101 Dalmatians (Open Air Theatre, Regent’s Park, London)
Verdict: sweet bastard
Bad Jews (Arts Theatre, London)
Verdict: deceptively serious
We had a Disney animated film of Dodie Smith’s children’s classic in the 1960s; a live-action movie starring Glenn Close as the villainous Mrs. de Vil in the 1990s; and last year a spin-off (Cruella) starring Emma Stone.
But theaters tend to shun Smith’s much-loved story, mostly because of the problems created by putting 101 canines on stage.
Now, however, the open-air theater has taken the plunge (or should I say the pant leg) and has come up with a sympathetic bastard of a musical, starring a delightfully deranged Kate Fleetwood as Cruella, and staged it in the park where the original story was set.
Zinnie Harris and Johnny McKnight’s somewhat dignified adaptation combines the bombast of panto, the mummy of CBeebies, the mischief of The Rocky Horror Show and, inevitably, the schmaltz of Walt Disney.
Still, it’s a hard, cruel heart that wouldn’t warm to the cuteness of Timothy Sheader’s dog-loving, family-friendly production.
![The Open Air Theater has tied the knot (or should I say the pant leg) and comes with a sympathetic bastard of a musical, starring a delightfully deranged Kate Fleetwood as Cruella, and staged in the park where the original story was set.](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/07/29/01/60820037-11059455-image-a-1_1659054688169.jpg)
The Open Air Theater has tied the knot (or should I say the pant leg) and comes with a sympathetic bastard of a musical, starring a delightfully deranged Kate Fleetwood as Cruella, and staged in the park where the original story was set.
The biggest innovation is solving the dog problem by using Toby Olié’s Dalmatian dolls – two of which jump out of the puppeteers’ loins (a bit odd, I must say). These large dogs, Pongo and Perdi, sniff each other’s buttocks, wrap their leash around their owners and turn three times before settling down (an entire song is devoted to this maneuver).
The puppies, meanwhile, are played by small children with big-eyed doll heads and floppy ears; other dogs who later help free them include Dobermans dressed as guards, a poodle in a tutu, and boxers. . . with boxing glove ears.
Fleetwood’s perky Cruella is a hard-boiled Essex girl and social media influencer who insists that “nobody makes a mug out of me — unless it’s official merchandise.”
Her flunkies Jasper and Casper (George Bukhari and Jonny Weldon) are subject to a somewhat grim running gag about losing their mother under a train. And the writers should have had more fun with the owners of Pongo and Perdi, who, unlike the book’s debonair Dearlys, are some hard-up, cohabiting deadbeats.
Douglas Hodge’s music and lyrics are sometimes hard to follow – and sometimes hard to hear. There’s a prog-rock rap called Dogtra; a Cockney knees-up (Two Bad Criminals); and a mandatory mushy song for the puppy who almost doesn’t make the big break, All Of Our Kisses.
![The puppies, meanwhile, are played by small children with big-eyed doll heads and floppy ears; other dogs who later help free them include Dobermans dressed as guards, a poodle in a tutu, and boxers. . . with boxing glove ears](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/07/29/01/60820035-11059455-image-a-2_1659054691720.jpg)
The puppies, meanwhile, are played by small children with big-eyed doll heads and floppy ears; other dogs who later help free them include Dobermans dressed as guards, a poodle in a tutu, and boxers. . . with boxing glove ears
As usual, the de Vil has the best tunes and Fleetwood has a blast with everything from a Kurt Weill-esque jazz intro (It’s My Treat) to a Shirley Bassey-esque belter, I Can Smell Puppy.
Most likely enjoyed by dog lovers and the younger part of the family, but still a big floppy mutt of a show you can’t sniff at.
Could it be that Bad Jews are being mis-marketed as comedy when in fact it is something much deeper? The show, about three Jewish grandchildren in New York fighting over a family heirloom, has been around since 2015. It’s like a Neil Simon comedy, but works better as an Arthur Miller-esque moral dilemma.
The players are Daphna (Rosie Yadid), who is heavily invested in her Jewish heritage and plans to move to Israel; and her cousins: Liam (Ashley Margolis), who doesn’t take religion seriously, and his brother Jonah (Charlie Beaven), a quiet peacemaker who agrees to everything for a quiet life.
The object under discussion is a necklace belonging to their recently deceased grandfather, who kept it safe during the Holocaust.
For starters, Daphna looks a bit like a drone. But the question she poses about what we will be left with if we fail to reinvent the traditions of our ancestors is urgent and challenging.
Writer Joshua Harmon clearly believes his piece has a comedic soul. However, laughter doesn’t always thrive in the silences that run through Jon Pashley’s production.
