Bill Berloni: Broadway Tails : Heartfelt Stories of Rescued Dogs Who Became Showbiz Superstars (Paperback - Revised Ed.); 2012 Edition

by Bill Berloni

The sun always comes out tomorrow for the shelter animals Bill Berloni rescues—sometimes from death’s door—and then trains to meet the demands of the stage. Berloni was a nineteen-year-old theater apprentice more then three decades ago when he was offered his first big find and train a dog to appear in the original production of the Broadway hit Annie . Defying the odds, he rescued a down-on-his-luck dog from a local shelter and, together, they redefined what animal performers could do. Since then Berloni and his trainers have provided animals for hundreds of films, commercials, and television shows as well as live theater, including productions of The Wizard of Oz and Winn-Dixie , all over North America. In this heartwarming book, he tells the true stories of “throw-away” animals who came back to work with some of entertainment’s biggest names, names like Bernadette Peters, Sarah Jessica Parker, Mike Nichols, the New York City Ballet, and many more. This updated edition includes an account of Berloni’s search for the newest Sandy to star with everyone’s favorite red-headed orphan.

Genres: Nonfiction, Animals, Dogs, Memoir, Biography

Paperback

First published June 3, 2008

Reviews

[QNPoohBear · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice but too-wordy memoir of how Bill Berloni, a wannabe actor, became the theater world's most sought-after dog trainer. Portions of this book could be read aloud to the whole family. Younger readers and sensitive readers may be upset at the depictions of pounds, humane societies and shelters. The first few chapters were absolutely heartbreaking. There are plenty of great pictures of the famous Berloni dogs. At times the prose was too lengthy and filled with extraneous details. I didn't really need to know all the names of the people who helped him along the way. They could have been included in a thank you at the end. Only the most dedicated theater fanatic would recognize the names of the actors, directors and crew. Overall, this is a good read for animal lovers and theater geeks alike.

[Jenna Petrillo]

I LOVE this book so much! I also love that my uncles friend wrote this! It makes me want to read more and more everyday!Thank you aunt Nancy and uncle Dave for giving me this wonderful book!

[Molly G · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had a few hours to kill and couldn't go home, so I did what I always do in such situations: find a bookstore. Once inside, I went in a random direction, found myself in the performing arts section, picked up this book because it had a dog on the cover, and sat in a corner on the floor to give it a skim.

For the rest of the free hours I stayed on the floor and read the thing cover to cover. A few times I started crying (which happens rarely from reading) and other patrons hopped over to ask if I was alright, so I blubbered, "...Good book!"

And it is. I recommend it.

Bill Berloni: a very nice narrative writer, and the wholly unintentional pioneer of

(a) animals being a presence or actual character on the live stage rather than a prop (fascinating, wonderful, hysterical and/or moving stories of the specific experiences constitute the narrative);

(b) animal training no longer being about breaking or bullying, but about knowing species specifically and the personalities of each animal individually, and figuring out how to achieve the desired stunts by channeling what the animal is inclined to do naturally and keep them safe and happy (his anecdotes about training animals are always inextricably linked with his specific relationships to them);

(c) a leading figure with shelters and rescue op.s since every one of the animals he adopted and trained for stage were rescue animals, some hours away from being put to sleep.

Animals included: dogs, cats, cockatiels, rats, llamas, thespians. (With affection.)



[ words ] staff pick, uninterrupted "sold" run of July-Aug 2011, book IV

Reread 8-11-12

Reread 11-16-19: Still made me laugh and cry. Literally. Aloud. You should see the looks I got on the train.

[SaraKat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a new hero in Bill Berloni. I thoroughly enjoyed this recounting of his life in the theater and introducing a new way of incorporating animals. He started at a time when animals weren't as protected as they are today and some of the stories are hard to read due to conditions that animals are kept in. It is interesting to see how the trainers and animals were afterthoughts and rarely give the space and time they needed to perform well, though Bill managed to get it done! I admire how he fought for good treatment, never let a former actor go unless a good home was found, and worked with humane societies his entire career. There were plenty of tears--both happy and sad--since any story involving animals will involve the end of an animal's life at some point. But there were far more good things, so it wasn't a blubber fest like I was worried about. :)

