101 Dalmatians - Regent’s Park OAT / Tour

I also saw it last night, and enjoyed it. It is an average show in my opinion, with some great bits. The best thing for me was Kate Fleetwood's Cruella, and Pongo and Perdita.

Some spoilers follow. . .

A show like this, where you don't have the rights to the Disney versions of the story, is difficult to do. It's all very well saying to do Dodie Smith's story, but in that one, Pongo is with Missis, and Perdita is with Prince (Prince is the one hundred and first Dalmatian in the Dodie Smith, I seem to recall, lol), so I'd question how much audiences actually would embrace that story, given the reach of Disney into people's hearts and minds.

Instead, this story sticks with Disney's idea of Pongo and Perdita being together (ideas are not copyrightable, only the expression of ideas), and then goes with a bunch of original ideas (Cruella the influencer, the thieves being her nephews) to keep their expression of the ideas as legally fortified against Disney as is possible lol.

Mostly, I'd say what they're going for here is that toe tapping, "Half a Sixpence," Cockney Eastenders musical feel, which is why one of the best numbers, which I'll call "The Litter Song," (I didn't have a song list, so I'll just make up titles lol) involves a lot of alliteration, repetition, and simple stompy musical phrases (da da da dum dum, da da da dum dum, etc). The end song, which I'll call "One hundred and one" adopts the same strategy to rousing effect as well.

The problem is many of the other songs are indeed a bit of a dog's dinner, a mishmash of inconsistent tones, often falling flat.

Cruella's characterisation, though, thoroughly fits the Eastenders mould, and indeed feels like a cross between Samantha Womack's one time whiny glam EastEnder, crossed with the fee-fi-fo-fum giant from Jack and the Beanstalk, crossed with a dominatrix wielding a stick, wearing an Afghan hound on her head.

Somehow Kate Fleetwood makes all this work, and indeed, is the most vital character in the show. Nearly all the flat moments, the moments where the audience were clapping unenthusiastically and half-heartedly, were ones where her character was absent from the stage.

The right-wing anti-woke influencer schtick that Fleetwood has to sell is not rigorously coherent. The idea that Donald Trump could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and lose no supporters, because he channels their antisocial resentment and aggression against "Liberals," is sharply satirised in the Amazon superhero series, "The Boys," through the character of Homelander, for example. Like Homelander, Fleetwood's Cruella gains social media followers who appreciate her being willing to openly express their antisocial tendencies and revenge fantasies, but against dogs? While the writing suggests jokily that dogs mess up pristinely conservative streets, the logical target of such resentment would be dog walkers rather than the dogs, and in fact it is Cruella herself walking the dogs she is beating with her stick lol.

Still, it's just supposed to be silly fun, and not penetrating social satire, and ignoring the pesky details, if you are looking for a disreputable occupation for an East End Glam Cruella on the make, "influencer" seems spot on!

Fleetwood's songs were among the few that were effective and memorable, in my opinion. In the first half, her origin story song, "Best Served Cold," explains her history of mistreatment which has caused her to become a monster, and Fleetwood smashes it. Then, in the second half, she reminded me of Liza Minnelli in Cabaret, as "I Smell Puppies" is redolent of "Mein Herr," I felt, and again, her absolute commitment to the fee-fi-fo-fum hunting of the dogs as well as relishing the filthiest (dog sh*t strewn) lyrics was equally rousing and amusing!

Apart from Cruella's two songs, "The Litter Song" (much reprised) and "One Hundred and One", two other songs of note were "The Barking Chain Song" and "Not Even One (Left Behind)." These two songs were both in the second half, giving it the oomph the first half lacked.

"The Barking Chain Song" was notable for its dancing, as well as being a funky number, with disparate animals all over the place call-and-answering the pack of funky dancing dogs on stage (the two glam poodles on the right were a particularly good laugh).

"Not Even One (Left Behind)" showcased the marvellous voice of Emma Lucia as Perdita, plaintively folk singing her desire to rescue every single dog, and building with the whole ensemble in chorus into something quite beautiful.

Emma Lucia's Perdita had undoubtedly the most exquisite singing voice of the whole evening, and her to and froing with the excellent Danny Collins, as Pongo, was a delight of the evening.

Kate Fleetwood, Emma Lucia and Danny Collins were the undoubted highlights of the show for me, but in between these performers' highlights, lacklustre songs resulted in lulls that left the audience flat.

Overall, this would be 3 stars, for me, were it not for Kate Fleetwood's singular commitment and achievement elevating it up to a 3 and a half stars of worthwhile fun.

Song list

ACT ONE:
1. Go Wild
2. Wrong Tree
3. It's My Treat
4. Bury That Bone
5. Bite It Back
6. Turn Round Three Times
7. Litterbugs
8. Heads Or Tails
9. The English Pub
10. Two Bad Criminals
11. Litterbugs (Reprise)
12. Für fur

ACT TWO

13. Achoo
14. W.D.D.D.
15. Dogtra
16. What The Bleep
17. Delay Her
18. I Can Smell Puppy
19. All Of Our Kisses
20. Turn Around Three Times (Reprise)
21. Cruella's Demise
22. Bury That Bone/Litterbugs (Reprise)
23. One Hundred And One

They probably use the grass side bits for the dogs to have a wee.

These positive reviews are really encouraging. Thank you for sharing. Maybe I will make it along after all!

Do not understand Cruellas costumes at all.

Reviews aren't looking great for this

 Ore like a dog’s dinner.

Although the critics seem to be split across 2, 3, or 4 stars for this, I’ve just seen it for the second time and it’s a solid 4 stars for me and 9/10 on the enjoyment scale.

I do not know how certain publications can give that OAT production of Legally Blonde 5 stars and then give this 2 stars. I know art is subjective but I’m absolutely baffled by that. It would be far closer to the opposite for me.

Kate Fleetwood was in far better voice this evening than the second preview, and the only real change I noticed was the removal of Cruella’s bed in one of the early scenes.

I will definitely be back again before it finishes, I think the show is pure joy.

Will this get a West End transfer?

Exactly. Legally Blonde was a bad production of a brilliant musical. 101 Dalmatians is a great production of an OK musical.

I found this to be “alright”. I HATED “Legally Blonde” and see how they’re essentially going after a lot of the same audience for this one. I hate to sound “old and cranky” but after these shows I admire things like “Crazy For You” and “Anything Goes”, even more than I did before.