The stage version begins after all the pups are born to Pongo (Myles Collinson) and Perdita (Michelle Guefen), the two proud parents. Those parents are the pets of newlyweds – the musician Roger (Jordan Friedman) and the artist Anita (Hannah Houts). The ensemble of puppies kick things off with a tail-wagging conga down the aisles, and soon they are settled in their happy home and entertained by a huge wide-screen TV where they watch the adventures of a superhero dog named Thunderbolt and get excited over the Kanine Krunchies commercial and its catchy jingle. When in walks the evil villain – Cruella De Vil. A name that inspires Roger to lead them in a terrific rendition of the Disney hit song.

Megan Phillips stars as the amusing and melodramatically evil and cruel Cruella who just adores Roger and Anita’s new puppies – except the one with no black spots on him, named Spot (Rebecca Penner, who gives a sweet solo about finding My Spot In This World). Cruella doesn’t like Spot because her fur wouldn’t go at all well with the new fur clothing she wants to make with the puppies’ pelts. But when she can’t buy the puppies from her neighbors, she hatches an evil and cruel plan to lure them away with some of their beloved Kanine Krunchies, and using her two bungling henchmen to catch the pups, hold them, and prepare them for becoming parts of her new winter wardrobe (Scott Peterson and Elliot Rappaport, who both get critiqued quite a bit by Cruella as she hits them with their own hats).

Can the puppies be saved? As the Narrators (Celia Tedde, Kelsey Barnhill, Devyn Krevat, and Lindsey Aiello) tell us, things look bleak in The Fur Vault. Pongo and Perdita are going to need help to find and free their pups, and they get a world of help from an ensemble of fun-loving French Poodle can-can girls, Boxers with boxing trunks and gloves on, Chihuahuas with ponchos and sombreros, and Scotties with plaid kilts and one with a bagpipe – all got up in Shulamit Nelson’s fantastic costumes that capture the characters so well and so creatively. It all occurs within Danielle Meister’s clever set that includes two staggered platforms on the sides that look like stacked spots from which the narrators sing, a background of London and the Thames, a blue piano with white musical notes on it, and white spots on the black stage floor over which about 101 other spotted pets scamper about in this cute, little musical adaptation.

Performed May 8 - 18, 2008.

Rob Hopper
National Youth Theatre

Cruella De Vil: