Zaks & ROTTEN! team to work on DOUBTFIRE musical — Page 2

bfreak said: "he creatives are good, but the source material relied so much on that one iconic performance, that I feel anyone may feel underwhelming as the lead and the show could be stale."


I bet a lot of actors would be scared to take this role... Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick were still compared to Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder. And remember Samantha Barks' critical response 2 weeks ago?

Even someone incredibly talented like Christian Borle or Jefferson Mays or Norbert or Chris Fitzgerald is going to have an uphill climb escaping Robin Williams' legacy. (Unless Mrs. D is no longer a Scottish nanny in the musical?) The "I do voices" aspect of the character was so specifically Williams, and iconic in a way that Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie is not.

Do people never think about how these are small scale stories that don't fill a broadway stage?

The idea of this is very Off Broadway. So is Tootsie.

I also feel like cross dressing stories now are weird in this generation of recognizing the Trans community.

The films are classics and will always be classics cause of the PERFORMANCES, but to create these stories AGAIN just seems like such a dated idea now.

We have now TWO musicals coming to broadway about straight white men pretending to be women.

It wouldn't surprise me if the Trans community is like, what the hell?! How does this help us?
Why not just write original comedy musicals about Trans characters?

Hedwig sure, but Hedwig is still very "other-ey" in nature.

Updated On: 8/28/18 at 04:36 PM

The original movie holds up pretty well today. I don’t want to get too deep into the whole “trans community reaction to this”, but it’s not just about a man dressing as an older woman, it’s a man trying to be with his kids, and knowing this was the best way to make it happen. There is no comment about his sexuality changing or anything of the sort.

The movie works so well, because despite the comedy, it has heart. Both parents realize the mistakes they made, and it is those quiet moments of realization in the movie that makes it work so well. Added to it, Robin Williams using his own personal experience of divorce, and you end up with a truly moving and hysterical performance.

I really hope they get this right - it’s been one of my favorite movies since I first saw it over 20 years ago!

Guys, your reaction to my comment are all things I know.

I KNOW it's a means to an ends story and about their redemptive character arc.

The movies do a good enough job of portraying that.

But they also were very effective in the 80s and the 90s, and they're still enjoyable films on rewatch.

This is 2018. It's just different now.

And when Broadway has TWO musicals, potentially three cause I heard they're doing Some Like it Hot coming about men dressing as women that are both straight white men in a time where the Trans community needs more representation why defend that decision?

Imagine if we were still making new content about 2 straight men who pose or get confused as gay men.

Wouldn't that be annoying? Cause you'd ask, why aren't we just getting more gay representation instead of gay being the butt of the joke?

But it's still in 2018, two stories about men dressing as women and it's played for comedy.

and as soon as you "We need more representation but" to that simple fact you're not recognizing the problem.

But sexuality has nothing to do with it - in any case.



That being said -- I would rather see an original story about almost anything the continue to see uninspired movie re-hashes. But if its good, I'm ok with it.

rattleNwoolypenguin said: "But it's still in 2018, two stories about men dressing as women and it's played for comedy.

and as soon as you "We need more representation but" to that simple fact you're not recognizing the problem."

Just out of curiosity- are you a trans person? If not, maybe let them speak up when they find something offensive and let them correct/educate the community.

As others have said, this doesn’t have anything to do with the stories of actual trans people. I have many trans friends and have not heard them criticize Shakespeare acting practices or this film ever.

Yikes, some of your guyses defensiveness makes you look like jackasses honestly.

Because I'm not trans I shouldn't put my voice out recognizing that something could be offensive or dated to the trans community? Right, cause injustice should just not be called out unless it's by the victim...

I'm getting WOKE points?

Since when did Broadway World boards get overrun by closed minded Trumpsters?

I'm making a very fair point about the dated nature of showing men dressed as women for humor's sake in this day and age.

If you have a genuine problem with that, mannnn does that say a lot about you.

The privilege is alive and well here tonight.

Updated On: 8/28/18 at 10:56 PM

If they want to resurrect Doubtfire after 25 years, fine. But don't use Robin Williams' image to promote it. The man killed himself in the midst of a terrible illness, and it's unfair to any actors who would follow him. I loved his performance and it's hard to beat. But give his family and his memory a rest.

Nathan Lane would ace it. Divorce and custody isn't today what it was then. Now courts expect 50/50 custody, a custom started in California years ago. So the story is a bit out of date as well. Revitalize it, adjust it to today, but don't drag Mr. Williams and his performance into this commercialism.

This story has never intended to explore issues of trans-gender: Mrs Doubtfire is a disguise assumed by a man, just he might disguise himself as a French person or a bear. Just like in classic Restoration comedies such as 'The Rivals', the comedy comes from the vicarious thrill that the disguise might be blown. Additionally, a man who has no desire to become a woman, does a poor and thereby amusing impression of a matronly lady. In no way at all does this reflect the emotional journey of a person who is changing genders.



We don't have to be privileged white Trump supporters to be able to distinguish between an emotionally arduous life-change, and a comedy situation about a man in a bad disguise hoping he doesn't get caught.



PS Chris Sieber- great choice! But I suspect Mr Borle might be top choice for this production team.