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a big dog and animal lover. I also Love to go to plays. this book had it all. Bill Berloni was only 19 years old when he was asked to find a dog and train it for a new upcoming play in the mid 1970s called "Annie" this play intended to do something no play had done before make a dog have and actual role and performance in a play. Bill had no experience as a dog trainer but he took on the job of finding a dog for the play Annie. He found a mixed breed at a shelter. He was frightened and had been abused. he was also one day from being euthanized. Bill gathered the money and saved the dogs life. he soon trained this beautiful dog taught him to trust. and "Sandy" was born. He was huge success in the play which he performed for seven years. and now Bill Berloni also had a career he had not planned on.
From 1977 to now bill Berloni has become the "go to" for training all sorts of animals for Broadway plays and all through the nation. many dogs have been trained for Annie tours over the years. he also trained cats, rats,lambs. and tons of dogs. What i love about this book is every animals is a rescue dog, cat etc. after each play all those animals found homes, some with Bill and others with crew members etc. this was a terrific read. If you love animals this is a wonderful book to read. I can see how much love Bill Berloni has for the animals he has trained.Glad I got the chance to read this book.

[Carla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bill Berloni...what a guy! This is a sweet, lighthearted collection of stories about Bill rescuing animals from shelters and making them Broadway stars.

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book! It hit so many key areas for me... love of shelter dogs, Broadway, NYC and CT! Bill is a man with a big heart and his career and ethics are inspiring.

[Barbara Lovejoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a heartwarming book!!! My niece recommended this book for our distant mini book club. This is one of the things I love about get book clubs--being introduced to books I may not have read otherwise. Anyone who loves animals should read this book, and if you don't love animals, you will after reading this book. :)

[Gina P · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book. The stories were heartwarming and I liked how Bill is such a champion for rescue animals. I also am a theater lover so I enjoyed reading about Broadway. That said, the book wasn’t that well written, and tended to ramble. I wanted it to be more focused on the stories about the animals and not the backstage drama. Still, I enjoyed it and found it uplifting.

[Christie Welsby]

I had the pleasure of meeting and talking with the author on a recent trip to NYC. He's a kind, generous and humble man who has changed the way animals are viewed and trained in theater. This book deepened my respect for Mr. Berloni and solidified what an honor it was to meet him.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great read and a fascinating story.

[Laurentara · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute joy and pure delight for animal lovers and Broadway aficionados.

[Olga Vannucci · Rating 5 out of 5]

It takes love and it takes treats
For pets to act eight times a week.

[Bev · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I was doing research on a recent version of Legally Blonde which was opening at Sacramento's Music Circus, and which I would be reviewing, someone told me that a member of the original cast was coming out of retirement to do this show one last time. It was Chico, the Chihuahua who had been the original "Bruiser Woods" and he had been trained by a guy named Bill Berloni.

I did a little research on Berloni too and found that he is "the" guy to go to if you need an animal trained for stage work. I also discovered he had written this mini autobiography, 243 pages of behind-the-scenes theater stories in a career that spans more than 30 years (and which won Berloni a special Tony recently for his contribution to theater on Broadway).

It turns out to be a fascinating book. At 19 he was part of the backstage team for the about-to-be launched original Annie, with Andrea McArdle. He was given the task to go and find a "Sandy" for the show. He rescued the original Sandy literally from the jaws of death, as he was about to be euthanized (and thus began a career-long habit of using rescue dogs for his shows, and then finding good forever homes for them). He knew nothing about dog training, but somehow he got a good dog, he worked on instinct and the show was a rousing success.

The book details many of the animals you have loved over the years from dogs to cats to birds to even a pig, a couple of lambs and some rats. It's a great read. The thing that leaped out at me on so many pages is how much he had to fight for cooperation from surly stage managers and demanding producers. He would arrive at the theater and find he had no dressing room and that it was too expensive to have rehearsal for the animals...but they were expected to be perfect. In the process he met and married his wife and they now have a farm which is a kind of animal sanctuary (much like Jon Stewart and his wife have). This book was a lot of fun and I enjoyed reading it. I also learned a lot about the workings of theater...and here I thought I already knew a lot!

[Shaya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book cover to cover one morning. It is a really interesting learning about all the animals that Bill Berloni has trained for theater and the different querks of each instance. Lots of funny situations.

