Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre has confirmed its decision to ‘regretfully’ postpone its much-anticipated musical version of Dodie Smith’s much-loved 101 Dalmatians for a second time as the country continues to battle Covid.
The current lockdown coupled with fears about when it will be deemed safe to ease social distancing measures have been cited as the reasons why the ambitious new production needed to be shelved. With rehearsals for the large ensemble cast scheduled to begin in March, the decision was made to cancel the production now.
Announcing the decision, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre’s artistic director Timothy Sheader sounded a note of optimism for the future of the production: “Although we will be contacting all ticketholders to provide them with a full refund, we are exploring all options with our co-producers, writers, and creative team and very much hope to be able to announce new plans for the production in due course.”
Originally scheduled to be the launch production of the 2020 season, the first newly commissioned musical from the prestigious venue had been rescheduled to open the 2021 season in May.
Written by Zinnie Harris and Douglas Hodge, directed by Sheader and 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.
The 2021 season will now open with the rescheduled productions of Romeo and Juliet directed by Kimberley Sykes from 26 June until 24 July followed by Sheader’s new version of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel. Reuniting the director with his Jesus Christ Superstar choreographer Drew McOnie, the production will run from 30 July until 18 September.
Angela Thomas
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