Gossip

Alan Menken writing Mrs Doubtfire musical?

The composer is adapting the 1993 comedy film for the stage, he told ”Entertainment Weekly”

Robin Williams as the the redoubtable Mrs Doubtfire
Set for a musical makeover? Robin Williams as the the redoubtable Mrs Doubtfire

Award-winning composer Alan Menken is writing a musical version of Mrs Doubtfire, the much-loved film starring the late Robin Williams as a father of three who disguises himself as a Scottish nanny in order to spend more time with his children.

Menken has composed a number of Disney musicals including The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Hercules, Enchanted and Tangled, as well as shows including Little Shop of Horrors and Sister Act.

He told Entertainment Weekly that the musical was in its "early stages", and he and his collaborators – lyricist David Zippel and book writer Harvey Fierstein, who had a role in the 1993 film – are "really enjoying working on it".

Mrs Doubtfire marks another collaboration between Menken and Zippel, who wrote the lyrics for Hercules, and reunites Fierstein with the composer, having written the book for the 2012 stage adaptation of Newsies which Menken scored.

The film also starred Sally Field and Pierce Brosnan, and a sequel had been slated before Robin Williams' death last year.