101 Dalmations Question?

Hi! A few weeks ago I was listening to the ahhmazing Seth show on Sirius. I tuned in late and heard an actor talking about (I thought) being cast as maybe Pongo in the upcoming 101 Dalmations? I could be wrong, but thought that's what he was saying. He said he'd been in Spamalot and Little Shop of Horrors. Then, the actor sang the I Wish I Was in College song from Avenue Q live for the audience. I've been searching all over to find out who the actor is, and can't find it anywhere. Am I crazy, or did anyone else hear the same thing? Thanks! Lindy

I thought this show was using real dogs, with the humans doing the singing?

I love the movie (and love the book even more) but I really don't know how they're going to approach this successfully...I believe that any good story can be a good musical, but I'm not getting a good vibe here.

There's a whole channel on YouTube about the musical. It actually looks and sounds pretty cool to me. The humans are all on stilts (!) to make them look bigger than life, and people and kids play the dogs. But they're also using real dalmatians for a couple of big scenes. Looks like fun. And the real doggies are sooooo cute!

Edit: But still no full cast list. Strange.
101 Dalmatians Musical

Updated On: 9/29/09 at 02:21 AM

Thanks Tumadre! I'll keep an eye out for James Ludwig. I've seen the Dalmatians website, Lovesclassics, and I was surprised too that there's not a cast list yet. The adults on stilts idea looks interesting though!

Lindy

Jerry cast his daughter Emma again.

...shocking.

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can't wait to hear about the stilt injuries in this show...

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I'm intrigued by some of the designs of the animals. It sort of looks like DOGS, the Musical. Written by Andrew Lloyd Webber's cat.

The more I see about this show, the more excited I get. It really looks like fun! And I am intrigued by the whole "dogs perspective" concept with the dogs being more "human" than the grotesque oversized humans. If they pull it off it could be quite magical. I can totally picture a 7' Cruella all decked out in fur!

And from what I can tell by watching the videos on the show website, I like the music. It sounds totally appropriate for a family show. Hardly "dreadful" to my ear. I'm really curious what music people have heard. Early workshops, maybe? There's nothing I can find on the web other than the publicity videos.


Dalmatians Web Site

I can see why they'd use both adults and children as the Dalmatians. The adults for the adult dogs and the children for the puppies.

What I've read about the real dogs suggests that they are only used twice, at the end of Act I and for the finale. I can only guess, but I'd say the real dogs will probably be used only when there are no humans around. Perhaps as a way of letting us enter the dogs' world? Supposedly the finale is just the real dogs doing things like moving furniture and mowing the lawn. Sort of a return to normal life once the threat of Cruella is gone. I'm guessing even the set will change for the finale to something undistorted.

It sounds like they are being very true to the spirit of the book. The "real" world belongs to the dogs and the humans are the strange creatures.

Wait... did they get Elizabeth Stanley to play Cruella in the concert? Because last I heard Rachel York was set to take on the role, and Rachel York was definitely not in the Chicago run of Xanadu. Maybe Rachel just wasn't available for the concert?

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It is possible.

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Ah, yes, Joanna. She was in fact in Xanadu, and was absolutely hilarious!

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There is a new show logo on Broadway in Chicago's website. Rachel's name is right on the logo.