Olivier and Tony Award-nominee Kate Fleetwood will head the cast as the diabolical Cruella de Vil when Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre’s musical version of Dodie Smith’s much-loved 101 Dalmatians make its long-awaited debut this summer.
An Olivier Award nominee for London Road at the National Theatre and a Tony Award-nominee for the 2007 Chichester Festival Theatre production of Macbeth, Fleetwood has been attached to iconic role in Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre’s first newly-commissioned musical since early 2020.
Originally scheduled to be the launch production of the 2020 season and postponed for a second time last year due to the pandemic, 101 Dalmatians will now debut as the centrepiece of the prestigious venue’s 90th anniversary season from 12 July until 28 August 2022.
Fleetwood will star alongside Dalmatians Pongo and Perdi who will be puppeteered by Danny Collins (Pongo voice), Emma Lucia(Perdi voice),Yana Penrose (Perdi head) and Ben Thompson (Pongo head).
The cast also includes: Jamil Abbasi (ensemble), Stuart Angell (Captain Head),George Bukhari (Jasper), Sonya Cullingford (ensemble), Jade Davies (swing), Karen Fishwick (Danielle), Joseph Fletcher (ensemble), Taofique Folarin (swing), Courtney George (ensemble), Tash Holway (swing and dance captain), CJ Johnson (ensemble), Kody Mortimer (ensemble), Simon Oskarsson (swing), Tom Peters (Captain Voice), Eric Stroud (Dominic), Jonny Weldon (Casper) and Grace Wylde (Madam Doué).
Announcing the cast, director Timothy Sheader said: “We are incredibly excited to finally bring 101 Dalmatians to our stage after postponing the production twice due to the pandemic.
“I think audiences are going to love reconnecting with this favourite story outside in Regent’s Park; the original home of Pongo and Perdi. The brand new script and music are both packed with fun and joy and I am delighted that Kate Fleetwood’s filming schedule for The Wheel of Time allows us the opportunity to work with her on creating that all time baddie, Cruella de Vil.”
Featuring puppetry designed and directed by Toby Olié, the musical theatre version of the story of Cruella de Vil and her nefarious plans for a family of cute Dalmatian puppies had been in development for two years ahead of its planned 2020 debut.
101 Dalmatians has music and lyrics by Douglas Hodge and a book by Johnny McKnight from a stage adaptation by Zinnie Harris. The creative team for the production includes: Shanaé Chisholm (casting assistant), Josie Daxter (associate director), Jill Green (casting director), Tash Holway (assistant choreographer), Barbara Houseman (voice and text and season associate director), Howard Hudson (lighting designer), Maia Kirkman-Richards (assistant puppet director), Nick Lidster for Autograph (sound designer), Katrina Lindsay (costume designer), Ingrid Mackinnon (season associate: intimacy support), Tarek Merchant (musical director), Verity Naughton and Nick Hockaday for Verity Naughton Casting (children’s casting directors), Colin Richmond (set designer), Liam Steel (choreographer) and Sarah Travis (musical supervisor and orchestrator).
The Open Air Theatre is working with Mousetrap Theatre Projects to create a relaxed performance of 101 Dalmatians on 14 August.
The 90th Anniversary Season will open with the new production of Legally Blonde (13 May to 2 July) directed by Lucy Moss and a contemporary re-telling of Sophocles’ epic Antigone by Barber Shop Chronicles writer Inua Ellams, commissioned by Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre and directed by Max Webster.
Angela Thomas
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