Video: How Bill Berloni Trains the Canine Stars of Broadway

Hi, I'm Bill Berlone. I'm a Broadway animal trainer and I'm here today with two of my canine co-stars

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

Left on Tenth is a beautiful play about DeLaye Efron's life. And in her real life, she had two beautiful dogs

And so what we were looking for is more doggy dogs. We weren't looking for trick dogs

We weren't looking for character dogs. We were just looking for dogs that you would want to hug and hang out with

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

We met Charlie about five months ago before rehearsal started in a shelter in Long Island

And Nessa actually is a veteran. She has played Toto all over the country

and she stepped in to take over the role of honey. A typical day in the life of a Broadway performer

Sleep, sleep, sleep, eat in the morning, walk, sleep. We try to keep them as quiet as possible

So when they get to the show, they're excited and they're happy to be with everybody

They do the show. They go home after the show. They eat, go to sleep

So that's a typical day for a Broadway star dog. When I'm looking for animal performers

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

candidates, I'll go and meet them, temperament test them. And then actually, if I feel they're good

I send them on to the director and the producers, and they actually look at the photos and decide

which dogs they feel might be good for the role. What I've always tried to do in my career

and I hope people understand is that I try to be as transparent as possible. There are no laws protecting animals and entertainment

And so, you know, if people have a question about my dogs or they have a concern

reach out to us. I gladly go on film and I show my home and the way my dogs live

because I want people to know they're well-treated. And I hope other trainers in the business will be as transparent as that

with the dogs that they work with or animals. Now that we have left on 10th open, in December

we'll be opening the new production of Gypsy, Audrey McDonald, and once again, we are providing the dogs that play Chowsy

I'm happy to be going back to working with Audrey McDonald. I've worked with her before

and certainly with Gypsy. And then, looking into 2025, more TV and film projects and hopefully

another Broadway show. Oh, my goodness. Well, Nessa, Nessa is a grand old Dom. I mean

she could play any role of any matriarch at any family play. Charlie

he's a little clownish. I don't know. What do you think? In Juliet? What other fun shows are out there

Just something where you want, you know, people are funny and having a good time