But gradually I began to feel that something bigger was at stake—and that it would be Solomon’s judgment to determine which cousin would get the necklace.
Billy still has the power to move us to tears
Billy Elliot the Musical (Curve, Leicester)
Verdict: Ballet good
Stephen Daldry’s 2000 award-winning film (written by Lee Hall), about a boy from a mining village in Geordie who discovers a talent for ballet, later became a popular West End musical, with music by Sir Elton John.
Set against the events of the 1984-5 miners’ strike, the show has now been reimagined with great success by director Nikolai Foster and choreographer Lucy Hind.
It’s fair to say Sir Elton’s best work lies elsewhere, but Mr Hall’s deeply humane writing carries the show, which is about loss and grief – for Billy it’s for his dead mother; and for the men of Easington, their livelihood – and the importance of community.
Mr Hall’s naturalistic writing often uses fruity (but very funny) language, but there’s little to really take offense at. For example, the use of the word ‘poof’ only serves to set events in the time and macho world in which Billy lives.
![Set against the events of the 1984-5 miners' strike, the show has now been reimagined with great success by director Nikolai Foster and choreographer Lucy Hind.](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/07/29/01/60820033-11059455-image-a-3_1659054697186.jpg)
Set against the events of the 1984-5 miners’ strike, the show has now been reimagined with great success by director Nikolai Foster and choreographer Lucy Hind.
His father, Jackie (Joe Caffrey), is upset when he discovers that Billy has left a boxing club for ballet lessons taught by Mrs. Wilkinson (Sally Ann Triplett in excellent form), who recognizes his talent.
Ultimately, love and acceptance overcome deep-seated attitudes as Jackie—and his fellow miners—support Billy as he auditions for the Royal Ballet School.
There are catch-in-the-throat moments; when Mrs. Wilkinson reads the letter Billy’s mother wrote to him before she died (The Letter) and when the defeated miners go back to work behind their union flag (Once We Were Kings) stand out. Michael Taylor’s set (with lighting by Ben Cracknell) makes brilliant use of the Curve’s large stage, with the movable chain link fences acting as both real and metaphorical barriers as the miners clash with the police and Billy with his father.
The pulsating band is led by George Dyer, while among a large cast the young patrons on the press night – Jaden Shentall-Lee as Billy and Prem Masani as his best friend Michael – are amazing.
Runs until August 20 — curveonline.co.uk.
Veronica Lee
Beginners and experts alike will love this sexy soufflé
Don Pasquale (Glyndebourne)
Verdict: Perfect for starters; bliss for advanced users
Opera aficionados call Donizetti’s comic opera Don Pasquale a ‘starting opera’. If that means uncomplicated, easily digestible, filled with beautiful melodies – and short – then so be it.
If they mean it’s bland, pureed baby food, it’s not. It’s a hot passion fruit souffle that, when it rises, is as light as air and an exquisite combination of sweetness and tartness. But only if cooked to perfection. It seems effortless, but requires both talent and a good recipe.
Director Mariame Clément has both in spades, as this is the sixth revival of her 2011 production. I’ll take my esteemed opera critic colleague’s word that it has never been sung so sensationally well.
Her staging is spectacular. During the overture, the stage turns as the mischievous Malatesta (Huw Montague Rendall), the story’s fixer, dives through paintings and wardrobes from one sleeping character to another’s room, illustrating how he will make his way into their lives for his own amusement; and to force the deluded old dog Don Pasquale to keep his pants on.
![Opera aficionados call Donizetti's comic opera Don Pasquale a 'starting opera'. If that means uncomplicated, easily digestible, filled with beautiful melodies ¿ and short ¿ then it is.](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/07/29/01/60820031-11059455-image-a-4_1659054702709.jpg)
Opera aficionados call Donizetti’s comic opera Don Pasquale a ‘starting opera’. If that means uncomplicated, easily digestible, filled with beautiful melodies – and short – then so be it
For the moral of this story, as Erin Morley’s charmingly coquettish Norina reminds us, is that “marriage in old age is for fools,” which gave the evening the biggest laugh.
But in a clever twist, after Norina’s marriage to Don Pasquale’s dripping cousin Ernesto (a gorgeous Glyndebourne debut by Luca Bernard) was arranged, Malatesta’s intimacy with Norina suggests an ongoing affair. Their shared hot tub, as they frothily plan their next move, won’t be their last.
Playfulness is the order of the day. A letter arrives in the beak of a bird, fallen from above; a beautifully perforated chorus of fops, all a whiter shade pale, make for a gossip commentary. There is also unexpected poignancy, best of all Ernesto’s solo to the melody of a trumpet.
delicious.
Georgina Brown