If you were to meet the actors that Bill Berloni directs, you would think Broadway was going to the dogs. Berloni, 47, trains the cast of nine dogs that appears in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, a musical that opened last Thursday in New York City.
The animal lover began his career in 1976, when he rescued a dog from a shelter and trained it to perform in a show about an orphan. That dog was the original Sandy in the Broadway production of Annie. Since then, Berloni's company, Theatrical Animals, has trained all kinds of critters for hundreds of films, commercials and shows.
For Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Berloni held auditions at New York City's Humane Society. What talents were needed? Was the trainer interested in dogs with pitch-perfect barking? Dazzling fetching? Nope. Berloni says he looked for dogs that were calm and comfortable, "just hanging out." If a dog could deal with the stress of a crowded shelter, it could handle the hustle and bustle of a Broadway stage.
Berloni's goal is to get a dog to "love the actor" with whom it performs. Playtime helps the two bond, but food is often the fastest way to a dog's heart.
In Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the dogs must jump up on a character named Lord Scrumptious when he blows a whistle. While learning the behavior, the dogs were rewarded with typical biscuits. But as performances drew near, the actor playing His Lordship rewarded the dogs with especially scrumptious meat treats.
The promise of such goodies is what inspires the four-legged performers to repeat the same behavior for eight shows a week. "The actor becomes the favorite uncle who spoils them," says Berloni. The round of applause the canine cast gets at each show is just an added treat.