“Dog Man The Musical”

“Dog Man” is a character in books written by Dav Pinkey ( who also has written “Captain Underpants” and Cat Kid Comic Club”) and the first step towards reaching a larger audience. They will soon release a film version. This play, “Dog Man the Musical” a live stage show was in Chicago last spring and the response was overwhelming, so the producers ( Theaterworksusa, decided to bring it back before setting off on a national tour.

I learned a great deal from Anna today as she has read all the books. The story is about best buddies, George ( in today’s  production, this role was taken on by Raheem Osiris Fielder-Bey with style ) and Harold ( Mundo Ballejos is terrific). They create comic books featuring the characters in this story, Dog Man , being their favorite, and they have decided to take the next step and do a musical. After all, others have created musicals from comic strips ( think “Annie”) and one even was created because of a ten dollar bill ( “Hamilton”). This went over the younger audience member’s heads, but the adults got it!

Dog Man is part man, part dog and is played to perfection by Brandon James Buterovich. By the way,  he never speaks a word, but barks and growls to perfection, and on tune. Dog Man loves to fight crime ( and chew furniture). In the story that they are creating we have some villains’, Flippy ( Glory Yepassia-Zembrou is a delight)  and Petey , the cat ( Zack Abbey is a powerhouse) who has cloned himself and formed Li’l Petey ( an adorable portrayal by Sadie Jayne Kennedy).

Along the song filled way, we watch our creators go from scene to scene allowing us to creep in on their story line. The songs are cute and the set becomes a major part of the story as well. Hats off to Timothy R. Mackabee for some very clever work . The buildings and all the props help to convey the story. Dog Man constantly asks if “he is a good boy” and when the clone , Li’s Petey, gets involved with Flippy the fish ,and then Dog Man saves them both, we start to feel the excitement that a young follower must feel. Again, I knew nothing going in and now I am excited for the upcoming movie. In fact, Jane and I went to a movie tonight and they had a sign up already “Watch for the upcoming “Dog Man” film! I am ready!

George and Harold are kids so it is important that they finish their musical by lunchtime as once they go home, they may not come back out to their treehouse. The play is done in two acts, each about 40 minutes with a “poddy break” of 15 minutes. It might also be called a souvenir break as I noticed many kids coming back in T-shirts and caps or carrying books. BY THE WAY- his latest, “The Scarlet Shedder” was #1 in best sellers!

To make a play “kid friendly” one has to have a lot of action. Director Jen Wineman did a great job of keeping the action going and choreography by Candi Boyd is special. Heidi Leigh Hanson’s costumes are adorable and the lighting ( David Lander) and sound ( Emma Wilk) are wonderful. Miriam Daly handles the music direction

As a new favorite in our house, Dogman’s book series delivers a great deal of laughs.  Having read the books with my daughter, I was skeptical of how they would pull off a live musical.  The talent had an incredible energy, as it was on full display throughout the play.  The creativity to deliver the comic book look and feel was quite impressive.   The key element to this performance is the cast seemed to understand why these books mean so much to kids, and perfectly met the expectations of creative young minds.  Although I am far from an expert on these books, all the kids who love the books seemed to love this performance.

bring your ticket to box office for validation. It will only cost $13 that way.