Rob McClure has extra pair of hands for quick changes of 'Mrs. Doubtfire'

Jan. 5—You're a producer looking to put together the North American Tour of "Mrs. Doubtfire," the musical based on the 1993 movie starring Robin Williams as a man who, after a split with his wife, disguises himself as a woman to stay involved in his kids' lives by taking a job as the family housekeeper.

You want to hire a star dresser, a person devoted to helping Rob McClure — the actor who plays Daniel Hillard and his alter ego, Scottish nanny Euphegenia Doubtfire, and has been with the show since its debut in Seattle in 2019 and through its Broadway run in 2021 and '22, after being shut down in March 2020 during previews — through a performance's myriad costume changes.

You probably ask yourself a question: "Well, who's done that job on the road with 'Tootsie'?"

The answer — or at least an answer — is Dylan A. Blussick, who spent a year on tour with "Tootsie" helping a performer change in and out of male and female outfits before jumping to "Mrs. Doubtfire," which is about to start a three-week stint at the Connor Palace in Cleveland as part of Playhouse Square's KeyBank Broadway Series.

"That was definitely part of the discussion," Blussick says during a recent phone interview. "When I first was interviewing about the show and I was talking with the producers and the production company about 'Tootsie,' they were asking me questions about how we were doing, how we were executing (the musical) across the country."

With a Broadway show, he says, a production typically has the luxury of being in one house for its entire run.

"(On tour), every theater and venue space is different, so finding that consistency in the way that you set up all your costumes and set up your space so that you're keeping consistency for the performer is very important, too," He says. "That way, it doesn't feel like a new show every time the performer's doing it because that can get kind of hectic."

Blussick resides in Pittsburgh, where he grew up and started on the path to his eventual career as an actor at age 5.

"At a very young age, I was producing my own shows for the neighborhood," he says, "and doing the costumes, producing ticket sales ... (and decided) that this kind of career was for me."

Eventually, he figured out what his niche would be.

"(I have) always had a passion for clothing and an engineer brain of how clothes are made, so costuming seemed like the perfect choice," Blussick says.

When he's not on the road, he works on Broadway tours that come through town and TV and film productions shot there, such as the Paramount+ series "Mayor of Kingstown" and the recently released Netflix film "Rustin." In fact, while working on the latter, he and others made trips to Cleveland to hit up vintage clothing stores, including Sweet Lorain, in search of pieces for the 1960s-set movie about Civil Rights figure Bayard Rustin (Colman Domingo).

"Mrs. Doubtfire" is his third tour, following Disney on Ice's 'Into the Magic" and "Tootsie."

As for the current gig, developing what is, out of necessity, an intimate relationship with McClure — whose wife, Maggie Lakis, performs opposite him as Daniel's wife, Miranda — was the first priority.

"I met Rob during our technical rehearsal in Buffalo, and, yeah, we just dove right into doing this show together," Blussick says. "And Rob, of course, did the role on Broadway and knew what he was signing up for, but it was all kind of a new process for me, and Rob was so gracious in letting me explore my way of doing the show with him.

"We found our groove of doing the show because you have to be in sync with each other. And, you know, it has to be enjoyable because you're going to be doing it for the next year."

Blussick refers to himself as "the man behind the magic."

"The whole premise of (the show) is (McClure) changing from Daniel Hillard to Mrs. Doubtfire, so there has to be somebody that just takes care of Rob McClure as Daniel and Mrs. Doubtire so that the magic quick changes can be executed flawlessly every night," he says. "There's so much that could go wrong."

He has the numbers to back that up:

— 31 changes for McClure per performance

— The Mrs. Doubtfire character wears seven dresses, six body suits, three cardigans, five pairs of Oxford heels, one pair of sneakers — "You'll have to see the show to know why she's wearing sneakers," he says — one pair of glasses, two pairs of earrings, five wigs and one prosthetic mask

— And then Daniel wears jeans, polos, blazers, different pairs of shoes, etc.

Oh, and the tour recently passed the 100-performance marker, if you want to bring multiplication into this mathematical mix.

It's safe to say McClure has earned a fan in Blussick, who says the actor is masterful on stage.

"I not only love and enjoy working with Rob, but anytime we're not doing a change together — which is pretty rare in this show — I'm not only watching him on stage for his safety but I'm watching him because what he's putting out to the audience ... is incredible. I'm in awe every night," he says. "There's not one single show that he isn't giving his all, and he's also just a really genuine and super-kind human. And that makes all the difference when you're spending a year together."

For his performance in New York, McClure earned nominations from the Drama Desk Awards, Outer Critics Circle Awards and Tony Awards.

"Mrs. Doubtfire" largely is the work of the folks behind the popular musical "Something Rotten," each show boasting music and lyrics by brothers Wayne Kirkpatrick and Karey Kirkpatrick and a book by Karey and John O'Farrell.

The North American Tour required the cast and crew to work through the holidays, Blussick speaking from the stop in St. Louis the week between Christmas and New Year's after "Doubtfire" performances through Christmas Eve in Minneapolis and a travel day on Christmas.

"I'm kind of used to it at this point," he says. "I love what I do so much, so it really is so much fun that you don't even have time to think about it."

The production did fit in a gift exchange and holiday party, he says.

"It brings the company together — you know, because we create our own little family on the road."

As you would imagine, this show — which Blussick calls "a Christmas gift" — has been a draw for families.

"To (see them) enjoy it as a family for the holiday season is something so special to me," he says. "There is a different energy because there's so much excitement around the holidays and everybody's just happy to be there and enjoying time together."

'Mrs. Doubtfire'

Where: Playhouse Square's Connor Palace, 1615 Euclid Ave.Cleveland.

When: Jan 9 through 28.

Tickets: $39 to $139.

Info: PlayhouseSquare.org or 216-241-6000.