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[0:00] Robert Bannon: Are you ready? It's The Roundtable with me, Robert Bannon.

[0:09] Robert Bannon: Well, welcome to The Roundtable, everybody. My name is Robert Bannon. You're listening to us on Broadway World over here on the Broadway Podcast Network, iHeart, Spotify, wherever artists talk about art. When I moved to Detroit from New York City two years ago, I fell in love with the Fox Theater. It is so gorgeous. They have a great Broadway series. It is iconic and legendary. And the incredible Mrs. Doubtfire, the show that you all know and love, that you have watched the movie or seen it on Broadway, is rolling into the D. So Detroit, get ready. Daniel Hillard, the Mrs. Doubtfire himself, is here. Craig Allen Smith, welcome to The Roundtable.

[0:42] Craig Allen Smith: Hey, thank you so much for having me. I've never been to Detroit, so I'm looking forward to it. It's going to be awesome.

[0:47] Robert Bannon: I got things to tell you. Like, I'll tell you, firstly, we're very famous for something called... Do you eat hot dogs? Because I don't really like hot dogs, Craig.

[0:54] Craig Allen Smith: Yeah, I love hot dogs.

[0:56] Robert Bannon: Oh, then we have a Coney dog, which is famous. This is what people eat here. They have places called Coney's, just so you can get a chili cheese hot dog.

[1:01] Craig Allen Smith: Yes, that's what I'm going to be doing Sunday night after all the shows.

[1:10] Robert Bannon: And he can eat whatever he wants, because if you've ever seen the show, he changes like eighty-six times.

[1:15] Craig Allen Smith: Yeah, yeah, sometimes on stage.

[1:18] Robert Bannon: Yeah, yeah. It's crazy.

[1:19] Craig Allen Smith: It's part of the gimmick. And the fun is that we see you change.

[1:23] Craig Allen Smith: Yeah, I think that's the really cool aspect about the show is like, you know, it's not hiding anything from the audience. It literally, you know, just shows what Daniel has to go through from the beginning of the show, from losing his wife and, you know, custody of his kids to the end. So it's a really, I've never certainly never done anything like this role before in my life. So it's such a joy and an honor to be able to play this role.

[1:56] Robert Bannon: You can follow him. You can go to see Smith 4920 if you want to follow the journey, because you're on the road, you're traveling. It is your first national tour.

[2:05] Craig Allen Smith: What's that? I need to change that Instagram handle. It's pretty. It's like it's my grandma's old address. And I was, you know, back when you're making the Gmail accounts, you're like, what am I going to make? I don't know.

[2:19] Craig Allen Smith: I have one. I should just be like Robert Bannon at Gmail or something.

[2:23] Robert Bannon: I am not. There's a seven, a six and a two in there.

[2:25] Craig Allen Smith: Right, right. They mean, no, like there was sentimental value when I was 12. But now.

[2:30] Craig Allen Smith: I'm going to throw Brian, who plays my brother, Frank, in the show. I'm going to throw him under the bus because he has an AOL account still. We were handing out emails for something the one day and he was like, it's Brian. And I was like, I'm sorry.

[2:47] Robert Bannon: With the embarrassing.

[2:53] Craig Allen Smith: So for you, tell us about how this journey happened. How did you get the audition? What was the audition?

[2:57] Craig Allen Smith: Yeah, it was wild. Like two weeks before I even got an email, a friend of mine messaged me on Instagram. He was like, they're looking for Mrs. Doubtfire. I think you'd be great. I just watched the show because I was going to submit. And I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm not going to bother with this. And then actually, Chad Murnane Casting emailed me because I had the previous year I had gotten offered to play the father in Dear Evan Hansen was like an offstage swing. And it just didn't work out because my kids were graduating high school that year. So I was like, no, I don't really want to be away from them to do that show. And then then he emailed this and I was like, sure, I'll just do a one-off.

So I fired off a self-tape and then the director saw it and they were like, we'd like to have a Zoom meeting. So I did a Zoom meeting with the director and some of the creatives and I did all the scene work. And they were like, like literally a half hour after that meeting. They were like, can you come up to New York for a final callback? And thank God I didn't know who Jerry Zaks was at the time. Because he was in the room and my wife had Googled him. And basically, he's the reason why I do musical theater is because, you know, funny thing happened to lay the form. Guys and Dolls, Music Man, Hello, Dolly. I mean, all of those Jerry Zaks. And it was really cool. So I got to do some scene work with him.

And then like a week later, I got the role. But it was really awesome because Jerry actually because he loves the show so much. So he actually came into a few rehearsals and we got to actually work with Jerry Zaks, which was an honor.

[4:43] Craig Allen Smith: Yeah, it's a beautiful show.

[4:44] Robert Bannon: It is a beautiful show. If you've seen the movie and you're immortalized in Robin Williams and Sally Field and the incredible cast, this movie has such heart. I think as I've gotten older, I don't know if your character is as honest and trustworthy, like I don't know if he made all the right decisions, but I'm highly entertained as a kid, you know, wrong now as an adult, right?

