Chicago Sun Times April 24, 2007
A wilder shade of 'Dog' wows children
BY HEDY WEISS Theater Critic
For the boomer generation it was "See Spot run!," with Spot a docile, well-mannered, Eisenhower era canine. It was a decidedly different doggy world, however, for those who opened their first books after 1961. By then it was a "Go, Dog. Go!" world thanks to P.D. Eastman's hugely popular children's book -- a book that captured a far more adventurous, even anarchic way of life for all the tail-waggers among us.
Eastman's anthropomorphic dogs, designed for the pre-primer set (and their ever more liberated parents), boldly and happily ventured out into the world. No longer content to just climb a tree (unless there was a wild party waiting), these dogs raced around on scooters and in cars, hit home runs and set sail on moonlit voyages. In short, they worked hard, played hard and more often than not stayed up all night, raising a ruckus.
The 2003 stage adaptation of Eastman's book by Allison Gregory and Steven Dietz -- which stuck to the book's high-energy pranks and limited vocabulary list -- is now being staged by Chicago Children's Theatre in a tangerine and pink circus tent pitched in Grant Park. And the high jinks that make it work seem custom-made for the circus spirits in this city's 500 Clowns, Lookingglass and Redmoon ensembles, many of whom have lent their talents to this production.
Flip through Eastman's book and you'll notice a lot of empty space around the colorful, fast-moving cartoonish dogs. That "space" can feel like dead air at the start of this show. But once director Andrew White and his derring-do cast of 10 get going, they achieve a nice level of constant mayhem, with everything from a "Stomp"-like routine to a breakneck ladder act. Jonathan Mastro's playful score adds a bit of Broadway, operetta, disco and more to the mix.
Leading the pack (and dressed in Tatjana Radisic's funky pooch costumes) are daredevil Adrian Danzig, wild woman Molly Brennan, Alison Halsted, Narciso Lobo, White (deftly subbing for an injured actor) and Johanna McKenzie Miller as Hattie, the French poodle hellbent on winning Danzig's approval. The audience of tots at Sunday's opening laughed most uproariously when the characters goofed up. Witnessing failure is cathartic for kids, making mastery worthy of applause.