The 101 Dalmatians Musical is coming to Dallas tonight, and will continue to travel through the United States in 2010.
This Broadway musical is based off of Dodie Smith’s book, which has now been translated into 47 languages. The 101 Dalmatians Musical is a live performance directed by Jerry Zaks, with many lyrics from Dennis DeYoung, a founder of the rock band, Styx.
The classic story was first brought to the screen by Disney in 1961. Shown from an interesting point of view, the dogs take the lead and take you on an adventure of family and courage.
We often think of dogs as boring, ambiguous characters and often don’t think that dogs must view us the same way. In 101 Dalmatians, the humans, pet owners, of the story are viewed as being helpless and not too bright, standing by helpless as the dogs have to fight for survival and find their way home.
An added surprise to the show, apart from how the directors and artists are going to fit songs into the classic tale, the cast and crew promise that the audience will be ‘wow’ed by a special ending.
Check back tomorrow for a review of the show.
I have to say The 101 Dalmatians Musical was one of the best shows I have seen at the Texas fair grounds, and that’s saying something. I have never smiled so much in a live production. The Dalmatians of the show were played by 8 children, dressed in all white clothes that were unceremoniously dotted with black, who added the children, playful feel to the show. The Dalmatian who stole the show was Lucky, played by Sammy Borla, an amazing dancer who looks like he just stepped out of High School Musical. He has been a WCDE Elite Dancer and a NYCDA Outstanding Dancer, and has participated in dance tours and local shows.
Another one of my favorite points was the way that the people playing humans were put on silts for the performance, to make the people playing animals seen smaller than their owners. Pongo and Missus were played by James Ludwig and Catia Ojeda, who are both thrilled to be part of the show, according to The 101 Dalmatians Musical website. Ludwig is director of the popular websieres, The Happy Hour Guys, and has also preformed in two Broadway musicals, Spamalot and Little Shop of Horrors.
Although all of the shows actors were fantastic, the star was, without a doubt, Rachel York who played CruellaDe Vil . York is best known for her Broadway shows City of Angels, Les Misérables, Victor/Victoria, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Sly Fox, and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. She has also guest started on the Disney show Hannah Montana, and preformed as Lucy Ball in the CBS movie, Lucy.
What irked me a little about the show was the fact that they did not stick to the well known number, 101. There were 8 children playing the puppies, and five or six dogs who would randomly run across the screen. Even when they were using card board but outs of bundles of puppies, there wasn’t near the 97 there claimed to be when the puppies escaped Cruella. I mean come on; would a little more cardboard have been hard to come by?
Although the numbers disappointed me, I have to say that overall I was thoroughly impressed by the show, and will sing praises to the Purina sponsored musical until the tour stops.
