Broadway strike gives canine stars paws

By Joe Dziemianowicz DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER (November 17th 2007)

Getting back on stage has occupied the waking moments of performers who've spent the past week cooling their heels.

Or their paws.

For Chico, the canine star of "Legally Blonde," the stagehand strike has been disorienting.

"He's getting a little stir crazy," says trainer Bill Berloni.

"Dogs don't have a cognitive thought process," he adds. "They don't have the same sort of memory that humans have. To perform, we rely on repetition and routine."

To stay in the groove, he has been rehearsing tricks with Chico in his apartment, including one in which the feisty tan Chihuahua barks out a message to girls looking for their sorority sister Elle Woods.

"We do it at every meal time," he says. "It took almost eight months to perfect this trick - one where a dog has a conversation with a person. We've tried to not have it interrupted."

Before the strike began Nov. 10, Berloni or an assistant practiced tricks on days that have no performance.

Christian Borle and Laura Bell Bundy, with Chico the Chihuahua in 'Legally Blonde.' Four-legged actors can get rusty when sidelined by the strike, more so than their two-legged co-stars
 

But one thing the handler hasn't been able to duplicate in his living room is the attention that Chico and four-legged co-star Chloe, an English bulldog, get at work.

"Show dogs have to love going to work," says Berloni. "One reason they do is because they go get so much love and attention from the cast and crew."

On Friday, Chico slept over at the home of "Blonde" star Laura Bell Bundy, while Chloe bunked with Orfeh, who plays a benevolent beautician. The dogs spend most of their stage time with the two actresses.

"It was important to reestablish contact," says Berloni, adding that two key things will happen: "They'll have one-on-one time with the dogs and they'll be feeding them their Friday night meal and Saturday morning meal.

Source: Daily News