With over 70 million copies sold, the surreal, richly imaginative tales of the half-canine, half-cop hero Dog Man are among the all-time bestselling children’s graphic novel series. Now, that series has been developed into a touring musical and the character’s popularity has clearly transferred successfully from the page to the stage, judging by the buzz and raucous laughter of hundreds of children and their families in the Donald Gordon Theatre.
Billed as being suitable for ages five and up, Dog Man: The Musical is a production which is certainly designed to be child-friendly. The volume of backing tracks, for instance, is attuned so as not to shock little ears, and the effervescent cast warmly invite the audience to get involved, without turning proceedings into a pantomime.
The small cast of six are indeed a bundle of irrepressible energy, fizzing from one scene to the next. Rebecca-Jo Peters, who plays Li’l Petey (infant clone of feline archvillain Petey), is the star turn, revelling in the goofiness of the performance and full of natural presence.
Silly, fast-paced and colourful, the show’s two acts fly by, separated by a 20-minute interval. The set design is simple but imaginative, and effectively portrays the books’ hastily sketched panels: an umbrella with KA-BOOM! painted across it is a rudimentary pyrotechnic, for instance. Few of the songs are particularly memorable (though the villainous alphabet number is great fun), but all are delivered with gusto by the upbeat performers.
Author Dav Pilkey, who created the series as a spinoff of the similarly successful Captain Underpants, has described being inspired to develop his creation for the stage after seeing a musical version of one of Charles Schultz’s Charlie Brown stories, describing how it emphasised the importance of human connection which can be achieved between audience and performers. If that was the goal, Dog Man delivers: the brilliant cast are magnetic throughout, their energetic performance an inspiration for the hundreds of imaginative youngsters in the house tonight.
Dog Man: The Musical, Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay, Fri 16 Oct
words HUGH RUSSELL
