By Hailie Gold
Stage animals are one of the coolest things actors can work with in their careers. Animals are usually fun, but present interesting challenges. One of their best attributes is that animal actors almost always help to bring a cast together. When I was in a local production of Annie a few years ago, the dog who played our Sandy, Max, was the cast’s ‘family’ dog for a couple weeks. He adapted well to all the lights, loud noises, live orchestra, and vast amounts of people, but animals will be animals. Max did urinate on the stage curtains, and on the stage a few times too; thankfully not during a performance. In most cases, it feels like the animals understand that they’re performing. They repeat the same motions, and go to the same spots. Eventually, it becomes muscle memory for them, just like it does for human actors.
When some people think of animal actors, they think of dogs, but animal performers are not limited to just dogs. I’ve worked with goats; I know people who have performed a production of Camelot with actual horses; monkeys are frequently used on stage, plus cats, pigs, rats, and more. Personally, I don’t enjoy working with larger animals as much as with smaller animals. When I was in Gypsy, the “Little Lamb” we had, appropriately named Stinker, grew several inches during the off week, and our Gypsy Rose Lee had to wrestle with him while singing.
The people who train these animals are amazing, too, and don’t get the credit they deserve. One of the most famous animal trainers in the Broadway realm is Bill Berloni. His life is so interesting. He trained several of the original Sandys (from Annie), on and off Broadway, and is big on using shelter animals in his work. Berloni’s autobiography, Broadway Tails, is definitely worth the read for any age. I picked that book up the clearance rack at Barnes and Noble several years ago, and it’s one of the things that jumpstarted my love for theatre. He’s an inspiration to me.
Overall, stage animals are amazing. Things may get a little rough over the rehearsal process, but they can bring a show together, and add a lot of fun to a production.