'The 101 Dalmatians Musical' by 1214 Foundation - My Review

There were spots everywhere in the auditorium for the opening night of The 101 Dalmatians Musical at Newtown High School. A large audience of excited parents and friends waited in a huge line to enjoy the finished product of the one act musical produced by the 1214 Foundation as a healing activity for the youngest performers in Newtown.

“In Dalmatians, the courage of children (and puppies) creates a family that extends far beyond the one into which they were born,” writes their director Michael Unger. Michael Baroody, MD agrees: “The songs, characters and choreography were no doubt fun but what solidified their experience was overall achievement. They utilized their respective talents and efforts to collectively produce something truly great.”

Upon entering the huge auditorium, everyone noticed that lighted spots surrounded the stage and the set of A ROCKIN’ Midsummer Night’s Dream had been tweaked into one more reminiscent of Great Britain. Throughout the show fine projections between the columns changed with the scenes.

The 101 Dalmatians Musical is still based on the book by Dodie Smith with a book by BT McNicholl, music by former Styx member Dennis DeYoung, lyrics by Mr. McNicholl and Mr. DeYoung, adapted by Michael Unger and Mr. DeYoung. The composer himself had flown in from Chicago to attend this group’s first performance.

For this personalized version of the musical, orchestrations by Danny Troob were done by Stephen Ferri and Steven Dean Moore. Brett Boles was music director. Jennifer Paulson Lee designed the fun choreography for all the spotted ones. The personalization resulted in a Dalmatians with a lot of humor, and tons of heart. Cruella is now a neat freak (“Clean Like Me”) and she has a phobia for spots; while she still sported her trademark black and white hair and red, white, and black ensemble, there is no mention of needing furs for a coat. It was a softer storyline but there was still plenty of puppies wanting to get home and their humans that hope they will. Some of the songs had been changed to fit the new elements of the storyline while others were removed. It all worked well and the kids did a great job with all the musical requirements.

The young performers that took on the lead roles were spot on. Those that required English accents had them, and there were some pretty amazing vocals. The family of Mrs. Dearly (played convincingly by Kayla Verga) and her adoring husband (played to the proper “proper” level by Kyle Shelton) begins with the his and hers canines Pongo (CJ Hoekenga) and Perdita (Cailee Harvey.) Both of these kids made a convincing pup and showed off their wonderful singing voices in their many musical numbers.

Joan Gogliettino played a loving Nanny Cook and James Hunter was splendid as the busy Splendid Vet. Cruella’s henchman Jinx and Jasper aspire to make it to Broadway and as played by Michael Spanedda and Nicolas Stowell respectively, they almost stole the show. They had great comic timing and pulled off a fine duet in “The Time of Our Lives.”

Kristine Zbornik, who was so good in the role of Sister in Goodspeed Musicals recent Damn Yankees, has also appeared in A Catered Affair on Broadway, the first national tour of 9 to 5, and in cabaret and one person shows. The Equity actress came to Newtown to play the nasty Cruella DeVil. She played Cruella as the villain but it was hard not to like her. She threw in some extra humor and often had to gingerly make her way through the sea of puppies in her heels. I could see how much she enjoyed working with her 100 young costars and they no doubt adored her.

Some adorable actors played the named puppies. Matthew Hoekenga (Lucky,) Susan Socci (Roly Poly,) Nora Harvey (Patch,) and the teeny Victoria Jackson (Cadpig) all were spot on. Jacob Shuman was a sheepdog, Lindsay Dievert and Sophia Zimmerman played the Tabby Cats, while Eliza Roth (Puli) Jack Armstrong (Bloodhound) and Rachel Kapteina (St. Bernard) played other breeds of dogs.

There is a Family Chorus, a Show Chorus (including Dogs, Londoners, Party Guests, etc.) and the huge Dalmatian Chorus in very cute black and white outfits and headband ears. They came through the aisles, filled the stage, and delighted all of us. Congratulations to all the professionals that worked with these young performers and helped to make them shine on stage for a joyful production.

The shows runs slightly over an hour and is great for all ages. Three spotted performances remain. August 7 at 7:00pm, August 8 at 11:00am and August 10 at noon. For tickets visit www.1214foundation.org or call 1-866-967-8167 and press one.

Pictured: Some of the dalmatians in rehearsal Photo by Michael Viker