On Saturday, March 7, Christ Church Greenwich will host a lively takeover: a stage filled with wagging tails, bright voices, and the steady focus of young performers ready for opening day.
Open Arts Alliance will present Disney’s 101 Dalmatians KIDS, performed by students in first through fifth grade. Based on the beloved animated film, the musical follows Roger and Anita, their devoted Dalmatians Pongo and Perdita, and a houseful of puppies who find themselves in peril when Cruella De Vil sets her sights on a new fur coat. What follows is a citywide canine rescue powered by loyalty, quick thinking, and collective grit.
Tickets went on sale February 16 and are available at: https://openartsalliance.ludus.com/show_page.php?show_id=200502531
Each cast will perform once. The Thursday Class will take the stage at 12:30 pm, following an 11 am tech rehearsal and noon opening of doors. The Saturday Class will perform at 3:30 pm, with tech beginning at 2 pm and doors opening at 3 pm Performances will be held at Christ Church Greenwich, 254 E. Putnam Avenue. Every attendee requires a ticket, and initial purchases are limited to six per family.
The production represents the culmination of Open Arts Alliance’s spring season, an extension of fall training built on a class-based model. Students develop skills in voice, movement, blocking, and ensemble work, then bring those lessons to life in a fully staged musical. Rehearsals emphasize clarity of diction, confident projection, and the discipline that allows a group of children to move as one cohesive cast.
For many of the performers, this marks an early experience with the structure of live theater. They learn to track cues, sustain harmonies, and trust their castmates in scenes that demand precision. Energy finds direction. Individual personalities contribute to a shared rhythm.
The setting underscores the occasion. Christ Church has long served as a gathering place for the community, and on March 7 it will hold two audiences eager to watch local children carry a classic story from page to stage. Parents, grandparents, teachers, and friends will fill the pews, offering the attentive presence that gives live performance its charge.
When the curtain rises, the rescue will unfold with urgency and humor, Cruella’s schemes will unravel, and a cast of young Greenwich performers will take their bows. For one afternoon, a familiar tale will belong entirely to them—and to the community gathered to cheer them on.
