The West End musical theatre star is set to star as Cruella de Vil at certain venues as part of the production’s UK tour.
It has been announced that Kerry Ellis will be joining 101 Dalmatians the Musical as Cruella de Vil at the New Theatre Oxford (3- 7 December) and Brighton Theatre Royal (17 December 2024 – 5 January 2025), concluding the current UK and Ireland tour of the musical. She follows fellow Cruellas Kym Marsh and Faye Tozer in this production.
When fashionista Cruella de Vil plots to swipe all the Dalmatian puppies in town to create her fabulous new fur coat, there’s trouble ahead for Pongo and Perdi and their litter of adorable, tail-wagging young pups.
Based on Dodie Smith’s book, 101 Dalmatians is written by Douglas Hodge (music and lyrics) and Johnny McKnight (book), from a stage adaptation by Zinnie Harris. The production is directed by Bill Buckhurst, with sets designed by David Woodhead, costumes designed by Sarah Mercadé and choreography by Lucy Hind. Musical supervision is from Alfonso Casado Trigo, orchestration by Jack Hopkins, the puppets are designed by Jimmy Grimes, with lighting by James Whiteside and sound design from Chris Whybrow. The musical director is Leigh Stanford Thompson, and casting director is Lucy Casson.
Kerry Ellis is known for a wide variety of roles both in the West End and Broadway including: originating the role of Meat, in Queen’s We Will Rock You and was the first British Elphaba in the worldwide smash, Wicked, for which she won the 2008 Whatsonstage.com Award for ‘Best Takeover in a Role’. She then headed to Broadway to play Elphaba at the Gershwin Theater, where she won the Broadway.com Audience Award for Favourite Female Breakthrough Performance, before returning to London in the role. Her other leading West End credits include Grizabella in Cats, Nancy in Oliver! and Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady.
For 101 Dalmatians, she joins: Charles Brunton (Casper), Victoria Compson-Bradford (Swing), Ross Dorrington (Ensemble), Benjamin Durham (Ensemble), Jessie Elland (Danielle), Benedict Hastings (Ensemble), Danny Hendrix (Jasper), Linford Johnson (Pongo), Lottie Johnson (Ensemble), Rachel Lea-Gray (Ensemble), Tom Norman (Ensemble), Hugo Rolland (Ensemble), Lindo Shinda (Ensemble), Eugene Shire (Swing), Samuel Thomas (Tom), Emma Thornett (Perdi) and Jasmine Triadi (Ensemble).
Kerry Ellis said: “’I am absolutely delighted to be joining the cast of 101 Dalmatians. I have always loved the film, and am a massive dog lover, so this one will be a real treat for me. And I cannot wait to play Cruella. What a role!”
To find out more about the tour visit: https://101dalmatians.co.uk/