Everybody's Musical - Dr. Dolittle

DR. DOLITTLE, headlined by Tommy Tune (who also directs) and Cleveland native Dee Hoty, is coming to delight everyone at Playhouse Square Center April 18-30, as part of the McDonald Financial Group Broadway Series. It’s a lavish new musical making its premiere with this tour, based on Leslie Bricusse’s 1967 Oscar-winning movie and “The Doctor Dolittle Stories” by Hugh Lofting. You’ll journey to the far corners of the world with the incredible DR. DOLITTLE—and a host of amazing animals—in this big, boisterous musical. World-renowned veterinarian Dr. Dolittle, with his ability to “talk to the animals,” will take you on one extraordinary adventure after another.

DR. DOLITTLE a natural step for Tommy Tune, not only an outstanding performer, singer and dancer, but a show “doctor” as well. His DR. DOLITTLE has been re-vamped, re-designed, re-worked, re-written…just about re-everythinged, with his personal stamp all over it. Tune loved the songs from the 1967 movie along with three that Bricusse wrote for a 1998 London stage production of the show. Tune and writer Lee Tannen have come up with a streamlined version of all previous presentations; it runs 90-100 minutes without intermission and features 13 songs. Seven of them are from the original film version, including “Talk to the Animals,” which won the 1967 Oscar for best original song.

Tune is joined onstage by Dee Hoty, who plays Dr. Dolittle’s love interest Emma Fairfax. Hoty has been honored with three Tony Award nominations for Best Actress in a Musical for her performances in The Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public, The Will Rogers Follies and Footloose. Hoty’s other Broadway appearances include City of Angels (Outer Critics nomination), Me and My Girl, Big River, The Five O’Clock Girl, Mamma Mia! and Shakespeare’s Cabaret.

Tune’s decision to change Chee-Chee the monkey from a puppet to a tap-dancing chimp adds more dance fun to the show, and it was a dream-come-true for a 12-year-old South Carolina youth. Last July, Diane Sawyer asked Tune to judge a “Good Morning America” contest called “America’s Greatest Dancer.” The panel, consisting of Tune and several other celebrity judges, unanimously voted Aaron Burr best in tap, and three days later, best in show. Once Tune agreed to re-work DR. DOLITTLE, he handpicked Burr to play Chee-Chee the chimpanzee.

The rest of the cast make up the ensemble—nothing terribly unusual for a major musical. But these actors aren’t always human: they’re often the animals that Dr. Dolittle talks to, sometimes townsfolk, and sometimes puppeteers. As puppeteers they are dressed in black, seen onstage as they work their puppet animals—a parrot, seal, dog and pig—and provide their voices. Add these artfully manipulated puppets to Kenneth Foy’s whimsical scenery and you get enchantment for kids “of all ages.”

Patti Columbo of Cathy Rigby’s Peter Pan fame provides choreography. The creative team also includes costume designer Ann Hould-Ward (Beauty and the Beast), with new costumes for Tune by Dona Granata. Kenneth Foy (Gypsy) is set designer, with lights by Ken Billington (Chicago) and puppet designs by Michael Curry (The Lion King). Michael Biagi serves as musical director. All the members of the team, along with director/star Tune, work hard to take us away from our troubles and deliver an evening of entertainment when we can smile and enjoy the simple things.

“If we could talk to the animals—just imagine it—chatting with a chimp in chimpanzee!” Imagine it. Do it. Enjoy it! Join Tommy Tune and the cast of DR. DOLITTLE for the fun and fanciful tale that entertains children and adults alike with delightful melodies and impressive special effects. It is truly “Everybody’s Musical.”

Synopsis

It is 1845, and the small town of Puddleby, England finds itself in the middle of the most sensational trial of the century: noted eccentric, Dr. John P. Dolittle, stands accused of murder. Insisting that he can actually talk to the animals, the doctor defends himself against charges that he threw an unknown woman off a cliff to her death. The doctor’s arch-enemy, General Bellowes, presides as judge as the accused tries to convince the court of his innocence, helped along by his faithful menagerie of animals. He explains that he simply helped a seal named Sophie escape from the circus so that she could return to her devoted husband at the North Pole.

As Dr. Dolittle tells his story to the court, we meet some of his faithful friends including Lady Emma Fairfax and a host of hilarious animals. Eventually cleared of murder charges, the court does find the doctor to be criminally insane and orders him to close his veterinary practice. With a little help from Polynesia, his parrot companion, as well as other human and animal friends, Dolittle sets sail on an adventure to find the elusive Great Pink Sea Snail, the oldest and wisest of the creatures on earth, in order to unlock the secrets of the universe. Dolittle, Emma (a surprise stowaway), and the animals take up duties on the ship. Along the way, a storm blows up, sinking their tiny vessel and washing the passengers ashore to Sea Shore Island, home of the Pink Sea Snail. Although his mission is complete, Dr. Dolittle fears re-imprisonment if he returns to England and sadly explains to all of his friends that he still cannot return to Puddleby.

In a sympathy protest, Emma and Polynesia organize all the animals of England to go on strike against their owners, bringing the country’s productivity to a grinding halt. Bellowes clears Dolittle of the insanity charge and reinstates his license to practice medicine. Dolittle receives word that Emma and his friends have dramatically cleared his name and he can return to Puddleby. But how? Never fear, the man who can talk to all the animals has a few tricks up his sleeve: High in the sky, Dr. John P. Dolittle returns on the back of a Giant Lunar Moth as Emma runs into his arms and the town embraces him as a hero.