Get ready for a woof-ingly wonderful time at the Grand Opera House this week – as smash-hit musical 101 Dalmatians stops in York on its major UK and Ireland tour.
Based on Dodie Smith’s classic canine caper, it features music and lyrics from Douglas Hodge and book by Johnny McKnight, from the stage adaptation by Zinnie Harris.
101 Dalmatians is at Grand Opera House from Tuesday 5 to Saturday 9 November.
The story begins with a young couple falling for each other, Tom (Samuel Thomas) and Danielle (Jessie Elland), who meet in the park when their dog’s leads tangle them together! The dogs, Pongo (Linford Johnson) and Perdi (Emma Thornett), have a love story of their own and become mum and dad to a litter of young pups.
With an incredible singing voice, it was the musical theatre debut for Jessie Elland, who recently played Chloe Harris in Emmerdale.
Cruella De Vil (Kym Marsh) plots to take the new puppies along with her nephews-cum-sidekicks, Jasper (Danny Hendrix) and Casper (Charles Brunton). The brothers bring a panto-style comedy to the show, in a good way.
Kym Marsh, known for Coronation Street and Hear’say, played a confident, comical villain with incredible vocals and amazing costumes.
From the opening scene the dogs were mesmerising, and all so life like! The talented puppeteers guided them around the stage, whilst singing, woofing and playing the part flawlessly – at times it was easy to forget they were puppets.
I must not forget the cats either, they moved purrr-fectly!
The whole cast was very much in sync and it was a joy to watch. It’s definitely not just for kids, with some great humour throughout, an emotional moment or two, fantastic staging and a wonderful car scene with a magical ending.
101 Dalmatians is at the Grand Opera House York until Saturday 9 November. Tickets start from £13 and are available via the Grand Opera House website here.