The well-made musical Mrs. Doubtfire (produced by Sam Company Co., Ltd., Studio Sunday Co., Ltd.) is drawing attention as it continues to be a box-office hit day after day at the Charlotte Theater. Throughout the Chuseok holiday, it continued a sold-out streak, recording 100% seat occupancy and 97% paid occupancy.
At the center of the work is the role of "Daniel & Doubtfire." Three actors — Hwang Jung-min, Jung Sung-hwa and Jung Sang-hoon — are cast in the same role and alternate on stage, and through the one actor playing two roles, father "Daniel" and nanny "Doubtfire," they draw both laughter and tears. Their performances go beyond simple disguise, deeply conveying the social message of family breakdown and lack of communication.
Hwang Jung-min delivers a weighty, realistic performance that conveys Daniel's frustrations and regrets with gravitas, Jung Sung-hwa freely shifts the balance between comedy and drama to reveal the sincerity hidden behind the laughter, and Jung Sang-hoon uses his trademark lively sensibility to bring out the humor of the transformation while finely expressing the father's warm feelings for the children. All three actors unfold deep interpretations of their characters in their own colors, drawing wide sympathy from the audience.
On stage, "Daniel" only truly reaches his family's hearts when he is Mrs. Doubtfire with a wig and makeup. The fake face conveys the sincerity he could not express in his true self, and the moment a broken relationship is restored leaves a deep impression on the audience. This setup symbolically reveals the generational and family communication issues facing our society today and has earned broad sympathy from audiences of various ages.
In particular, the child characters in the play exist as direct experiencers of their parents' conflicts, helping young audience members naturally empathize. Thus, Mrs. Doubtfire has established itself as a rare musical that embraces the nostalgia of middle-aged and older viewers, the theatrical fun for younger generations, and children's empathy at the same time, raising the value and emotional impact of family viewing.
The musical Mrs. Doubtfire goes beyond simple comedy and asks again the meaning of family amid laughter and tears. The performances run at Charlotte Theater, Korea's first theater dedicated to musicals, through Dec. 7.<
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