Big cheer goes up for 101 Dalmatians musical
101 Dalmatians the Musical
at New Theatre Oxford
from December 3-7
Review by JON LEWIS
DOUGLAS Hodge and Johnny McKnight’s homegrown musical 101 Dalmatians the Musical, based on Zinnie Harris’s stage adaptation of Dodie Smith’s 1956 novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians, does not take itself too seriously.
Created originally for the Open Air Theatre Regents Park in 2022, and redirected at the New Wimbledon Theatre this year by Bill Buckhurst, the UK tour promoted by Runaway Entertainment is most notable for Jimmy Grimes’ superb puppetry.
Whether it is Handspring-style dalmatians (Grimes has worked on War Horse) or fluffy hand puppets, the stage is constantly populated by Grimes’ characterful creations voiced by the puppeteers.
Emma Thornett’s Perdi and Linford Johnson’s Pongo, the adult dalmatians whose subsequent litter of 15 puppies become the motor of the plot, are given some of the show’s most notable songs and witticisms, calling their owners their pets and wondering whether they would become friends faster if they sniffed bums like they do.
The young couple they live with, seen meeting in a park in the first scene, are a cutesy pair of dog-lovers.
Tom (Samuel Thomas) and Danielle (Jessie Elland), however, put their dogs’ lives in danger when Tom gets the chance to show his fashion designs to a wealthy socialite, Cruella De Vil (Kerry Ellis).
Oozing sensuality and comic nastiness, Ellis commands the stage wearing her outlandish animal-skin outfits (costume designer, Sarah Mercadé).
Dominating her Haus de Vil fashion emporium, Cruella rejects all man-made fabrics, mostly wearing patterns from zoo animals until she becomes excited by Tom’s designs.
When she sees Perdi and Pongo she hatches a plan to steal their forthcoming litter of puppies with the help of her inept nephews, henchmen Casper (Charles Brunton) and Jasper (Danny Hendrix). They work as a traditional music hall double act, the comic heart of the show.
Douglas Hodge’s numbers have an Oliver!-like catchiness, most notable in the tongue-twisting song Litterbugs, so good it gets a second rendition. Hodge is generous in enabling all the leads to burst into song so that they all get their moments to hold the stage.
This crowd-pleasing production deserved its many cheers as the curtain fell.
