101 Dalmatians is a movie the has had a lot of versions, from the original 1961 film through to the 1996 live action remake along with the various versions of Cruella, including the 2021 Emma Stone version, it therefore felt about time it was given the musical theatre treatment.

The show clearly has its roots in the original film with Dannielle rescuing Dalmatian Pongo from the shelter she works at and they soon meet Tom in the local park with his Dalmatian Perdi. Love follows for both human and dogs alike and so does 15 puppies. However Cruella DeVil discovers the puppies and is determined to make a coat out of their skin and she enlists the help of her hapless nephews, Casper and Jasper to dognap the puppies along with other Dalmatians from across the city.

101 Dalmatians The Musical, with book by Johnny McKnight, does seem to struggle to know what it is, at some points it is most definitely a musical yet other times it descends into pantomime territory. This is particularly prevalent in the dialogue between Casper and Jasper who are written with a huge amount in common with a typical pantomime audience friend. The jokes feel out of place by them in what is billed as a musical. It becomes unclear as the tone shifts from scene to scene just who this production is aimed at, the children or the adults as as a result risks falling flat for both.

The book also doesn’t do a huge deal of work in making us root for the human characters Tom and Dannielle and they are virtually nowhere to be seen in Act 2 until the end. The focus is clearly on the dogs which works well in part but other moments lacks the human emotion needed. The focus of the show being the dogs means that there is a huge amount of puppetry and this is where the show really does succeed. Designed by Jimmy Grimes he captures a plethora of different sized Dalmatians, from our fully grown Pongo and Perdi, to the new born puppies to the puppies when they are kidnapped and does so really successfully. It isn’t just Dalmatians however that are featured in the show, there is a range of dogs available for adoption from Danielle’s place of work, all of whom sing ‘Take Me Home’ through to Tabby the cat who helps the puppies escape.

The puppeteers are all incredibly adapt at not only moving their puppet appropriately but voicing them, including a huge amount of singing for each of them. The most moving scene involved Pongo (Linford Johnson), Perdi (Emma Thornett) and 3 of their puppies Spud (Dylan Collymore), Button (Jhanica Van Mook) and Patch (Kenan-Lewis Smith) when the youngest is struggling and to get me that emotionally involved in 5 puppets is no easy task.

Sydnie Christmas plays the villain of the hour, Cruella DeVil and she is wonderful in the role, she gets the opportunity to show off her much applauded vocals as well as showing she is more than just a singer as she devours being the baddie of the piece. Laura Baldwin is a delight as always as Danielle and together with Samuel Thomas as Tom they make for wonderful on stage dog parents.

The music by Douglas Hodge has some great ear worms such as ‘Take Me Home,’ but for every ear worm there are several forgettable numbers and it often felt as if the songs failed to drive the story forward or help the audience get to know the characters more.

For those that haven’t been to the Eventim Apollo it is a huge venue and one that I am not sure is right for musical theatre, with this being the 3rd musical I have now seen there. The set takes up the centre section of the stage with the whole thing framed by arches but this also results in difficult sight lines for those sitting to the extremities as well as it looking almost lost in its surroundings. There are nice touches to it such as Tom & Dannielle’s apartment and how director Bill Buckhurst takes the search for the missing dogs into the auditorium but overall the venue choice does not help the show.

101 Dalmatians The Musical is an endearing night out with puppetry gold but it isn’t a show that will knock the spots off you.

101 Dalmatians is on at Eventim Apollo Hammersmith until 30th August. You can find out more and book here.

If you like this review you might also like my review of Matilda, The Baddies and Starlight Express.