The hit comedy musical Mrs. Doubtfire is the latest hit in London’s West End, offering a magical night at the theatre full of laughter and touching family moments. So if you’re wondering what everyone’s talking about, we’ve rounded up everything you need to know about this hilarious adaptation of the classic film!
The West End home of the brand new musical is the Shaftesbury Theatre, which is located on Shaftesbury Avenue and High Holborn, just a five minute walk from Tottenham Court Road.
Our nearest tube station is Tottenham Court Road, which is served by the Central, Northern, and Elizabeth tube lines. Holborn station is six minutes away, served by the Central and Piccadilly. There are several bus routes within a five minute walk of the Theatre with routes across London. For those travelling by rail, the Shaftesbury is 13 minutes from Charing Cross station and 23 minutes from Waterloo station.
You can find out a bit more information about travelling to us here.
Mrs. Doubtfire is approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes long. The matinee performances start at 2:30pm and end at 5pm, while the evening performances begin at 7:30pm and end at 10pm. There is a 20 minute interval halfway through every performance, to make sure you’ve got time to go to the toilet, get a drink and a snack, or get some air!
Both the film and musical of Mrs. Doubtfire are set in San Francisco, and iconic locations around the city are used to bring both the film and the stage set to life. The house used for the Hillard family in the movie, 2640 Steiner Street, is still a popular tourist spot for fans of Mrs. Doubtfire.
The classic character of an elderly British nanny with a flair for strict childcare, originally played by Robin Williams, has a rather funny origin for her name in the film. Panicking when securing the nannying job over the phone without first deciding on his character’s name, Daniel Hillard reads ‘Doubt fire’ off a nearby newspaper. In the musical, Daniel takes slightly different prompts to come up with his unusual alias, before topping off the pseudonym with the first name Euphegenia. Thus, the famous Euphegenia Doubtfire was born!
Originally made famous by Robin Williams’ iconic performance in the 1993, in the stage musical the role of Daniel Hillard, who disguises himself as Mrs. Doubtfire, is played by Gabriel Vick. Gabriel was part of the original West End cast of Avenue Q at the Noel Coward Theatre, as well as starring in Scrooge at the Palladium and Once at the Phoenix Theatre.
On occasion, the role of Daniel Hillard/Mrs. Doubtfire will be played by Rhys Owen. Rhys has previously starred in Only Fools and Horses the Musical, the UK and international tour of Spamalot, and The Full Monty at the Old Joint Stock Theatre.
Both Rhys and Gabriel bring hilarity and energy to the performance, as well as an excellent ‘Helloooooo poppets!’
Mrs. Doubtfire made its world premiere in Seattle, Washington at the 5th Avenue Theatre on November 26th, 2019. It premiered on Broadway at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre on March 9th, 2020, but due to the Coronavirus pandemic, all Broadway performances were suspended just three days later. It reopened and paused multiple times, ultimately having its final performance on May 29th, 2022.
Mrs. Doubtfire made her British debut in Manchester at the Manchester Opera House on 2nd September 2022. It transferred here to the Shaftesbury Theatre on 12th May 2023, where it opened to positive reviews and eager audiences.
Autumn 2023 saw the beginning of the Mrs. Doubtfire North American tour, which will stop in 30 cities over the course of 10 months.
Mrs. Doubtfire tickets are on sale through the Shaftesbury Theatre’s Official Box Office here, starting from £22.50. For groups of 10 or more, there are discounted tickets available, just get in touch with our Box Office for any enquiries on boxoffice@shaftesburytheatre.com.
If you’re keen to add something special to your visit, you can also book one of our VIP experiences when buying your tickets! Simply select a package at checkout or get in touch with the Box Office to add to an existing order.
