MRS. DOUBTFIRE extends hiatus: returning to Broadway on April 14, 2022

Jinx. Just as I posted on the original hiatus thread.

aces25 said: "Very disappointing. I had a trip and tickets planned for March Break. This seems too late to announce they are pushing it another month."

Well, I imagine everyone's March grosses are looking a little gross these days. Might as well continue the hiatus into April when they can return with a bang (hopefully).

It returns on Passover & Easter weekend, which might not be the best timing? Or perhaps they're hoping for tourism since it's also the end of some school vacation weeks...

So is this now considered a revival?

Kudos for trying to keep this afloat, but they're probably looking to run April-August now. Do they go on another hiatus in September? Or just plan to tour the show with the Broadway set?

Not a great sign.

EDSOSLO858 said: "They’ll probably close permanently in August - no more hiatuses - so they can focus on their upcoming Manchester Opera House production beginning in September (which may or may not precede a West End run), and plan to embark on a U.S. national tour, I would assume sometime in 2023."

What "focus?" Even if Zaks (or an associate) and the creative team do substantial rewrites ahead of that production, it wouldn't hurt anything onstage. Producers can multi-task (if McCollum is even lead producing the UK run). Either way, they probably open a non-union US tour in Q4 2023 or sometime in 2024. There will be decent stock/amateur interest, per usual with film-to-stage properties.

I, too, am of the belief that this closes sometime this summer if sales don't bounce back substantially, assuming that it probably isn't going to win any major Tonys. Best Actor seemed like a good bet before A STRANGE LOOP announced –– but as we know from Tootsie and Cher Show, lone acting awards hardly mean anything at the box office.

Casting call posted yesterday for Natalie and Christopher - https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/MRS-DOUBTFIRE-Will-Hold-Video-Open-Call-for-Kids-8-12-20220224

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "EDSOSLO858 said: "They’ll probably close permanently in August - no more hiatuses - so they can focus on their upcoming Manchester Opera House production beginning in September (which may or may not precede a West End run), and plan to embark on a U.S. national tour, I would assume sometime in 2023."

What "focus?" Even if Zaks (or an associate) and the creative team do substantial rewrites ahead of that production, it wouldn't hurt anything onstage. Producers can multi-task (if McCollum is even lead producing the UK run). Either way, they probably open a non-union US tour in Q4 2023 or sometime in 2024. There will be decent stock/amateur interest, per usual with film-to-stage properties.

I, too, am of the belief that this closes sometime this summer if sales don't bounce back substantially, assuming that it probably isn't going to win any major Tonys. Best Actor seemed like a good bet before A STRANGE LOOP announced –– but as we know from Tootsie and Cher Show, lone acting awards hardly mean anything at the box office."



Years ago Boyd Gaines won a Tony for the first revival of SHE LOVES ME and the show closed two weeks later. Sad.

EDSOSLO858 said: "Interesting that Avery and Jake are not continuing with the production. Should Mrs. Doubtfire record a cast album in the future, does anyone think they will be on it?"

Nothing in that casting notice specifies when the kid actors are leaving the production; the NYT actually said that the producers offered every actor their job back. This is likely to seek out future replacements, understudies, etc. The boy is awfully tall and the relationship might be stronger with a younger kid in that part. Kids are typically on a shorter contract, so it might soon be time for them to exit the show anyway.

fosterfan2 said: "I wonder if they've aged out of their roles? That must be one of the hardest parts of being a child actor."

If the production wants the characters to remain a certain age, then they've definitely aged out and were probably only rehired post-COVID because that would look pretty sh*tty to let them go. Flynn and Sell were in the readings of it 3 years ago; she was still tiny when I saw it in December, but he very much looks/sounds like a teenage boy with a changing voice. It worked fine but may not be how the production wants to move forward.

This also may just be optimism, since if sales don't improve upon reopening then everyone will be out of work.