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Mrs Doubtfire to be turned into musical

The project is the early stages of development, according to Alan Menken

Neela Debnath
Sunday 25 January 2015 17:32 GMT
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Robin Williams and Sally Field had great chemistry in Mrs Doubtfire
Robin Williams and Sally Field had great chemistry in Mrs Doubtfire

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He’s worked on some of the greatest Disney hits songs of all time.

Now, Oscar-winning composer Alan Menken is planning to turn the 1993 Robin Williams comedy Mrs Doubtfire into a musical. He revealed that the project is in the early stages of development and is busy composing the music.

Menken said that David Zippel is working on the lyrics for the songs, the two previously teamed up on the music for the 1997’s animated Disney classic Hercules.

“It’s going very well, it’s in its early stages, and that’s probably all I can say,” Menken said during an interview with Entertainment Weekly radio, adding “We’re really enjoying working on it.”

Playwright and actor Harvey Fierstein is working on the book of the musical, the film itself was based on the Anne Fine children’s book Madame Doubtfire. He has won a Tony Award for Best Book of Musical for his written adaptation of La Cage aux Folles.

But Fierstein has a strong connection to Mrs Doubtfire: he starred as Frank, Robin Williams’ make-up artist brother in the film who helps him to transform into the Scottish nanny.

Robin Williams and Lisa Jakub in Mrs. Doubtfire
Robin Williams and Lisa Jakub in Mrs. Doubtfire (20th Century Fox)

Mrs Doubtfire tells the story of a man who dresses up as a nanny so that he can spend time with his children following his divorce.

The 1993 film proved to be a career-defining role for Williams, who was found dead on 11 August last year after he took his own life.

Following his death it emerged that a sequel to Mrs Doubtfire had been in the works but the film appears to have been put on hold.

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