Review: 101 DALMATIANS: THE MUSICAL, Eventim Apollo

101 Dalmatians, the novel and both the films and now the stage musical, is at its core a story about home and family, and the lengths people will go to to protect their homes and families. Unfortunately, it is also a story that involves a sizable canine component, which has proven a logistical and artistic challenge for this revival of the 2022 Regent’s Park production.

When committing a century of canines to the stage, Zinnie Harris’s schmaltzy musical adaptation (which takes elements from Dodie Smith’s 1956 novel, the 1961 Disney film, and the 1996 remake starring Glenn Close) has chosen puppetry, specifically life-size robotic creatures operated by onstage puppeteers.

These puppets move with a gait more akin to a horse than a dog, and their faces convey about as much emotional expression as a sponge. Their heads are also separated from their bodies by an entity I can only describe as looking like a neck brace, an unappealing visual detail which has the unintended effect of drawing the audience’s eye to the hand of the puppeteer working just behind.

These Uncanny Valley variants on man’s Best Friend are unfortunate, because they really do mar the production. One bizarre animatronic could be excused, but when some of this classic tale’s most emotive moments – who can forget one of the puppies nearly expiring from the cold on his daring escape from Cruella de Vil’s lair? – involve the dogs interacting with one another, it’s a problem when these dogs lack the visual signs of humanity needed to connect with the audience (and when we sometimes have as many as 10 dogs and puppeteers on stage, it can also feel crowded).

Thankfully, there’s some redemption to be found in the human performers. A sizeable chunk of this version of the story is devoted to the meet-cute between dog owners Thomas and Danielle (along with their Dalmatians Pongo and Perdita), and earnest performances from Samuel Thomas and Laura Baldwin succeed at providing an emotional anchor for the campy shenanigans yet to come.

Speaking of campy shenanigans, 101 Dalmatians lives and dies on the portrayal of Cruella de Vil as much as it does on the canine performances, and Britain’s Got Talent winner Sydnie Christmas commits fully to her portrayal of the character as a woman-on-the-verge hybrid of Miranda Priestley and Maleficent. There are also some enticing hints at a broader backstory for the character, via allusions to a sister who died in an unfortunate accident.

It’s a tall order to find enough material in films that barely hit the 90-minute mark (the original 1961 animation is only 79 minutes) to pad out a two-act musical, and some additional sections drag. A satirical number taking aim at unscrupulous figures across society (including none other than Boris Johnson) is cleverly written but feels tonally mismatched from the rest of the show.

Ultimately, though, the extra time allows this to be a musical (with music and lyrics by Douglas Hodge), something both original films were desperately crying out for. ‘Animal Lover’ is the sultry Disney villain jazz standard Cruella de Vil has always deserved, and the rhythmically sophisticated patter song ‘Litterbugs’ is a fine showcase for Jeff Brazier and JLS’ Aston Merrygold as Cruella’s henchmen. The recurring ‘Take Me Home’ refrain sung by the dogs could have been saccharine, but just about tips the scales in favour of haunting.

101 Dalmatians is thus a solid retelling of a classic that feels life-affirming without being too sentimental. It’s a reliable choice for a family evening, that is, if you can get over those freakish dog puppets.

101 Dalmatians: The Musical plays at the Eventim Apollo until 30 August

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