Video: How Bill Berloni Trains the Canine Stars of Broadway
Dec 27, 2024
When it comes to working with the furry friends of Broadway, perhaps no one knows more than Bill Berloni of William Berloni Theatrical Animals. Watch in this video as he hangs with two of the canine stars of Left on Tenth, Nessa and Charlie, and tells us all about how he prepares them for the stage!
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Hi, I'm Bill Berlone. I'm a Broadway animal trainer and I'm here today with two of my canine co-stars
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who are starring in the Broadway production of Left on Tenth. Here, on my left I have Charlie and on my right I have Nessa
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Left on Tenth is a beautiful play about DeLaye Efron's life. And in her real life, she had two beautiful dogs
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And so what we were looking for is more doggy dogs. We weren't looking for trick dogs
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We weren't looking for character dogs. We were just looking for dogs that you would want to hug and hang out with
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When I was called to do the show, we actually did a search to find dogs to play the roles of Honey and Charlie in the production
0:48
We met Charlie about five months ago before rehearsal started in a shelter in Long Island
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And Nessa actually is a veteran. She has played Toto all over the country
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and she stepped in to take over the role of honey. A typical day in the life of a Broadway performer
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Sleep, sleep, sleep, eat in the morning, walk, sleep. We try to keep them as quiet as possible
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So when they get to the show, they're excited and they're happy to be with everybody
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They do the show. They go home after the show. They eat, go to sleep
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So that's a typical day for a Broadway star dog. When I'm looking for animal performers
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the thing I look for are dogs who can deal with stress. Dogs who could sit in the middle of Times Square hang out look around watch the birds and the people You know because not everybody can be an actor You have to have a certain outgoing personality So that the main component of what I look for canine animal stars Once we begin to search for a show and we start coming up with some possible
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candidates, I'll go and meet them, temperament test them. And then actually, if I feel they're good
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I send them on to the director and the producers, and they actually look at the photos and decide
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which dogs they feel might be good for the role. What I've always tried to do in my career
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and I hope people understand is that I try to be as transparent as possible. There are no laws protecting animals and entertainment
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And so, you know, if people have a question about my dogs or they have a concern
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reach out to us. I gladly go on film and I show my home and the way my dogs live
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because I want people to know they're well-treated. And I hope other trainers in the business will be as transparent as that
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with the dogs that they work with or animals. Now that we have left on 10th open, in December
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we'll be opening the new production of Gypsy, Audrey McDonald, and once again, we are providing the dogs that play Chowsy
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I'm happy to be going back to working with Audrey McDonald. I've worked with her before
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and certainly with Gypsy. And then, looking into 2025, more TV and film projects and hopefully
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another Broadway show. Oh, my goodness. Well, Nessa, Nessa is a grand old Dom. I mean
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she could play any role of any matriarch at any family play. Charlie
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he's a little clownish. I don't know. What do you think? In Juliet? What other fun shows are out there
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Just something where you want, you know, people are funny and having a good time
#Acting & Theater
#Dogs
#Broadway & Musical Theater


