101 Dalmatians The Musical at The Alexandra, Birmingham - Review

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Tue 02 Jul 2024 - Sat 06 Jul 2024

Puppy Love is the name of the home for abandoned dogs in 101 Dalmatians - and there was plenty of affection for the musical version of the story when it took to the stage on opening night at The Alexandra in Birmingham. The all-age audience anticipated a thrilling tale of kidnapped hounds, lost puppies and canine capers. And they weren’t disappointed. Skilled puppeteers bring the animals to life on-stage (and also supply the voices), and it’s all credit to them that soon we don’t notice the operators as all our attention is fixed on the puppets.



The story opens at Puppy Love Dogs Home, where abandoned dalmatian Pongo (Linford Johnson) wins the heart of Danielle (Emmerdale’s Jessie Elland , making her musical theatre debut) who adopts him and takes his home. They later meet another dalmatian, Perdi (Emma Tornett), owned by Tom (Samuel Thomas). The dogs ‘encourage’ their owners (or pets, as they call them) to get together, and soon Tom and Danielle are a couple.



So far, so ho-hum – but then things get really interesting with the appearance of Kym Marsh as fashion icon Cruella De Vil, who takes the show to a whole new level. Acting like a pantomime villain, the former Corrie star and Hear'say singer announces she’s wearing clothes made from the skin of a giraffe stolen from a zoo, and launches into a delightful ditty entitled Animal Lover in which she admits she likes them “fresh from the abattoir”. The kids in the audience love it, of course, along with a tune sung by Pongo and Perdi about sniffing each other’s bottoms!



Cruella needs dalmatian puppy skin for her new outfit, so when she discovers that Perdi is pregnant she resolves to obtain the litter, along with as many other dalmatian pups as possible. She’s a magnificent villain, with eye-catching costumes and an endless supply of spiteful putdowns, mainly aimed at her nephews, Casper (Charles Brunton) and Jasper (Danny Hendrix). Bearing a physical resemblance to the burglars in the 1961 Disney movie, they also play the panto card and threaten at times to steal the show. Their slapstick routines make the children laugh, but some clever wordplay from Jasper and witty one-lines from Casper appeal to the adults in the audience. When pretending to be plumbers in order to enter Tom and Danielle’s home to steal the puppies, they say “You can trust us, we’ve got a lanyard”.



The songs by Douglas Hodge are full of toe-tapping melodies and help move the action along, although there’s a welcome singalong break at The Hair of the Dog pub, where a Boris Johnson lookalike is among those that urge us to Contemplate the Criminal.



The imaginative sets designed by David Woodhead, take us from Tom and Danielle’s home to Cruella’s doggy dungeon, from a building’s rooftop to a frightening forest, as the search continues for the stolen dogs. As a bonus, there’s even a snowstorm.

If you want a break from the football, the tennis and the politics on television, make tracks to The Alexandra this week. 101 Dalmatians The Musical runs until July 6.

Rating: 5 out of 5

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