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Every show has two dogs, or two cats, or two rats, because just like the humans,
in case one were to become ill, we'd have to have a backup.
[MUSIC] Hi, Bill Berloni, theatrical animal trainer.
We actually teach the actors, who are interacting with the dogs, to be
professional handlers. So we train the actors how to handle
them, how to correct them, how to reward them.
And also what to do if they make a mistake.
Just like any other part of the theatrical magic that we make.
We want things to happen that the audience may not be aware of how it's
done. And so we create hand signals or phrases
that mean something to the animals but the audience doesn't recognize their
being cued. In Legally Blonde, Bruiser comes out and
has a conversation with one of the actresses, that's how the show opens.
And so, you know, how we cue him is part of the fun when you have to come and see
to figure out. Now, there are times when they don't get
the right cue, where an actor flubs a line or a hand signal.
So they will get the wrong cue and they'll look off stage at us to say, what
do we do now? And so you know, that's when the audience
laughs. They're creatures of habit, and so as
long as their pattern is the same, they're very consistent.
I get these animals, I train them in my backyard, and they learn to do it in my
backyard. Then I bring them to a rehearsal studio,
here in New York City, and they learn to do it in a rehearsal studio.
And each step, we're layering on the different things they're going to have to
deal with. You know the tech rehearsal is the most
stressful, because we're putting the lights, the scenery, the music, and we
acclimate them to that but I can't bring in 1200 people and simulate applause.
So that performance, you know hopefully the animals are so into what the pattern
and they feel secure that they ignore that noise.
[MUSIC] Now, there are many times on stage where he has to stay in one spot,
and it would seem odd to me if the audience saw an actor have to put a dog
down and go stay. That would tip off the fact that some
behavior was happening. So very simply, I just created a hand
signal where when you pet his eyes that means stay to the audience, it looks like
Elle Woods is petting her dog. But she's actually giving him a command
not to move. Another way that we give dogs cues is
using the lines from the play. In Legally Blonde, when Elle Woods is
getting ready to leave her dorm room she's putting on her coat, and the
director wanted an indication that Bruiser was getting ready to leave too.
So she says a line at that moment, white shoes after labor day, and to Bruiser
that means go to your bag, turn around, and sit down.
And of course, a very important thing that every good actor needs to know is
how to bow. There are certain things that you can
expect an animal to do, can I train a dog to do a flip?
Yes, can it do it eight times a week in a Broadway show?
No, and so very early on with the directors and the writers, I find out
what their intent is and then turn it into something that can be done
reasonably eight times a week over the possibility of, like Annie for seven
years. Right after I graduated high school, I
went to work at the Goodspeed Opera House as a technical apprentice.
My second season there, we were doing a season then which included two revivals
and a new musical, and the new musical needed a dog.
I remember one day in 1976, being called into Michael's office, the producer, and
he said Bill, how would you like your Equity Card, and a part in one of the
shows? All you have to do, is find and train a
dog for us, for no money. So I went on a casting search.
The local shelters where I found a dog who fit the description of the dog we
needed in the play, and that dog was the original Sandy, and that musical was the
original production of Annie. The show closed because it didn't do very
well in its original conception. I moved to New York City, I enrolled in
NYU, and I was studying acting with [UNKNOWN], the famous acting coach.
Then all of a sudden I got a call from Mike Nicols office, they said, he was
producing Annie for Broadway. Would I be interested in working on it?
Well, we opened in Washington DC and six months later when Annie opened in 1977 on
Broadway I became a world famous animal trainer.
Over my 32 year career I've adopted hundreds of dogs and cats and have become
a strong proponent for animal rights, but why shelter dogs?
The simple answer is, why not? They are just as smart and just as
deserving as any other pet and I think [MUSIC] to, to use the theater to help
change people's attitudes is one of the things that I got into this business to
do. It takes them awhile to get into the
rhythm and to get the actors into a rhythm, and so usually I'll stay with a
show for about two to four weeks, just to make sure that everybody is smoothed out.
And once I know that everybody knows what they're doing, I can move on to the next
show. Thank you.
Thank you.
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