The latest hit film to be transformed into a musical might appear to be a problematic project in 2021. While the 1993 film was a huge hit for the late Robin Williams, giving him ample opportunity to showcase his vast vocal prowess and comic skills, it mines humour from a main character who disguises himself as an elderly nanny with a vaguely Scottish accent so that he can spend more time with his three children after a judge awards custody to his estranged wife.

Certainly Tootsie, another show with a cross-dressing male lead, received some blowback when it got the musical-comedy treatment on Broadway in 2019.  Should any similar criticisms emerge here, that would be a shame. This Mrs Doubtfire is sharp, smart and full of heart.

Add to that the fact that this adaptation, which has a book by Karey Kirkpatrick and John O’Farrell, and music and lyrics by Karey and brother Wayne Kirkpatrick, is rip-roaringly funny (this is the team that created a cheeky musical around Shakespeare with 2015’s brilliant Something Rotten!), and Broadway has a potential hit on its hands.

Mrs Doubtfire closely follows the movie’s plot. Out-of work- actor Daniel Hillard, here played by Rob McClure in an exhilarating, potentially star-making performance, needs to earn money and prove that he’s a responsible adult to get joint custody. Sure, there’s madness in his method, but how harshly can you judge a father who wants to see more of his kids

The title character’s look and voice have been faithfully replicated, and more importantly, there is an emphasis on this being a story of transformation in more than just the physical sense. Daniel becomes a better man after he disguises himself as a woman, and his former wife, Miranda (Jenn Gambatese), is able to talk frankly and calmly about her marital woes with him, instead of shouting, when she thinks she’s talking to Mrs Doubtfire.