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Evil cats and cyborg fish populate Dog Man The Musical
“These are real characters going through real things”
Usually, when a play gets called a dog, it’s a bad thing. Not here!
A stage musical about a hybrid crimefighter with the head of a dog and the body of a policeman? Did I mention he fights cyborg fish and cloned evil cats? This might sound like a tall order (not to mention an odd dog) coming from most folk. But freewheeling Dav Pilkey, creator of the long-running series of Captain Underpants children’s books, dreamed up the Dog Man as an Underpants spinoff. Dog Man: The Musical, with music by Brad Alexander plus a book and lyrics Kevin Del Aguila, plays twice on Saturday, February 15 at the Balboa Theater.
Brandon James Butorovich, starring as the Dog Man himself (sewn together from a pooch plus a human cop) recalls his atypical audition for the part. “Since Dog Man doesn’t speak words, but only barks, my audition mostly consisted of acting out scenarios as a dog. I was doing a show Off-Broadway when I learned I got the part. It was a crazy moment to be in a show and then to be cast in another one.”
Upcoming Event
Dog Man: The Musical
- Saturday, February 15, 2025, 3 p.m.
- Balboa Theatre, 868 Fourth Avenue, San Diego
- Age Limit: Not available
Geared for kids — albeit precocious kids with a weird sense of humor — the staging features plenty of eye-popping color and mismatched textures suggesting juvenile dress-up in the attic — plus cast members as dancing big-city skyscrapers with legs, arms, and heads. The musical numbers evince Pilkey’s skewed worldview. After a fast-moving “Underture” to kickstart things, our cast step-kicks through an opening number called, shockingly enough, “The Opening Number,” a cheerful exposition hijacked halfway through by Petey the Cat (played by Jake Werneke). I’m an evil scoundrel kitty/Causing endless allergies, the malignant kitty boasts, almost literally twirling his whiskers.
The ”Dog Man” song itself details the Frankensteinian surgery that gives rise to our hero and its aftermath. His head is fuzzy/But his body is the fuzz chirps the chorus, and the canine cop joins in through rhythmic barks and woofs. In due time, we meet our second antagonist, Glory Yepassis-Zembrou as Flippy the Fish. Can she survive being frozen solid inside her bowl? We table that question as Petey, obsessed with “Revenge,” engineers a balloon escape from kitty jail, then manages to clone himself. Sadly for our fiendish feline, Li’l Petey the clone (Sadie Jayne Kennedy) emerges as a plaintive kitten. Petey (the First) proves, shall we say, not cut out for parenthood.
Getting back to Flippy: the fish rises from the frozen dead through a swift infusion of bionics, reminding parents (and maybe grandparents) of The Six Million Dollar Man and/or The Bionic Woman. The “Cyber-Fish” escapes custody and wriggles its way towards Dog Man. Li’l Petey and Petey face off in “Happy Song/80-HD,” another number divided against itself. The kitten and the cat contrast peace-and-love visions with vengeance scenarios, the elder Petey conceding that dark thoughts of Dog Man payback mark the closest he can come to happiness. He decides to build an evil robot, and give Li’l Petey away on the street.
“The Perfect Mashup” finds Li’l Petey the orphan kitty (with a nod or two to Annie) falling in with Dog Man, cementing an odd couple. Dog Man doesn’t have all the room in the world in his doghouse, but they’ll get along. Our dog detective even joins in with a bit of harmony howling.
Asked about personal favorite numbers, Butrovich singles out “Dog Man Is Go!” a reference to Thunderbirds Are Go from 1966, and for good measure, the song of acceptance from 1932’s Freaks. An athletic number with “lots of running around,” covering the entire staged city and requiring, for once, a touch of actual singing from Dog Man himself. “The hardest part is making sure I have good breath support. Having to run around a bunch and then sing full out has its challenges.”
The plot thickens, as will happen with plots. Not to give everything away, but as the second act approaches a big finish, suffice to say that fuzzy-furred lovelornness, French dressing disasters, robot dance parties, and a marching army of Beastly Buildings all figure into the mix. Butrovich thanks the original director, Jen Wineman, and Candi Boyd, director of this touring remount of the show. “The most important thing the directors wanted out of this was making sure we are telling the story honestly. These are real characters going through real things. Even if those things are very silly.”
Asked about future plans, Dog Man is happy to not have many. “I have been a part of this show on and off for the past five years. Once this contract is over, I am going on a much-deserved vacation.”
Here's something you might be interested in.
