101 Dalmatians - Regent’s Park OAT / Tour

First preview was changed to an open dress rehearsal an hour and a half before the show started (informed via text). I didn't particularly care but the people behind me in the queue were complaining about the lack of notice they were given. They did refund everyone 50% of their ticket price and offer exchanges if people preferred, so I don't really see the problem. The performance itself didn't feel any different than a regular preview. They clearly had not had time to rehearse any bows, though.
As for the show itself - it was cute. Loved the puppets. Nice to see dog characters portrayed at the Open Air in a way that wasn't traumatising. The attempts to modernise the story mostly worked, with the (admittedly big) exception of Cruella. She's an 'influencer' and makes lots of already dated jokes. Kids won't understand half of them and adults won't appreciate them either. They also liken her hatred of dogs to racism several times in ways that are super uncomfortable. If those aren't gone by opening night, someone is making a huge mistake.
Can't say I was blown away by most of the songs, but there is a beautiful one in act 2 that admittedly screws with the pacing but also made me cry so I sort of don't want them to get rid of it even if they maybe should.
There were some big issues with sound - mics not being turned on in time, and also words being incredibly hard to hear when groups of people were singing together. But ultimately they were self-admittedly not ready to open, so it would be harsh to judge them too terribly for that. Hopefully the issues get ironed out.
The four kids did an incredible job.

This sounds absolutely dreadful. Why can’t they just put Dodie Smith’s timeless story on stage without feeling the need to mess about with it? 

What are the costumes like? 

100% agree. I was tempted to book for this and now I almost certainly won't. I don't know why producers are often so scared of just making something timeless and magical. 

Nothing to write home about. Ensemble are all in black and white with lots of polka dots. Cruella's outfits look a little cheap and are mostly underwhelming, considering her character. I think Cruella, her two nephews, and Danielle and Dominic were the only human characters who got to wear colour? The animal costumes are done pretty well. The main ones are puppets, but others are not and they did a lot better with them than Legally Blonde. Not that that's hard.

While Cruella being an influencer is indeed super cringey and all of the jokes are primed to need rewriting on a weekly basis to stay even vaguely relevant (I counted two about Boris Johnson stepping down as PM), the most difficult to sit through was definitely the comparisons of Cruella hating dogs to racism. There's a whole part where she's listening to a podcast? video? (it wasn't totally clear) where they're talking to Cruella (who has gone viral for hitting Pongo and Perdi with a stick (and to give you a flavour of the jokes: Cruella refers to herself as having 'big stick energy'...)) and they say she wants 'cross breed pedigrees to carry papers proving their heritage' and claim they're a threat to the healthcare system. 'If we must have dogs, let's have British dogs for British people.'... She's also written a book called something like 'A Return to Black and White Values' that she's trying to promote. They interview people who support Cruella and talk about how the streets aren't safe anymore because of all the dogs. It's just super uncomfortable to listen to.

Oh dear lord! It's like they shoehorned an entirely different story in there! This sounds absolutely dreadful.

Was also there last night and do agree with a lot of what Fiyero says.

There are a few songs which are good and was humming a couple on the tube home but there are also a few particularly in the first half which aren't great. The excellent sad song in the middle of act 2 needs to remain as it bonds you even more to the dogs. There's a good East End feel to a number of the songs and in fact the whole musical has a definite London feel and not a Broadway extravaganza.

The dogs, especially the puppies are great and their singing and dancing works well. The adult dogs are a bit strange at first with two adults but you get used to it particularly when it gets dark and the second adult blends in. The puppies in a cage is quite inspired, showing both the cruelty of Cruella and the cuteness of the dogs. The finale is full on puppy heaven.

The big issue though is Cruella. She's not terrible, there's just a few bits that just don't land. I like that we see her journey from influencer to full on nasty bitch and there is certainly some parallels with a number of real life right wing individuals although not overtly so.

Her first half songs don't really land that well, particularly the first half finale which needs work visually to get the right feel. She has a big song in the second half where you finally believe in the character. Really didn't like her wigs and feel the iconic 50/50 black/white split should be used.

Overall, there's a Good musical in there, one that I feel could easily be quite big, enjoyed by Young and old, could handle touring and a solid summer/xmas staple. But it needs changes to pace up the First half and settle the second.

But that's just from a public dress rehearsal, so hopefully the necessary changes will be made and it becomes the musical it can be.

Why can’t they just tell the story, without including political commentary or shoehorning in Instagram references?

Every OAT show feels designed by committee, with the committee being exclusively made up of people who all think the same. It is theatre groupthink and it has to stop.


Day One - First Production Meeting




Hip Director [she/they]: Our vision is to take this classic story and modernise it to appeal to a younger audience. [sips soy milk decaf latte and reclines in chair, checking Instagram feed]

Hip Writer [he/that]: What do kids like nowadays? I mean, technically we need to have Cruella de Ville in the show, although personally I object to naming a woman ‘Cruella’ because it is highly offensive to—

Producer [he/him - balding, of the establishment]: Social medias! - that’s the ticket! I know of the social medias. I love the social medias with all the social medianess of it. Think of the marketing possibilities! My friend’s daughter has a social medias and…

Hip Director [becoming flustered]: Look! We are moving too far away from my vision here. The point is I really hate the patriarchy. Make it work. I want jokes about soft targets like Boris Johnson and old people, or we will never speak to our 13-21 year old demographic.

Writer: I got it! “Boris is old and smelly”.

[everyone laughs]

Well, when the theatre emailed me to offer a comp I was tempted. Then I spoke with friends who went last night - all three hated it - and realise that the OAT’s new creative policy is now completely irrelevant to me. I don’t need to ever sit through another “Legally Blonde” atrocity on the senses, thank you very much.

I am told the jokes don’t land, the costumes are typically modern OAT (garish and very cheap) and my friends, all being over the age of 30, felt strongly that once again this show wasn’t made “for them”.

If, at some point in the future, they are able to produce to a show which is actually true to the source material, true to the spirit of the piece and appropriately cast I would consider it.

After seeing Legally Blonde, I was informed the show wasn’t “for me” by cast. How do I know this is? I’m going to assume, based on everything I’ve heard, that it’s not.

Strawman argument from someone who just posted last week to announce they were seeing their first ever West End show. You know nothing more of my politics or career than I care about yours. The difference is I am not charging people £70 a head to hear me take pot-shots at rubbish politicians or agendas I don’t like. I’m not getting paid for it, either.

If I were to read Pride and Prejudice out loud to you, I wouldn’t need to alter the text to make Mr. Darcy a YouTuber and throw in ‘satire’ about government sleaze to “update the story for 2022 sensibilities”.

As for “denigrating a show I haven’t seen”, I’ll gladly take that free ticket if they threw in travel expenses and a full refund for the disaster of Legally Blonde. Otherwise I think I’ll not bother thanks, especially given the response I’ve been getting from real life people whose opinion I value.

Thanks for your response though, always happy to help newbies!

Good stuff - I’ll leave this here as I can tell this is going to really sidetrack things. I do hope everyone who goes enjoys it, anything would be an improvement on LB anyway.

I have already booked for this but I definitely do not want to hear anything about Boris. I have heard enough from him to last me a lifetime.

I want to escape into another world when seeing a production, not awful corny jokes about Boris or the media.

I was thinking about this earlier. I wonder if they changed Cruella because evening acknowledging wearing real fur is super taboo in 2022. I am extremely anti-fur myself, but I can just imagine a baying Twitter mob all over it for “promoting animal cruelty”. Before they know what’s hit them, PETA wallies are outside with placards saying “Down With This Sort of Thing” and “Careful Now”.