'Dog Man: The Musical' Takes Over Florida Theatre: Our Third Grade Adventure!

This is a special guest review by William Hollister, a third grader at Seaside Charter North Campus.

Dog Man: The Musical is all about George and Harold, two cool fifth graders who decide to turn their favorite comic book character into a musical right in their treehouse! The story is based on Dav Pilkey’s books, and it’s super funny and full of adventures where Dog Man is a crime-fighting hero. The musical was written by Kevin Del Aguila and Brad Alexander, who made everything super fun with awesome songs that make you want to dance.

My class got to see Dog Man: The Musical at the Florida Theatre, and I loved it! The production was put together by TheaterWorksUSA. I really liked that the play showed us that anyone can make a musical if they want, even kids! The set wasn’t super fancy or anything, but that was what made it so special and real, just like something out of our own backyards.

The whole play was set in a treehouse which was so neat because it felt like something me and my friends could have made. George, played by Marquise Neal, and Harold, played by Imundo Ballejos, were super funny and creative because they used all sorts of stuff from the treehouse to make the set look cool. The treehouse was full of props that looked like part of the set when they weren’t being used.

The story did jump around a lot between different Dog Man books, which got a bit confusing, but it was still super fun to watch. Li’l Petey was hilarious, though I think maybe a younger actor playing him would have made it even better because he’s really just a tiny baby in the stories. It was a little weird when Flippy the fish went from being a small puppet to a big actor, but it was also pretty funny.

The costumes, especially the one for the Chief, were awesome and looked a lot like the book. I wasn’t a huge fan of the Dog Man costume, though, because it was just some ears and a nose. I think a full mask would have made him look more like the Dog Man in the graphic novels.

The music was the best part for sure. There were so many catchy songs that I couldn’t stop bouncing to the beat. My favorite was the first song “The Opening Number” that kind of explained what the whole show was going to be about, and I also loved “Robo-Dance Party” when a disco ball started spinning and everyone got to dance. It was like a big party!

Even though some parts were a bit slow, the play kept me excited from start to finish. I think any kid who likes comics, music and making up stories would think it’s great too!

Dog Man: The Musical runs Sunday, April 13 through Monday, April 14 at the Florida Theatre.

For more information, full cast and crew credits and links to tickets, visit the Dog Man: The Musical page here on JaxPlays.