[5:07] Craig Allen Smith: Yeah, you should not have dressed in drag to pretend to be a nanny to see. There might have been another legal route to go about it, but I appreciate the effort.

[5:17] Robert Bannon: How did you find that Daniel? How did you find your Daniel? Because you don't want to be a cartoon. You don't want to copy Robin Williams and you don't want to copy Rob on Broadway.

[5:24] Craig Allen Smith: Right. So you have to be Craig. So how do you be Craig? How do you find him?

[5:34] Craig Allen Smith: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Sorry, the hotel Wi-Fi is cutting in and out and you were like slow motion. Actually, I worked with Steve Edlin, our director. He was the associate director on Broadway. So he took over for directing this tour. And when I came in day one, I was like, I've never seen this show. You know, obviously I've seen the movie a bunch of times, so I know all of Robin Williams' shtick, but I didn't want to purposely watch Rob McClure because I didn't want to like I'm such a sponge and I will imitate and like pull things from everybody. And he was like, no, no, that's great. So basically just working through the script. I'm a divorced dad who's been, you know, I'm an actor my whole life.

So it was really easy to just step into those kind of shoes and just feel that and then just find the moments, especially with like different impressions. We had a lot of talks like what just works for me as an actor and all of my skills, and then we just kind of put that together and, you know, that's what the audience gets to see. I get a lot of people coming out being like, oh, I had I didn't I didn't know what to expect with this. You know, I want to see the movie, but, you know, it's not like the movie. You did a really great job with it, though.

[6:57] Robert Bannon: You know, it is this is a compliment because I understand. Look, it's the movie, but it's not the movie. It's new. There's beautiful music. There's beautiful storytelling. There's a really great puppet ape.

[7:07] Craig Allen Smith: There is so I don't know what it is.

[7:10] Craig Allen Smith: A monkey. Yeah.

[7:11] Robert Bannon: Kovacs, the monkey. Yeah, there you go.

[7:13] Craig Allen Smith: It is torn. It's what you expect in love with some of the classic moments with the whole brand new thing. What how do you describe the music for you?

[7:20] Craig Allen Smith: The music's great. Um, so the he the I'm sorry, I'm blanking on his names. I'm terrible with his names. The guy who wrote the music is very like created the style of he wanted, like, especially for Daniel to have like a Billy Joel kind of feel. Where so is this? The songs are more storytelling rather than, you know, you know, I sing so pretty and they're beautiful. Wayne and Kerry, Wayne and Kerry, Kirkpatrick, that's it. Yes, they did an incredible job with the music for this.

[7:56] Robert Bannon: And tell us a little bit about the cast. You got kids that I'm sure you all are getting close to get. How long have you been in the show now?

[8:03] Craig Allen Smith: So we had a set of four kids last year and they were in the show for the whole year. And then we just got a new set of kids this summer because the kids only have a certain amount of contracts that they're allowed to be out on tour. So we have a new set of kids now and they're doing just as great. I mean, they're phenomenal. We have Miranda.

[8:24] Craig Allen Smith: So Melissa, the road for a year over a year. Yeah, we started in August of twenty twenty-five.

[8:32] Robert Bannon: Have you seen every hotel room in the United States of America?

[8:36] Craig Allen Smith: Yeah, this one's pretty crazy with the green wall. I could do like some like green screen because you're in some weird place.

[8:43] Craig Allen Smith: Right. Alma, I'm in all right now.

[8:46] Robert Bannon: Yeah, yeah, yeah. We have a show tonight and then we move to Missouri tomorrow. And yeah, we're just and then you're in the country. You come to Detroit for two nights and then you're in Ohio. I mean, you play everywhere across the Sheboygan like right.

[9:01] Craig Allen Smith: Personally, I can't believe it's a real place. And I was doing a show. I'd want to play Sheboygan, Sheboygan.

[9:07] Robert Bannon: Is it hard on your body to bounce from city to city and hotel?

[9:11] Craig Allen Smith: Yeah. You like for me, I'm such a person of routine. So I as long as I can keep to my routine, it's pretty. It's pretty, you know, sometimes you wake up in the middle of the night and you're like, where am I? You know, so it's a little off nerving that sometimes some are one night. So you're bouncing in and out. But in Detroit, you're here for the weekend so you can get your tickets to see a couple of times. But you have to learn the theater each night. There's different wings. There's different backstage. There's different.

[9:38] Craig Allen Smith: Yeah, it's a lot to keep in your head.

[9:41] Craig Allen Smith: Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's a there's a whole team. You know, each each time you come into a new venue, they have a little local crew there that that's amazing. And they do a fantastic job of learning a show and a couple of hours and then being able to make all the transitions happen. It's incredible. It's a well-oiled machine.

[9:59] Robert Bannon: I'm a guy about this, about this. Look, Friday here in Detroit, October 2nd, October 3rd. There's two shows, a 1:30 show and then a 7:30 show. So you can bring your kids. It's for your families. It's for people. When you go to the stage, people come out and meet you or you see kids in the audience. What does it mean for you? The love and the joy that your show is bringing them. You must see you might be their first show they've ever seen. Right?

