Smarty Review & Giveaway: Children’s Theatre of Charlotte’s ‘101 Dalmatians’

I grew up doing theater and truly believe that a passion for the arts is one of the best gifts we can give our children! I was thrilled to have the opportunity to go to 101 Dalmatians at The Children’s Theatre of Charlotte this past weekend (which is located inside ImaginOn). I hadn’t heard much about the theater and am now vowing to go back for every show. I have never been to a true “children’s theater” and as such had pretty low expectations.

Annie and I met up with a friend for pizza and a cupcake at the 7^th Street Market before zipping over for the show (a very fun outing). The theater greeted us with paw print stamps on our hands and the girls were in hog-heaven! We had general seating, which made it really nice for the kids. Since our girls are only two we found a seat on the very back row in case we needed to make a quick exit (the theater welcomes all children but recommend the shows for ages 5+). I loved looking around and seeing all of the squirming kids in their seats. The anticipation was high and I was excited to see their faces. It was the “world-premiere” of this version of 101 Dalmatians so the writers and composers were in the audience. This made it especially exciting!

The show started and I couldn’t help but get butterflies as I watched the grin on Annie’s face! She LOVED every second of it. The show was only 75 minutes long – perfect for kids! It had humor made for children. The show was written from the dog’s perspective and the kids thought it was hilarious. All of the “humans” had masks on and were made to look even taller so that the “dogs” looked small. It was darling. Our favorite scene was when the puppies were born. Their creativity in plopping the puppies down and having an actor pop up was hysterical. Even my two-year-old laughed out loud.

I was blown away by the quality of acting, singing and décor. These were professional actors. This was not what I was expecting… it was SO much more! I had a ball right along with my child! I was a bit worried that Cruella would scare the children but she did an excellent job! She was the perfect amount of feisty, but not scary. She drove a zippy red car on to stage and had an incredible mask that reminded me of the masks in the Lion King on Broadway. There wasn’t a single flaw or mess up the whole show. Just as the children seemed to be getting antsy, they threw in a fun song at the end and viola, the show was over at the perfect time!

I can’t rave about our experience enough! It was a real hit for our family and we can’t wait to go back for the next show!

For more details and ticket information:
Children’s Theatre of Charlotte
Click here for show times
Show runs now through October 19.
Seat prices vary

Smarty Giveaway: Four tickets to CTC’s 101 Dalmations (valued up to $80)

The Children’s Theater of Charlotte has been kind enough to giveaway FOUR tickets to 101 Dalmatians for our Smarties! If I do say so myself, it is a MUST SEE!

Here’s how to enter:

1. Like Charlotte Smarty Pants on Facebook.

2. Subscribe to our newsletter

3. Like the Children’s Theatre of Charlotte on Facebook

4. Leave us a comment below letting us know why your child would love this show!

One lucky winner will be announced via our Facebook page on October 1^st!

Best of luck!!! And GO SEE THE SHOW! It’s a must!