I saw him in tech come out in full Doubtfire, it was kind of shocking. In rehearsal, he was using glasses as a placeholder. But the first time I opened the door and he says “Euphegenia Doubtfire,” I was like, “Oh my goodness.” I’ve never seen it and it’s really such an amazing transformation.
Beyond the laughs, the costume changes, the big dance numbers, there are still real and raw emotions. You’re dealing with family and divorce. How do you find that balance of talking about serious topics and still being a musical comedy?
ROB: I think the best musical comedies are able to do more than one thing at once. What this show does so well is that the comedy that is making the audience roll in the aisles is born out of the stakes of the circumstance. For me, the Mrs. Doubtfire performance, as absurd as it seems to the audience, is born out of a desperate need for Daniel. It’s still very much in the realm of Daniel’s desperation to be with his children that’s driving the comedy as much as it’s driving the tragedy. So when we get to Act Two, when the veil is pulled away and Daniel’s world falls apart, it’s still very much the same world that was driving him to disguise in the first place. So the comedy and the raw emotion are both born out of the same desperate need and I think any good comedy is born of very high stakes. And that’s the palce that I operate that hopefully lands in both genres in a successful way.
Mrs. Doubtfire opens at the Fisher Theatre Tuesday, November 14 and runs through Sunday, November 26, 2023. For showtimes and tickets, visit BroadwayinDetroit.com.