REVIEW: 101 Dalmatians The Musical at Mayflower Theatre

98, 99, 100…   101! They’re all ready! I hope they made room, because ‘101 Dalmatians The Musical’ is the latest production to have made its way onto the stage at Mayflower Theatre. ‘101 Dalmatians’ is a story that most of us (once again) probably are most aware of from Disney’s 1961 animated classic - which is actually based on a 1956 original book of the same name. Of course for some of the younger viewers, they may know the story and characters of ‘101 Dalmatians’ from the 2021 Emma Stone movie all about the famous villain ‘Cruella’. Now most things that have been affiliated with Disney usually translate very well to the stage. Whether that is Disney doing it themselves, or the story just being adapted - the vision is usually the same.

With the original film not being a musical, it does feature an original pairing of score and lyrics from Douglas Hodge. I don’t want to keep mentioning Disney as this isn’t a Disney production; but I do want to say that unlike other Disney stage adaptations, because this story didn’t have any music originally, it meant it was a much harder job to create this music from scratch. And I think they’ve done it, and tapped into the ‘musical style’ really effectively! I straight away could hear where they had taken a little bit of inspiration from. There was what sounded like little bits of ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’, as well as ‘Aladdin’ -  and it kind of just worked. Intentional or not, there were little nods to musical theatre/other shows throughout, but more on this a little bit later.

I was a big fan of the attention to detail in this show. It relies heavily on puppetry, and the design and set made this seamless (excuse the pun). The cast also did a brilliant job at bringing these characters to life. I always say that a puppeteer has done their job properly if you forget that the puppet they’re controlling is a puppet. And I can confidently say that this cast did exactly that. What makes it a little bit more impressive is the fact that as puppeteers they’re always in view, and in the nicest way possible you just forget that they’re even there. Heading the cast as the villain ‘Cruella De Vil’, was the amazing Kym Marsh. She embodied this role perfectly. In the acting, in her persona, in her singing - just brilliant! Cruella’s comedy duo nephews ‘Casper & Jasper’ were played by Charles Brunton and Danny Hendrix who were both on their A-game! Nearly every time they were on the stage, laughs came rolling out of the auditorium from all ages. They knew their roles, and they played them excellently. I’ve already mentioned how well the whole cast were as puppeteers, but they were also incredibly impressive as an ensemble and as singers in general. However without giving spoilers away, I think one cast member in particular ‘found their spots’ and stole the show - even if it was only briefly…

I mentioned earlier how impressed I was with the overall design of this musical, and that goes for set, costume, puppets, lights, effects - everything. Overall it was just really, really strong. It felt like a big production, and that’s exactly what it was. There’s one scene in particular which I really enjoyed and this was right at the start of the show when ‘Pongo’ was getting a wash. He was covered in mud/dirt which were actually just rags, which then got washed off (pulled off) as he was getting bathed. It’s something so simple, yet something so effective at the same time. The scene changes were also seamless. You’d transition from place to place without wandering what was going on. The lights really helped in showing the difference between night and day, and I think they played a vital role in ‘hiding’ some of the puppeteers for when they needed to be masked. Any scene with ‘Cruella’ also had all of the lights elevated, which again may not have been intentional but there was a hue of red every time she was on stage. This is the attention to detail I’m talking about! Bravo!

I may sound like a broken record here, but if you’ve ever read one of my reviews you will know how much I think a live band/orchestra adds to a show. I’m so glad ‘101 Dalmatians’ had a live band because it just added so much more atmosphere and energy. Although the original score and lyrics were very impressive, I do feel like a lot of them were quite forgettable. Some of them were really strong numbers - but I don’t think any of them left me singing/humming them on my way out of the theatre. Having said this, I think if these same songs would’ve been accompanied by a soundtrack over a band, they would’ve been lost completely. But like I mentioned earlier, the songs were performed brilliantly and to such a high standard by this cast.

In all honesty, I was a bit worried as to how this musical was going to turn out but I was left satisfied. It was a bit of fun that told a family favourite story, which is all it needed to be. It wasn’t ever going to be a groundbreaking piece of theatre that has these different layers and character developments, neither did it ever need to be that. It needed to be fun for the family, and they smashed that. I would say its aimed more towards the older child just because I don’t think its quite enough to keep the attention span of the little ones just yet. Much like a lot of shows aimed towards children, it was still littered with innuendo/jokes for the adults in both the dialogue and lyrics. A particular favourite reference was to a former Prime Minister in one of the Act 1 songs (possibly in a song called ‘Contemplate The Criminal’). I mentioned nods to musical theatre earlier as well, and I think the biggest of all of these was ‘Cruella’s’ ‘Elphaba’ moment - if you know, you know.

Overall, this musical was a lot a fun that showcased some impressive puppetry and storytelling. Is it going to be something unlike you’ve ever seen before? Probably not, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go and see it. If you’re a fan of the story, or any of the Disney films, or maybe if you even saw it when it was at the Open Air Theatre in 2022 - come and give this a watch. I’d go as far to say that even if you’re just an ‘Animal Lover’, this is definitely one to catch. I think this was a nice middle ground between pantomime and a serious musical but I think that’s what the aim was. The interaction with the crowd, and the actors coming into the crowd added a certain level of personality to the show and I’m here for it. ‘101 Dalmatians The Musical’ is in Southampton until the 26th before it continues on its UK tour. This show is the first time I’ve ever realised that ‘Cruella De Vil’ has the surname Devil, and I feel like I now need to go back and rewatch the movies immediately. Who knows, I may even catch the show again myself! I wish all the cast and crew the best of luck going forward with the rest of their tour.