101 Dalmatians has had many iterations over the years, from it’s original book to the infamous Disney movies. Now the story enters a new chapter with 101 Dalmatians the Musical. This new musical started it’s life in the Regents Park Open Air Theatre, and has now been adapted for a UK tour.
We must admit whilst we were excited to relive our youth with this adaptation, we went into this performance quite sceptical. Generally we’re not fans of dog puppets on stage – we often find puppeteers on stage distracts us so much from the puppetry. This show certainly changed our mind. The dog puppets were mesmerising to watch and we were captivated by how skilled the puppeteers were. We soon forgot the puppeteers were even on stage! With the gracious movement of the puppets from a distance you would think they were real dogs. The puppets themselves were designed to both look realistic, and have limbs that mimicked a dogs motion admirably. The puppetry was definitely the highlight of the performance.
The plot loosely followed the plot of the Disney animated movie, with some changes to adapt better to stage. On the whole the story has been condensed down and had more of a pantomime feel to it. We feel this was done purposely to target a younger audience, but the story still retained some sophistication to keep adults entertained. The story felt well paced and was both whimsical and emotional in parts – an excellent all rounder for families.
The orchestrations were all original and catchy. We went in singing the iconic “Cruella De Vil” song in our heads, but after found ourselves singing ‘I’m an animal lover, do do do’! We particularly loved the ‘101’ song, and would love to hear a full cast album.
The set, staging and lighting were all magnificent. Each scene had it’s own distinct set helping develop the narrative. We particularly enjoyed the Twilight Bark set which was well designed to embolden the puppets. On the whole it was ascetically pleasing and set each scene perfectly, or should I say, pawfectly!
If you’re looking for a great family show, this is a show we’d highly recommend seeing.
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