'Mrs. Doubtfire' is closing and with it, so should all problematic 'men-in-a-dress' musicals. But more are coming.
The cast of ‘Mrs. Doubfire’ (Sara Krulwich/The New York Times)
by Chris Peterson, OnStage Blog Founder
It was announced today that the musical, ‘Mrs. Doubtfire’ will be closing at the end of May. The musical which opened right before the COVID industry-wide shutdown never found its footing when it tried to sustain a run starting last October.
According to the producers, the reason for the closing is that families aren’t flocking to the theatres just yet.
"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," producer Kevin McCollum said in a statement. "Unfortunately, it isn’t possible to run the show without those sales, especially when capitalizing with Broadway economics on three separate occasions.”
Sure. Or maybe they don’t want to spend hundreds of dollars on tickets to an average-at-best show that didn’t move past transphobic and tired ‘man-in-dress’ gags?
While it was reported that ‘Mrs. Doubtfire’ wasn’t as bad as ‘Tootsie’ when it came to transphobic jokes, it still had its problems.
Writer Christian Lewis reported on the material when they saw the show:
“While critics seemed to have learned a bit since Tootsie (several mentioned transphobia and/or gender issues in their reviews of Mrs. Doubtfire), it appears that the writers, Kasey Kirkpatrick, Wayne Kirkpatrick, and John O’Farrell, are happy to pander to the same transphobic attitudes as Tootsie did. Sitting in the audience, it felt as if nothing had changed. It might as well have been called Tootsie 2: Transphobia Reloaded.”
With ‘Mrs. Doubtfire’s closing, one could only hope that this would be the end of producers bringing this tired and problematic trope to Broadway. But, because they just can’t seem to let it go, an adaptation of ‘Some Like It Hot’ will be starting performances in New York this coming fall.
Why do producers keep going back to this well? I have no idea. Neither ‘Tootsie’ nor ‘Mrs. Doubtfire’.were commercial hits or critical darlings - the two things producers care about the most.
And while I’m told that ‘Some Like It Hot’ tries to positively portray drag and gender identity, there are still moments that rely on previous tired and problematic tropes. Could all of this change before its opening this fall? Possibly. I hope it does.
But therein lies another issue - the creative team can’t change the adaptation that much without upsetting the audience that loved the original movie on stage.
I want to see more stories based around trans and non-binary characters on Broadway. But I want those stories told with the respect, authenticity, and care that they deserve. For the most part, they haven’t been and that needs to change by embracing new voices. It doesn’t come from dusting off old movies and trying to make them work now.