101 Dalmatians at Palace Theatre, Manchester – puppets, puppies, and one evil villain

101 Dalmatians have arrived at the Palace Theatre in puppet form, offering family-friendly entertainment, heart warming themes and one EVIL villain. 

With extremely impressive production value, ranging from magnificent set pieces to lavish costumes, as well as some of the best puppets I’ve yet to see on stage – 101 Dalmatians will leave all entertained, from little ones to… not so little ones. 

I came into this production of 101 Dalmatians in Manchester in quite an interesting position, because if I’m being completely honest, I don’t think I’ve watched any of the movie adaptations or read any versions of the original novel since I was a young child.

So in what is quite a rarity for myself, I was watching a musical in which I hadn’t a clue what was going to happen. This made for a fun and entertaining ride throughout the entire show, although I’m sure those who’re already familiar with the plot will still find as much enjoyment as I did. 

The show as a whole was thoroughly spellbinding – offering fantastic ensemble numbers, belly-laugh comedy, a sincere and wholesome plot and as we’ll discuss in a moment, a truly fitting nemesis. 

To highlight individual performances, I’d like to first start with the protagonists of our story. Samuel Thomas as Tom, Jessie Elland as Danielle, Linford Johnson as Pongo and Emma Thornett as Perdi.

These four made a superb litter (little dog based pun for you there), spending the entirety of Act One as a foursome, building up their characters and demonstrating to the audience how important they all are to one another.

Then in Act Two splitting up into their separate human/animal dynamic duos, both venturing on different quests with the sole purpose and saving the 99 other dalmatians. 

Special shout-out to Linford, Emma and the other members of the ensemble who throughout the show expertly maneuvered the K9 puppets in such a way that the biggest compliment I could pay them, is to say, that after a while I forgot they were even there. 

Now for the grey area between protagonists and villains… Casper and Jasper, portrayed wonderfully by Charles Brunton and Danny Hendrix. This dynamic duo offered constant comic relief and had by far the most fleshed out character arcs of the entire show. Transforming from clueless sidekicks, to misguided villains all the way through to repentful heroes. 

This brings us to the one, the only… Cruella De Ville. Portrayed by Kym Marsh, there was no escaping the fact that she was the person people in the audience were most eager to see. With expectations high and being tasked with taking on the role of such an iconic villain, I’m happy to say that Kym 110% delivered.

With an ominous stage presence, Kym held the audience in the palm of her hand throughout every scene she featured in. Offering up stellar vocals and dance moves to match, she really was the villain the dalmatians needed. 

All in all, 101 Dalmatians thrills as it offers big set pieces, flashy musical numbers, terrifying villains, magical puppetry and all out family-friendly entertainment. 

The show runs until 10 August and with limited tickets still available, I urge you all to get yourself down to the Palace Theatre in Manchester and enjoy 101 Dalmatians. 

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Featured image: Phil Tragen