It was only a matter of time before someone picked up the idea of taking the charming story about spotted dogs and a malevolent villain and transforming it into a stage musical. The national tour of The 101 Dalmatians Musical, based not on either Disney film treatment but on the original novel by Dodie Smith, has stopped at the Dallas Music Hall courtesy of Dallas Summer Musicals.

Unfortunately, as it is right now, the show is a complete mess and in desperate need of a complete renovation. The book by B.T. McNicholl is all over the map, trying desperately to make sense of talking dogs and humans. It never finds a true arc in its storytelling or character development and sorely lacks robust comedic writing as the current jokes fall flat.

We are taken on a journey with the parent dogs to find their kidnapped children (puppies), with distractions and irritating characters to block their journey. Theses characters stop the action and flow, what little there is to begin with, and perform humdrum, vapid numbers that really don't need to be there. Examples of this include a vaudeville duet for the villains, a dreadful duet about cooking in the kitchen, and a baffling company number involving a band of gypsies.

McNicoll's biggest crime is what he has done with the character of Cruella De Vil, who, let's face it, is the true star of the two Disney films. At the beginning of the first act a character makes a comment that Cruella's last name means "Devil." McNicholl latches onto this word and uses the metaphor as the only characteristic and focus for the role. Is she supposed to be Satan in drag? Or his daughter? Wife? Muse? The tissue-thin written character is focused on getting a coat made from dogs. We never know what made her this way. There is a scene about her showing off the latest furs of the season at a party. Um ... why? Is she a fashion designer? It would have been such delicious fun if she were a big time fashion designer who is about to have the splashiest show the Paris fashion runway has ever seen. There could be a great runway show of outlandish fur costumes and a hysterical number for Cruella. It is very disappointing to see the best and most memorable role of the films lacking the hilarious camp overtones and side-splitting one liners she demands.

For the score, Dennis DeYoung composed the music, while McNicholl wrote the lyrics. The DeYoung name might ring a bell to you rock fans, as he was the lead singer of the 1980s band Styx. DeYoung composed many of the band's major hits. Boy, could we use something like "Come Sail Away," "Mr. Roboto" or "Babe" in this score. The majority of the score seems to be under the effects of valium. Many of the songs lack pizzazz and Broadway-style gusto. They don't have a unique musicality that begs for a second hearing. And most of the numbers do not provide any true character development or subtext. Where DeYoung and McNicholl miss the boat completely are in their songs for Cruella. First off, to have such a memorable character limited to only two numbers in the first act and then just one song in the second act is a crime. What makes it even worse is that the numbers composed for her go nowhere: no clever lyrics or terrific musical composition for her to perform.

The few numbers that do work are the ones written for the dogs; there is the sweet and soothing "A Perfect Family," Pongo's adorable "World's Greatest Dad" and the lovely ballad "One True Love."

It a mystery how acclaimed and Tony Award winning director Jerry Zaks did not see the numerous flaws in this production. The staging is static, dull and lifeless. It is an evening full of sit and sing or stand and sing. The pace seems off kilter, and the performances are hit and miss.

One of the biggest mistakes is having all of the adults on stilts. That's right, stilts. I totally get what he is trying to achieve here—that the audience see everything from the point of view of the dogs. But the actors have difficulty "dancing" on the stilts and even and walking normally. You can see their eyes dart endless times down to the floor to make sure they are not going trip on something. It confines their movements, dancing, and energy, and the choreography is dull and limited.

I thoroughly enjoyed the creative idea of using tiny cutouts of characters and Cruella's car a la "shadow puppet theater" for several scenes. This turns out to be a concept that works beautifully.

The choreography by Warren Carlyle is lackluster and elementary. While I appreciate the kids (who portray the puppies) going all out in the frenetic, jazz/pop/hip-hop flavored dance routines, there's a very familiar vibe and look reminiscent of the audition episodes of "So You Think You Can Dance."

Robert Morgan's costume design is quite attractive with some terrific creations throughout the cast. But, because of all the talk of furs and even a whole scene dedicated to furs, what Morgan designed for Cruella is all wrong. She needs a massive, over the top fur with a long train to make her grand entrance to her own party. Instead she wears a long white wrap that looks like she skinned a Muppet backstage. The costumes for the gypsies and the bumbling sidekicks are quite colorful in design as are the costumes for the humans in the opening number at the park. Cruella's gowns are serviceable, but sorely lack that over the top grande dame haute couture that a woman of her taste would wear. Plus the idea of having all of her costumes in red hues gets old real fast.

