Dog Man: The Musical

Dog Man: The Musical is coming to the Mayflower Theatre in Southampton for a short run from Thursday 3 to Saturday 5 June 2027. It's based on the bestselling book series by Dav Pilkey, the same writer behind Captain Underpants and Cat Kid Comic Club. The books first came out in 2016 and have since sold more than 70 million copies worldwide in 48 languages, with five of them making the Amazon UK top 50 best-selling children's books.

The show follows best friends George and Harold, now ten, who decide to write a musical about their favourite character: Dog Man, a crime-biting hero who's part dog, part man, with the head of a dog and the body of a policeman. He has to save the city from Flippy the cyborg fish and his army of Beasty Buildings, while also catching Petey, the world's most evil cat, who's cloned himself to get his revenge. It's a story that stays close to the books' comic-strip energy, and if you've read them, you'll recognise the characters and the kind of chaos they get into.

Behind the scenes, the book and lyrics are by Kevin Del Aguila, with music by Brad Alexander. Jen Wineman directed and choreographed the production, which is produced by Roast Productions and Tilted by special arrangement with TW Theatricals. The show premiered off-Broadway in June 2019, and a DreamWorks animated film arrived in 2025, so this is the stage version of a character that's already made its way into books and onto the screen.

There's a bit of a personal story to the whole thing, too. Dav Pilkey was diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia as a child and started drawing his own comics in the hallway, which is where Dog Man and Captain Underpants were born. It's a nice thing to keep in mind when you're watching it with kids. The run at the Mayflower Theatre is three days: Thursday 3, Friday 4, and Saturday 5 June 2027.