Some casting news:
Broadway's going to the dogs
Tuesday, September 12th, 2006
The actress playing Elle Woods in the spring Broadway musical "Legally Blonde" hasn't officially been announced, but three canine stars of the show have been revealed.
They're show dogs - not pampered pedigreed pooches, but mutts with harrowing histories grittier than a David Mamet drama: One was on doggie death row, another spent her life confined in a crate, and a third was very likely abused before ending up in a shelter.
Since being rescued, they've gone from bad times to the big time - something to bark about.
Elle's Chihuahua Bruiser, played by a pup named Moonie in the hit 2001 romantic comedy starring Reese Witherspoon, will be portrayed by dirty-blond Chihuahuas from the Garden State named Chico, 1%BD , and Teddy, 1 year old. They weigh in at 7 pounds apiece and will be used in action scenes and get toted around in Elle's oversize bags. A 40-pound bulldog, Zizi, will play Rufus, the cute dog at the center of an ugly custody dispute in the comedy set at and around Harvard Law School.
"Chico is a Jersey boy we suspect was abused," says Bill Berloni, whose career as a theatrical animal trainer goes back 29 years. "Chico spent time in an inner-city shelter and that can be rough."
Teddy had it just as tough at a New Jersey pet store, where he was scheduled to be put down after failing to attract a buyer. Teddy came to the trainer's attention through a rescue group that had taken the dog from the store.
"Pet shops get these puppies and when they don't sell," says Berloni, "it's more cost-effective to euthanize them than to reduce the price of the animal.
"The dogs help open the show with a really fun trick. The director, Jerry Mitchell, wanted a bangup number involving Bruiser."
Zizi was seized by animal control from a farm in Connecticut, where she and four more dogs, horses and sheep were kept without proper food, water or shelter. Zizi had spent most of her life confined in a small breeding cage - a miserable life.
"She is so sweet now and patient and just very good-natured," says Karen Massaro, who works for a bulldog-rescue group (www.rescuebulldogs.org) in Connecticut that fostered the pooches after they were removed from the farm.
"She's forgiven everybody everything. I've been doing rescue with this breed for 12 years. They're so people-oriented. I sure would love to see her onstage. She's a rags-to-riches girl."
The four-legged co-stars will spend the next three months training for their out-of-town tryout in San Francisco in January before they hit Broadway in April. Part of that process will be chronicled in "Lucky Dog," an in-the-works movie produced and directed by Susan Sacks.
"We're going to stay with Bill for a few days to tape how he works with the dogs," says Sacks, who is collaborating on the project with acclaimed documentary filmmaker Albert Maysles. He is a co-creator of the acclaimed 1975 film "Grey Gardens," which is opening this fall as a Broadway musical.
Also in Sacks' film is Lola, a mutt who will play Sandy in December in "Annie" at Madison Square Garden. Berloni worked on the original Broadway version of the show in 1977.
"The very first Sandy was a rescue from an animal shelter," says Berloni. "I devoted my life to working this way."
Sacks sees a parallel between the story of "Annie" and the dogs Berloni works with. "They've been in shelters," she says. "They're been homeless. They get rescued and have a whole new life with meaning - for them and for us."
Casting
"I've lost everything! Luis, Marty, my baby with Chris, Chris himself, James. All I ever wanted was love." --Sheridan Crane "Passions"
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"Housework is like bad sex. Every time I do it, I swear I'll never do it again til the next time company comes."--"Lulu"
from "Can't Stop The Music"
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"When the right doors didn't open for him, he went through the wrong ones" - "Sweet Bird of Youth"
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"Passions" is uncancelled! See NBC.com for more info.
