Barks on Broadway

If you’ve ever seen a musical like Annie, The Wizard of Oz, or legally Blonde, then you may have seen a canine actor onstage. Often, these shows use live animals to make the story seem as realistic as possible.

- Susan Johnston Taylor

For more than 40 years, Bill Berloni(pronounced Ber-LOH-nee), founder of Theatrical Animals, has trained animals for Broadway shows and other stages. Berloni grew up on a farm with animals and originally wanted to be an actor. He got his start one summer at the Goodspeed Opera House in Connecticut. The theater was doing the very first production of the musical Annie, and the show’s producer needed a dog to play Annie’s canine sidekick Sandy. “He offered me a part in one of his shows if I would find and train the dog,” says Berloni. “It was my golden opportunity and I took it.”

Berloni, then age 19, found the original Sandy at an animal shelter. “I made a promise to myself that when I grew up, if I ever got a dog, I would adopt it,” he says. “I’ve kept that promise and I’ve made animal rescue my personal mission. We only use rescue dogs in the theater business.” Annie opened on Broadway in New York City a year later. Berloni became a world-famous animal trainer who’s worked on 27 Broadway shows and even won a Tony Award.

“When we go to the pound and we find the adopted dog for a show, we are committed to giving it a forever home,” he says. After dogs retire from acting, they still have a home on Berloni’s farm. He also volunteers with the Humane Society of New York once a week, checking on the dogs while they wait to get adopted.