What keeps the production from being a total failure is the hard working, never-give-up mentality of the majority of the cast. At the performance I attended, it was a tough house, but they gave it their all.

Chuck Ragsdale as Prince, the Dalmatian who serves as our narrator, does a fine job in helping the audience through the dilapidated script. A charming stage presence and warm glow of a smile add to his performance. For such a large role, it is alarming that he doesn't even have a solo to sing.

One of the true stand out performances of the night comes from James Ludwig as Pongo, the dad Dalmatian. He has a glowing stage presence and makes terrific acting choices, making sure to use his body to remind the audience that he is a dog. With a smooth tenor voice, Ludwig sings alluringly several of his numbers that have him turning in a scene-stealing performance.

Catia Ojeda portrays Missus, Pongo's wife. While Ms. Ojeda has a beguiling singing voice, she never seems to keep up the same level of energy, intensity and commitment to characterization of a dog that Ludwig does. She plays the role too human-like. However, she does a marvelous job with her second act solo, "My Sweet Child."

Michael Thomas Holmes (Jasper) and Robert Anthony Jones (Jinx) are the nefarious sidekicks who do the dirty work for their employer, Cruella. These two remind me of two other villain sidekicks from another Disney animated film, The Little Mermaid, Flotsam & Jetsam, the two slithering eels whose master was the octopus villain Ursula. Holmes and Jones have keen comedic timing and delivery that provides some laughs. Alas, another major flaw in the book wounds their characterizations severely. Both repeatedly mention really wanting to be on a British reality show called "What's My Crime?." They even do a full-out duet about why they should be on this show. But we are given very little backstory on it, and no one really cares or gets the joke. The vaudeville-themed routine isn't helped by those stilts, either. The music is jazzy and begs for outrageous, over the top choreography to really sell the number. Heck, they even have canes thrown to them from the side stage. But, thanks to the stilts, the number crumbles by the end due to the stiff, cumbersome staging and choreography. While Jones and Holmes both are terrific, they could have done so much more with a better book and score, and on their own two feet.

Julie Foldesi as Perdita is another winsome, entertaining performance. She plays the mother Dalmatian whose puppies were stolen a mere two months before. She also lost her one true love, her husband. However, it is never clearly explained what happened to him, or it was covered so quickly that I didn't catch it Ms. Foldesi has one of the best solos of the night, the touching lullaby "One True Love." Her pristine soprano voice glides sweetly through the ballad, making it one of the very rare musical highlights of the evening.

Rachel York is a true Broadway star who steals every show she's in—she is one of the very few women in history to actually steal a show from the great Julie Andrews, in Victor/Victoria. In the starring role of Cruella De Vil, Ms. York delivers a wicked, evil, over the top performance that makes her the saving grace of the show. She does all she can to sell her numbers with her sublime, rich soprano voice. Ms. York can belt with the best of them. Unfortunately, she can't turn these half-baked songs into showstoppers. The book isn't much help for her either. You can see her relish being the evil queen of furs, with hilarious facial expressions and voice inflections to make Cruella her own fantastic creation. But she doesn't have any great one liners or campy jokes that could transform the role into a hysterical, side-splitting character. Nonetheless, it is Ms. York's performance that saves the evening and makes the show really come alive.

Are there real dogs? Yes—for the final scene they come out and do a really enjoyable and exciting set of tricks. It's sad that a final scene with live dogs generated the loudest response from the audience for a new musical.

I don't know if this material can be turned into a successful musical. Whatever they decide to repair, the one sure thing they need to do is keep Rachel York in the show. But she needs songs that are better written, with funny lyrics, and a solid, laugh-filled script that she can sink her comedic talents into. Her impeccable talents deserve that. The audience deserves it, too.

The 101 Dalmatians Musical National Tour at Dallas Summer Musicals through December 20, 2009. Tickets are priced from $20-$85 and are available through The Box Office, 542 Preston Royal Shopping Center, or any Ticketmaster location including The Majestic Theatre, 1925 Elm Street. Tix are also available to charge by phone at 214-631-ARTS (2787) or purchase online at www.ticketmaster. com. Groups of 20 or more should call 214-426-GROUP or visit www.dallassummermusicals.org. For more information on the tour, visit www.the101dalmatiansmusical.com/.

The 101 Dalmatians Musical
Book by B.T. McNicholl, Music by Dennis DeYoung
Lyrics by Dennis De Young & B.T. McNicholl
National Tour Dallas Summer Musicals
Directed by Jerry Zaks
Choreographed by Warren Carlyle

--John Garcia