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This Casting Call Went Out By Dog Whistle

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By Bill Hutchison of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Published: October 9, 2007

BRADENTON - For a dicey half-hour Monday night, it looked as though Dorothy might have to make her fabled trip to Oz with a stuffed dog in a basket, which is not at all what Michael Newton-Brown had in mind.

The director, who spent much of his life working with animals as a clown for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, wanted an actual dog for the part of Toto in his upcoming production of "The Wizard of Oz" with the Manatee Players.

Puppets -- he could do something with puppets, he figured, but, "Darling, this is children's theater, what can I tell you, and what you want is the real thing."

And so, word went out that the troupe was casting canines, and the theater battened down Monday night in preparation for a herd of would-be Totos, perhaps a crowd to match the 75 little girls -- "I thought it was at least 150," said the woman who accompanied the hopefuls on the piano -- who showed up the night before to try out to be munchkins.

For a long 30 minutes leading up to the appointed time of auditions, though, it appeared there might be no takers.

Production personnel gathered in the theater, swapping animal stories from shows gone by: the incontinent pig in a barefoot production of "L'il Abner"; the dog that left the stage, and eventually the theater itself, during a performance of "Annie"; the cat in a Booker High School production that was celebrated as a real trouper for its ability to sit quietly during a firecracker explosion.

Here was the part of a lifetime for the right dog, the King Lear of dog parts, a part that made a star 60 years ago of a black cairn terrier named Terry who appeared in the film version of "Oz" and then lived out its life doing personal appearances. Yet, for a while at least, it looked as though Newton-Brown was going to end up with a fake.

"Well, at least Edgar is coming," whispered someone -- Edgar being a Manatee Players' mascot, plucked from rush-hour traffic two years ago by set designer Mark Lalosh and his actress wife, Karen.

Indeed, Edgar did show up, finally, along with Bailey and Amy and Jake -- four would-be Totos -- with not 20 pounds of dog among them.

"How cute is that," cooed Gina Odoardi of Amy, "my baby," a Shih Tzu and toy poodle mix who seemed a trifle exuberant for the rigors of stagecraft.

"He looks just like Toto, doesn't he?" said Kathy Sharp of Jake, a dachshund and terrier mix who became preoccupied with the search for sardines stashed backstage for the current Players production of "Noises Off."

Newton-Brown was encouraged by Edgar, the only dog to arrive with its own headshot and résumé, and by Bailey, a chocolate brown charmer with a special talent for riding in a basket.

"With either one of them, it's going to mean eight weeks of rehearsal plus a lot of work at home," the director told the dog owners sternly. "And, of course, they're going to have to learn to be called Toto.

"But, yes, I can see either one of them in the role. So that's exciting."

And that's showbiz.

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