Theater Thursday - A Dog Story The Musical and Sgt. Stubby The Great American War Dog Musical

We were given free tickets to A Dog Story for review purposes. Any and all opinions expressed here are our own.

What: A Dog Story

Where: The Loft at the Davenport Theater
             345 W. 45th St.
             New York, NY

Who: Recommended for ages 16 and up

When: Now through March 6, 2016

Me-  A Dog Story was a good show. It is about a man named Roland who wanted to get a promotion. He thought he had to get a wife to get a promotion so he was trying to meet a girl. His friend told him to get a girl he should get a dog so he gets a dog. There were four characters in the show. There was Roland; his friend Guy; the dog trainer, Miranda; and the girl that Roland wanted to marry, Blair. The characters were both likable and not likable. They had all their good moments and their annoying moments that made them very real. My favorite character was the dog, Cupid. The story was interesting. It had a lot of funny moments.  One of my favorite song was Get A Dog probably because I would like to get a dog myself. I also liked Cupid's Lullaby. It was pretty and sweet. The rest of the songs I don't remember that much about. They were enjoyable when I saw the show though. The set was really cool. It wasn't a big set. They had these two sets of drawers on either side of the stage. Whenever they needed a prop or something, they took something out of the drawers. That was awesome! Overall, it was delightful show.

Mom - A Dog Story is an entertaining light romantic comedy. It is somewhat predictable, but that doesn't make it any less enjoyable. The characters are interesting. Although they might have aspects to their character that are cliched, they are not completely cliched except for the character of the best friend. The main character, Roland starts out not very likeable. He wants to find a girl to marry just because he thinks get married will enable him to get a promotion at work and not because he wants to fall in love. He wants to get a dog because he thinks it will help him get a girl and not because he wants to have a pet to care for or even to keep him company. However, over the course of the show. Roland's character really grows and develops in a good way. There is Blair, the pretty girl who becomes the object of Roland's quest. She is not an empty headed pretty girl but a smart girl with a high powered career of her own who just happens to like to party. There is Miranda, the tough as nails dog trainer. She gives the word tough new meaning. Her character grows over the course of the show too. Only the character of Guy, the best friend is a total cliche. He is the jovial but annoying best friend. It is fitting that his name is Guy because he could literally be any guy. The songs were okay and a few of them were quite enjoyable including the catchy Get a Dog, the sweet Cupid's Lullaby, and the fun Better Saturday Nights. The show is staged in a very interesting manner and makes great use of minimal sets and props. It is recommended for  ages 16 and up due to the subject matter. However, there isn't really anything objectionable for younger teens as well although it is not appropriate for young children even though they may be intrigued by the name if they love animals especially dogs. Any adults (or teens) who like cute romantic stories will enjoy this show, and any adults (or teens) who love animals especially dogs will love it. For more information or to order tickets go to http://www.adogstorythemusical.com/about-the-show.

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We were given free tickets to Sgt. Stubby the Great American War Dog Musical for review purposes. Any and all opinions expressed here are our own.

What: Sgt. Stubby The Great American War Dog Musical

Where: St. Luke's Theater
             308 W. 46th St.
             New York, NY

Who: Recommended for ages 8 and up

Me - Sgt. Stubby The Great American War Dog Musical was good. It was about a real dog in history who was a war dog in World War I. There was even an episode of the TV show Mysteries at the Museum about Stubby. The dog's name was actually Stubby, but they made him a sergent because of his war service. The show was split between Stubby's friends back home and Stubby and the soldiers. There were four dogs in the show including Stubby. The other dogs were Ralphie, Marvin and Penelope. They were Stubby's friends. All the dogs were  played by people. My Mom didn't like that so much, but I thought it was kind of interesting. The story was intriguing. I learned much more from the stage show than I learned from the episode of the TV show. I usually don't like shows and things that deal with war, however, since they did not show any actual fighting or anything in the show, it didn't bother me, and it wasn't scary. The songs were okay, but I didn't have a favorite. The people who played the dogs had their faces made up to look like dogs, but they didn't have dog costumes on the bottom. They just had regular clothes on. Also, they didn't really crawl around like dogs; they walked on two legs. However, they were supposed to be acting and talking like dogs because the people in the show couldn't understand them and related to them like they were actual dogs. I don't think I ever saw a show before where animals were played by people. It was different. All in all, it was a good show.

Mom- Sgt. Stubby The Great American War Dog Musical is an interesting musical. It tells the story of Stubby, a war hero dog. Stubby and his dog friends were all played by people. That took some getting used to. While there have been other shows where animals were played by people, for instance, Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats, I don't remember one where some of the people played people and some of the people played animals in the same show. The actors who played the dogs in this show did an admirable job of it though. There was a child like quality to their performances that seemed fitting for dogs. The story was moving in a patrotic way. The songs were very patriotic as well.  The songs that were not especially patrotic were mostly much less memorable. Despite the fact that this is a show about a dog in which dogs are played by people, this is not a show for very young children who would not be able to handle the idea of a dog going off to war. Older children would enjoy it, however, especially if they loves dogs  Adults who love dogs would enjoy it too. Anyone who loves history and/or wants to learn about an interesting chapter in history would probably like it as well. For more information or to order tickets go to http://sgtstubbythemusical.com/

And that's our view. Tune in tomorrow for Funtivity Friday.

Photo credits: All A Dog Story photos by Jeremy Daniel
                       All Sgt. Stubby The Great American War Dog Musical photos by  Lynn Manuel