The Disguised Heart Behind Mrs. Doubtfire

Blog By: Maxwell Friberg

I came to DPAC expecting Mrs. Doubtfire at DPAC to be a hilarious show with some fun musical numbers, but it left appreciating the important story it told of love and family. But before diving too much into the story, let me tell you about the rest of the evening. 

For this show, I shadowed to learn the ticketing process with fellow Ambassador Cora! We got to meet and talk with the head of ticketing Peter, who shared what his job is and how he ended up at DPAC, which was a pretty cool story. He then gave us over to the wonderful Box Office staff. We learned what the box office looks like before a typical show at DPAC. We met people coming in to get the lottery tickets they won for this show, guests buying tickets for upcoming DPAC shows, and others who had general questions about accessing or upgrading their tickets. They were all warmly welcomed by the wonderful staff who met their requests and inquires and who graciously allowed Cora and I to assist.

Next, we met up with our fellow Ambassadors, grabbed a snack, and headed to our seats. The show started with some amazing fun songs with lots of fun impressions and jokes. The audience seemed to have a great time and laughed a lot. We were then hit with a wonderful story with heart and a powerful message strung throughout the show. The main character Daniel was a dad of three wonderful children, but he did not know how to raise his children in a way that was fun but also set enough boundaries. His wife Miranda is the one that has to set all the boundaries and handle all of the administrative tasks for the family while also cleaning up the messes he causes. This load on Miranda is a significant driver in their marriage ending divorce and in Daniel's minimal custody.

However, Daniel, who is an actor by profession, finds a clever way to spend more time with his children by disguising himself as an old woman. His performance works and he is hired as the new nanny. Through this role Daniel begins to learn how to be more than the fun parent, he learns to cook, help with homework, tidy the home and more. It is in a scene midway through Act 2 in which Daniel grows even more. Disguised as Mrs. Doubtfire, he enters a deep conversation with his ex-wife Miranda. She shares some powerful words in her song, “Let Go”, explaining, “Sometimes it's harder to hold on than to let go.” Throughout this scene, Daniel realizes the pain he has caused and throughout the show also learned how to be fun and help the children grow and learn from him. The show ends with a powerful message, “Wherever you go, whatever you do, the goodness will surely follow you as long as there is love.” Family separation can be a hard subject to deal with but Mrs. Doubtfire does it in a way that is easy to understand for all ages and shows that divorce isn't the end there can be abundant love, healing and hope on the other side.

Though this show may have concluded, I highly recommend you check it out if it comes back to DPAC. In the meantime, you can find tons of other moving performances at dpacnc.com! I hope to see you at the theatre!