Evil cats and cyborg fish populate Dog Man The Musical
“These are real characters going through real things”
Evil cats and cyborg fish populate Dog Man The Musical
“These are real characters going through real things”
Usually, when a play gets called a dog, it’s a bad thing. Not here!
A stage musical about a hybrid crimefighter with the head of a dog and the body of a policeman? Did I mention he fights cyborg fish and cloned evil cats? This might sound like a tall order (not to mention an odd dog) coming from most folk. But freewheeling Dav Pilkey, creator of the long-running series of Captain Underpants children’s books, dreamed up the Dog Man as an Underpants spinoff. Dog Man: The Musical, with music by Brad Alexander plus a book and lyrics Kevin Del Aguila, plays twice on Saturday, February 15 at the Balboa Theater.
Brandon James Butorovich, starring as the Dog Man himself (sewn together from a pooch plus a human cop) recalls his atypical audition for the part. “Since Dog Man doesn’t speak words, but only barks, my audition mostly consisted of acting out scenarios as a dog. I was doing a show Off-Broadway when I learned I got the part. It was a crazy moment to be in a show and then to be cast in another one.”
Upcoming Event
Dog Man: The Musical
- Saturday, February 15, 2025, 3 p.m.
- Balboa Theatre, 868 Fourth Avenue, San Diego
- Age Limit: Not available
Geared for kids — albeit precocious kids with a weird sense of humor — the staging features plenty of eye-popping color and mismatched textures suggesting juvenile dress-up in the attic — plus cast members as dancing big-city skyscrapers with legs, arms, and heads. The musical numbers evince Pilkey’s skewed worldview. After a fast-moving “Underture” to kickstart things, our cast step-kicks through an opening number called, shockingly enough, “The Opening Number,” a cheerful exposition hijacked halfway through by Petey the Cat (played by Jake Werneke). I’m an evil scoundrel kitty/Causing endless allergies, the malignant kitty boasts, almost literally twirling his whiskers.
The ”Dog Man” song itself details the Frankensteinian surgery that gives rise to our hero and its aftermath. His head is fuzzy/But his body is the fuzz chirps the chorus, and the canine cop joins in through rhythmic barks and woofs. In due time, we meet our second antagonist, Glory Yepassis-Zembrou as Flippy the Fish. Can she survive being frozen solid inside her bowl? We table that question as Petey, obsessed with “Revenge,” engineers a balloon escape from kitty jail, then manages to clone himself. Sadly for our fiendish feline, Li’l Petey the clone (Sadie Jayne Kennedy) emerges as a plaintive kitten. Petey (the First) proves, shall we say, not cut out for parenthood.
Getting back to Flippy: the fish rises from the frozen dead through a swift infusion of bionics, reminding parents (and maybe grandparents) of The Six Million Dollar Man and/or The Bionic Woman. The “Cyber-Fish” escapes custody and wriggles its way towards Dog Man. Li’l Petey and Petey face off in “Happy Song/80-HD,” another number divided against itself. The kitten and the cat contrast peace-and-love visions with vengeance scenarios, the elder Petey conceding that dark thoughts of Dog Man payback mark the closest he can come to happiness. He decides to build an evil robot, and give Li’l Petey away on the street.
“The Perfect Mashup” finds Li’l Petey the orphan kitty (with a nod or two to Annie) falling in with Dog Man, cementing an odd couple. Dog Man doesn’t have all the room in the world in his doghouse, but they’ll get along. Our dog detective even joins in with a bit of harmony howling.
Asked about personal favorite numbers, Butrovich singles out “Dog Man Is Go!” a reference to Thunderbirds Are Go from 1966, and for good measure, the song of acceptance from 1932’s Freaks. An athletic number with “lots of running around,” covering the entire staged city and requiring, for once, a touch of actual singing from Dog Man himself. “The hardest part is making sure I have good breath support. Having to run around a bunch and then sing full out has its challenges.”
The plot thickens, as will happen with plots. Not to give everything away, but as the second act approaches a big finish, suffice to say that fuzzy-furred lovelornness, French dressing disasters, robot dance parties, and a marching army of Beastly Buildings all figure into the mix. Butrovich thanks the original director, Jen Wineman, and Candi Boyd, director of this touring remount of the show. “The most important thing the directors wanted out of this was making sure we are telling the story honestly. These are real characters going through real things. Even if those things are very silly.”
Asked about future plans, Dog Man is happy to not have many. “I have been a part of this show on and off for the past five years. Once this contract is over, I am going on a much-deserved vacation.”
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