[10:23] Craig Allen Smith: Yeah. And a lot of times people, a lot of the kids have never actually even seen Mrs. Doubtfire. So I go, oh, my gosh, you need to go home, run, run, run home right away and actually watch Robin Williams in this because he's amazing. So, I mean, I'm just glad that we're able to make people laugh, especially in this, this, you know, these times. So, I mean, it's to bring joy to people's hearts and to forget about their lives for a little bit. It's such an honor and being able to do that.

[10:51] Craig Allen Smith: And what I love about what the production is doing here in Detroit, tickets are less than $100 a pop, so you don't have to mortgage your house.

[10:57] Robert Bannon: Nice. Affordable for you.

[10:58] Craig Allen Smith: That's great. And bring your kids and your family, because theater has outpriced itself around this country, especially in New York.

[11:04] Robert Bannon: For sure. Get your tickets and bring your kids in here. You've never been here.

[11:09] Craig Allen Smith: No, no, I'm excited. The Fox is like the most stunningly gorgeous place.

[11:14] Robert Bannon: It's great. Amazing to take. You have to go to the lobby.

[11:18] Craig Allen Smith: It is OK. Out of a movie.

[11:20] Robert Bannon: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Definitely. We'll do that. It's a big old stage, Craig.

[11:27] Craig Allen Smith: I'm used to it.

[11:28] Robert Bannon: Does it keep you in? Do you have a gym routine or is the show your gym?

[11:33] Craig Allen Smith: No, I was doing a last year. I was going to like the gym every day. And then I think I was burning myself out too much, actually. So now I'm doing staggering. I'm doing like Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday's gym. And then, you know, still doing yoga and stretching and making sure the body is limber and ready to go. So I'm 46 years old.

[11:53] Robert Bannon: He was great. He's ready.

[11:55] Craig Allen Smith: You got this, Craig. You're going to want to see him. You're going to want to see him put the bodysuit on. You're going to see the want to see the act. Can you not put it on the spot? But what does the accent sound like for you?

[12:05] Craig Allen Smith: What is the word, Miss Doubtfire? So you're figuring it out for your dear.

[12:09] Craig Allen Smith: My education.

[12:11] Robert Bannon: No, what is the line? I just blanked on the I say it a hundred times.

[12:15] Craig Allen Smith: You're figuring it out for your dear. My.

[12:18] Robert Bannon: What is it? It's my.

[12:20] Craig Allen Smith: You're fine. You got to show in a couple of hours. You can memorize. Yeah.

[12:24] Craig Allen Smith: Right, right, right. It's fine.

[12:26] Craig Allen Smith: Hello.

[12:28] Robert Bannon: There we go. I got that perfect.

[12:29] Craig Allen Smith: When you don't see when you don't have the outfit on, it's hard to be her.

[12:33] Robert Bannon: Yeah, it's getting the moment. You have nothing to do, Detroit. This weekend, you're bored. You're going to be at home. You're going to be sitting there.

[12:38] Craig Allen Smith: Right. Option of getting out and about.

[12:42] Robert Bannon: Go to what was what's the weather going to be like this weekend?

[12:45] Craig Allen Smith: Hot. It's going to be hot, isn't it?

[12:47] Robert Bannon: Yeah. It's not like Sheboygan.

[12:50] Craig Allen Smith: Right. I'm going to find out, Craig. Hold on. I'm going to let you know what condition I feel bad for the people of Sheboygan, but that gave me joy.

[12:59] Craig Allen Smith: It's going to be 68 degrees.

[13:01] Robert Bannon: It's perfect weather.

[13:02] Craig Allen Smith: Really going to Sheboygan?

[13:04] Robert Bannon: Yeah.

[13:06] Craig Allen Smith: You're going to Sheboygan, Ohio.

[13:07] Robert Bannon: Yes. Sunday, Sheboygan, Toledo, 7th Sheboygan, Wisconsin.

[13:12] Craig Allen Smith: Oh, there it is.

[13:14] Robert Bannon: Yeah, it is. Oh, you know, Craig, you know, it's down the street from the mom. Spaghetti is Eminem's.

[13:19] Craig Allen Smith: Oh, restaurant with a mom.

[13:21] Robert Bannon: OK, from the song.

[13:23] Craig Allen Smith: Well, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[13:23] Craig Allen Smith: Getty sandwich.

[13:25] Robert Bannon: Oh, my gosh.

[13:26] Craig Allen Smith: I had one, but it is OK.

[13:29] Robert Bannon: Sounds good. So everybody get go eat some spaghetti sandwiches and then go see Mrs. Doubtfire this weekend, right? Detroit tickets are available on Ticketmaster, or you can go to 313 Presents dot com. Or if you're around the country and you want to see the show in Sheboygan or wherever, you're going to be Doubtfire the musical dot com and go see Craig and congratulate him on this incredible epic run.

[13:48] Craig Allen Smith: I promise I'm low all my lines for the show. I promise you got to pay for them, people. I've done this over 200 times.

[13:56] Robert Bannon: He's a pro. He's ready.

[13:58] Robert Bannon: Right. Thank you so much for hanging out with me. Congratulations.

[14:01] Craig Allen Smith: Hey, thanks. Thanks so much for having me.