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BrumHour saw 101 Dalmatians at the invite of The Alexandra.
By Dave Massey x.com/BrumHour
Review: 101 Dalmatians at The Alexandra
⭐⭐⭐⭐A really fun show
Direct by Bill Buckhurst, music and lyrics by Douglas Hodge, book by Johnny McKnight, from the stage adaptation by Zinnie Harris and novel by Dodie Smith
The story of The Hundred and One Dalmatians is adapted for the stage featuring plenty of animal characters and very few human characters, Pongo (performed by Linford Johnson) and Perdi (Emma Thornett) lead the animal characters as the parent Dalmatians, with Samuel Thomas and Jessie Elland as their owners Tom and Danielle.
Soon after the story begins, Perdi finds she is pregnant with a litter of puppies, something only revealed when the family goes to see the scary Cruella De Vil (Kym Marsh).
This is a fun, sometimes quite dark story that younger members of the audience might find a little scary and the age guidance does say 5+ but I might suggest it is suitable for those aged seven and upwards. There are some quite adult jokes which kids will not realise. The humour overall is light and gentle, the story is reasonable and follows a more modern style than the Dodie Smith book.
The set, costumes and puppets are excellent, but they are seriously outshone by the vocals. The songs are wonderful and the performer’s voices blend so well together, a testament to how much this large ensemble cast has gelled.
Kym Marsh returns to the Birmingham stage in the second stop of this brand new show playing Cruella with a gloriously rich speaking voice to match the extra glam costumes she wears. Kym also gets to show off her vocals which sometimes reveal her own rich singing voice rather than the evil of Cruella. Kym is a total scene-stealer here!
As a new show, it is still finding its feet and needs to lean into its story with even more confidence and daftness. But it was well worth a visit. A really fun show, 101 Dalmatians is at The Alexandra until 6th July 2024. The tour currently continues until 5th January 2025. Book tickets here: 101dalmatians.co.uk. Discover what is coming up at The Alexandra here: atgtickets.com/venues/alexandra-theatre-birmingham.
