Interview: Catherine Brunell Talks About Joining Final Leg of MRS. DOUBTFIRE National Tour

Catherine Brunell has a history with Mrs. Doubtfire. A stage veteran (she has played featured roles in Broadway’s Mean Girls, Les Miserables, and Something Rotten), she was one of the first to read for the role of Daniel Hillard’s wife, Miranda, before the production hit Broadway in 2019. 

Now five years later—after taking a short break from the Broadway grind—she is back in the role, having stepped in September 4 to play the part for the remainder of the national tour. (This, after Maggie Lakis, the real-life wife of the show’s star, Rob McClure, left the role to return to New York so their daughter could start kindergarten.)

BroadwayWorld talked to Brunell on how joining the already-established cast and crew was like “crashing a family Christmas party,” and how performing in Mrs. Doubtfire brings her to tears every night. 

So you just joined the tour about a week ago, right? 

Yes. My first performance was Thursday night!

Wow. Can you tell me a little bit about the process of how you were so suddenly brought into the role?  

Okay, well, my journey with Doubtfire started five years ago. I was part of that original, two-week —I don’t know whether you’d call it a lab or a reading—whatever it was, it was two weeks with Jerry Zaks and the writers. And after working on the script, we did a presentation. It was a huge success, and I immediately fell in love with the show.

A few weeks after that presentation, when the show was going out of town to Seattle, I prepped for that. I loved the character of Miranda so much, and I wanted that role so badly. I had worked with the writers on Something Rotten, and I thought, ‘This is my role to lose.” But it went to the beautiful, talented actress, who's a friend of mine, Jenn Gambatese, and of course, I was happy for her. We've traveled in the same social circles and professional circles for many years and it comes to a point in our careers where sometimes it's your job, and then sometimes it's your friend's job, right?  

That’s tough. What did you do after that? 

I chose not to go out of town and understudy, and I stayed in town. And then I got an offer to do Mean Girls. . . . And then the pandemic happened and Mean Girls didn't end up coming back. Doubtfire’s time on Broadway was short. And then, to be honest, I had taken a deliberate choice to not seek out eight-show-a week jobs. My sons were entering their latter years of high school. And that schedule is so brutal. So I wasn't auditioning for big shows in New York, and I took a job in interior design for an amazing company in Maplewood, New Jersey. 

That's so interesting. So you left Broadway?

Yeah, I was working as a project manager for AHR Designs. And you can put AHR designs in there because I'm so proud of the business that we built in those five years. I worked for a wonderful woman who always made space for if I had to travel out of town for concerts. She would say, "Oh, when you get a show, I know that you'll leave." And I was like, "No, I'm not seeking that."

But then a series of life events happened where I just started questioning myself, like, “What am I doing? My first love is performing.” And my boys were in college and settled, and my daughter was entering eighth grade. I said, “Maybe I should seek out my passion again.” So I gave my notice at my design job. And honest to God, a week later, without even poking and telling my agent anything, I got the offer for this. 

What did you say? 

At first, I was like, “Oh my gosh. I'm not sure. I've never toured before.” And my daughter's only 13. Even though the boys are in college, my husband's a school teacher, how is that going to work? But I told my husband, and he said, “Take it. Absolutely. We'll make it work.”

And between having Rob McClure out here, David Hibbard, Aaron Kaburick—just these dear friends of mine—it's a Something Rotten reunion. It is the greatest job ever. I love this job. I absolutely love it. 

That timing is amazing—it’s almost like it was meant to be.

It was absolutely meant to be. We try so hard to determine our fate and our path, and we try to manipulate our lives in the way that we want things to happen, but I always say if you do the work and you're kind to people, things come back to you. Maybe not in the time that you wanted it, but things do come back. 

I love this show. I've always loved the show. I've always believed in the beauty of the show. I think we, honestly, do warm people's hearts. We make them laugh for two and a half hours, and I think we change people's minds about family, about the structure of family, about how to love within a family that maybe isn't the traditional model. I just think that the message of the show is pretty astounding. I am moved every night. I'm a bucket of tears every night. I love it. 

You mentioned your daughter and your husband—are they traveling with you?

No. So my husband [actor Christopher Mark Peterson, whom she met while playing Eponine in Les Miserables] teaches high school theater at Ramsey High School . . . And my daughter, Beatrice, is 13 and she's in 8th grade. But this company, I mean, they flew me out, and they flew my daughter out to see the show. They're flying my husband and daughter out in a couple of weeks, and then they're flying my sons out. They made this contract so beautiful and accommodating for a mother who has never left her family for more than, like, a week and a half.  

Is it hard to jump into a show this far along in the tour?  

I always equate it to like crashing a family Christmas party. It's like dating someone, where you want to fit in with their family. There are challenges to it, but this company is so warm and so welcoming.

Was it hard going into the role of Miranda knowing that Rob was used to playing opposite his wife, Maggie Lakis? 

He has never led on with it being a challenge, but I know it must be. I mean, when you're playing opposite the person you’re in the most intimate relationship with, and then you have to be in an intimate relationship with someone on stage who's not your wife. I can't even attempt to fill her shoes. I saw her portrayal of Miranda, and she was beautiful. But I know I'm a different actress, and I knew I would bring my own take to it. 

There's always an adjustment period when somebody takes over a role. And I hope that we can be, as actors, open and welcoming. Everyone in this company has been that way to me. 

I know it’s only been a week, but what has been your biggest challenge on the tour so far? 

I had a really hard time in Reno. We got to Reno, and I got this dry cough. There was no humidity; there were wildfires on both sides of us—they've now evacuated where we were. Oh, my gosh, and the altitude! I lost my belt voice. I basically could only sing soprano. It was horrible. I had to get on steroids last week. It was terrible. 

So I’m now in Salt Lake; it’s a new climate; I am able to breathe. I'm just having fun now and I'm able to sing with my whole voice. 

What is the most challenging part about playing the role of Miranda? 

Gosh, last week, I would have said singing because of my voice and the challenges in Reno. 

I think the thing about Miranda that can be the challenge is that you, of course, want the audience on your side, but she is the antagonist. She is the person that gets in the way of Daniel getting what he wants. But my truth is that I see the effects of my crumbling marriage on my children and I have a great opportunity within the play to be vulnerable.  

It's so easy to feel for Daniel, for Mrs. Doubtfire, but I think the challenge for me is speaking my truth and then the audience continuing on that journey and feeling for me.  

I watched the movie recently, and I was surprised by how dated it feels. How has the stage version modernized the story? 

I think there is a broad acceptance of LGBTQ in our play, and it speaks to that. There's actually a lovely love letter to that within our story. I don't want to give that away, but I think it has absolutely been modernized for today's audiences.  

I also think that the audiences across the country are a bit more forgiving of a man who puts on a dress and takes on this persona. . . . I think the audiences across the country are a bit more forgiving of that. And embracing it—and I mean leaping to their feet, shouting, applauding, standing ovations every night. It has found its audience on the road for sure.

Mrs. Doubtfire will play at the Segerstrom September 24 through October 6. The national tour ends November 24. 

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