The Children’s Theatre Company is launching its 2023 season with “101 Dalmatians” and has scheduled two performances this weekend at Westlake High School.

Based on the classic animated Disney film, the comedy musical features villain Cruella De Vil, her two bumbling sidekicks and 101 spotted heroes.

Director Kerry A. Onxley said the group last performed “101 Dalmatians” about seven years ago but have rebuilt  their set from scratch after their home base at Central School Arts & Humanities Center was damaged by Hurricane Laura in 2020.

“Central School is still not repaired from the storms so we had to find a show that was small enough that we could slide into Westlake High School’s theater season,” said Onxley, who is the director of both The Children’s Theatre Company and Westlake High School Theatre.

While he was able to salvage some treasures from Central School shortly after the storm hit, the majority of set pieces remain in the building’s basement.

“We haven’t been able to go inside in two years,” he said. “I don’t think the basement — where our pieces are — took in a lot of rainwater but some of it got wet for sure. We did go in there initially and take out some of the things, as much as we could get, but there was some water damage.”

Onxley said his technical theater students at Westlake High have been creating the sets for “101 Dalmatians” while also serving as role models for the children’s company.

“It’s really, really, really worked out great because our technical theater kids are able to put to use what they learned in the fall for this play — setting lights, programming lights, focusing, set painting.”

Onxley said at the same time, the high school students are preparing for their own spring performance and figuring out what set pieces can be used in both plays.

“About two weeks ago, we had two sets on stage — one for Westlake’s upcoming melodrama and one for ‘Dalmatians.’ The melodrama is going to be a fun show to do and it has a small set so we were able to get both of those shows in production,” Onxley said. “The confusing thing is we are using set pieces for each show. We know we’re using a bench for ‘Dalmatians,’ but right now it’s got spots on it. When we’re done with this show we know we have to turn around and repaint it for our April show.”

One of the lessons Onxley has learned from Hurricane Laura is to create set pieces that are more compact.

“Our first production was much grander and very large, now everything is mobile — not necessarily smaller but more abstract and the take down isn’t as hard,” he said.

‘Dalmatians’ will feature 15 actors as well as shortened versions of the beloved songs from the movie.

“Our younger kids are working under the umbrella of our older actors and they look up to them and both groups go see each others’ shows,” Onxley said. “It’s really a good learning opportunity for everyone involved and it’s been a lot of fun.”

Performances will be held at 1000 Garden Drive in Westlake at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 11 and 3 p.m. Feb. 12. Tickets are $15 for general seating and may be purchased at www.childrenstheatre.cc.