Broadway’s premier animal trainer Bill Berloni joins Behind the Awards to chat about his current dogs starring in Gypsy & Left on Tenth.  Bill also talks in depth about how he started his career with the original production of Annie.  Bill gives us the inside Scoop about working with Naomi Watts for the upcoming Feature Film The Friend.

Also in this episode - Diahann Carroll’s 1972 Tony Award for Lead Actress in a Musical for No Strings.  A review of Vape! A Musical Parody

Bill Berloni of William Berloni Theatrical Animals, who serves as the Head Animal Trainer for the Broadway productions “Left on Tenth” starring Julianna Margulies and Peter Gallagher and “Gypsy” starring Audra McDonald. He currently has 4 dogs on Broadway!!

Bill has 27 Broadway Show Credits to his name from Annie (1977) to The Ferryman (2018).  

Bill has over 35 Film credits to his name including THE GREATEST SHOWMAN, ANNIE, CHARLIE WILSON’S WAR, and DISENCHANTED.  

Bill Berloni was a 20-year-old apprentice at the Goodspeed Opera House when a producer offered him his big break: a chance to act professionally and gain his Equity Card. In return, all Bill had to do was find and train a dog to play Sandy in the original production of Annie. 

Bill found his dog at a local animal shelter – beginning his career-long commitment to using rescued animals. Through a combination of persistence, patience and trial-and-error, he developed his revolutionary humane training techniques – learning how to teach actor and animal alike to create a successful performance. Annie became a huge hit and Sandy became “the longest running dog on Broadway,” never missing a performance in more than seven years.

Since then, Bill and his handlers have provided animals of all species and sizes, found in shelters, humane societies or rescue leagues, for Broadway, off-Broadway, national tours, regional theatres, special events, the New York City Ballet, motion pictures, television and commercials. When their careers are over, the animals return to Bill’s Connecticut farm.

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