I was surprised at how little formal training he had to get into the business. Most of his training is based off of instinct and creativity. I think target training and chained behaviors could be useful to him but he got along just fine by figuring out a way to get the animal to do the behavior in response to something else. For example, he had to train Sandy to go across the stage, sit in the middle, look one way and then the other and then come off the stage. He taught that by throwing a treat when Sandy was halfway to him and using a noise on each side of the stage to get the looking. I really liked his emphasis on rescuing dogs and for keeping the dogs safe and happy. I was also impressed by the balance of reality and willing to try new and amazing things for the animals to do. For instance, for several shows where the dog had to be calm for long periods of time in some scenes and active in other ones he used a calm dog and a more active dog. While at the same time he was the first person to train an animal to be more than just a prop on stage and he did train some more complicated behaviors.

If you want to be a welltreated show animal trainer, work for Broadway not Hollywood.

It's well worth reading or just flipping through.

[Johnny Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It's no more repetitive than walking out the door each day, only to find an entirely new set of issues, problems, and answers. Bill has taken a seemingly unknown trade and explained the intricacies. His approach to the hurdles he faced with each show was not only creative, but told in a very humbling way. Every story revealed insight and problem solving and the behind the scenes scenarios were definitely interesting. Learning about some of the actors and their love (or not) for animals was very human-especially when you discover how much care and attention was involved when it came to the treatment of the animals. Even though he mentioned all the hard work involved, it was the animals that received the credit. Explaining where the various animals ended up after each show was satisfying.

This book is truly one of a kind. The good kind.

[Monika · Rating 4 out of 5]

Broadway Tails gets four and a half stars in my opinion. I loved the movie Annie when I was a kid and of course loved Sandy most of all. Broadway Tails starts with the story of Sandy and how, because Bill Berloni took a chance, the shelter dog was given a second life. Bill Berloni trained dozens of dogs, not to mention cats, pigs, birds, and even rats. He saved the lives of so many animals and trained them to be stars. The book illustrates a handful of stories about these animals over the past three decades. It is a quick read and a heartening story that reminded me of my own rescue pup.

[manatee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although this book does get repetitive, I still loved it because it gave you a glimpse of all the back stabbing and manipulation that goes on backstage in a typical broadway show. It must be frustrating to be an animal trainer with all those human prima donnas.

I wonder what Bill Berloni is really like.
I loved the stories and was really captivated by the trainer's ingenuity and the fact that his reputation was on the line for every show. He had to basically re-invent the wheel for every show and every trick.

I loved the stories of Hamletta the pig and Mr. Ed the cat,Chico and BOO-BOO.

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was cuter than I thought it was going to be. The book goes through this guy's career training animals for Broadway. All of the animals that were used for shows were from shelters or from homes w/ bad situations. He helped to better the lives of many animals. It was also interesting to read the steps he had to take to train these animals to perform the same trick night after night in front of hundreds of people.

[Paul · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one was a disappointment. When Terri Gross interviewed the author on NPR, the book sounded wonderful, full of details about the various animals and what it was like to train them and work with them. But when I bought the book and started reading it, I found it was full of Broadway insider chitchat and celebrity name-dropping, which totally put me off. Maybe that's what people want -- celeb gossip -- but not me. I wanted more of what I heard on the radio.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book for animal lovers and Broadway fans alike. I really enjoyed the many funny and heartwarming stories of dogs (and a few cats) who were rescued and given a second lease on life and the opportunity to become stars of the stage. In addition to following them on their journeys, it was interesting to learn the behind the scenes stories about how the productions progressed from early workshops and out of town tryouts to hit shows.

[Micki James · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not really a pet person but I enjoyed reading this story about animals that have starred on Broadway. The common thread is their trainer, Bill Berloni. So many stories to tell including the life history of Sandy who starred for seven years in Annie. And the question that has vexed so many Oz fans like myself: should Toto be a Scottie like in the book or a cairn terrior like in the movie?

[Ermabom · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book although it gets a bit repetitive. It is a feel good book. Bill Berloni trains animals for theatre and all his animals are rescued from shelters.
His training techniques are interesting to read about. However after the 3rd or 4th story, they all start to sound the same.

[Naomi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of course as a dog trainer, I was very interested in this book. What I really liked though was Bill's determination to continue doing what he loved, and the struggles he overcame when the dogs and people he worked with didn't cooperate.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, light reading, I enjoyed it tremendously, especially the early stories of how he fell into the profession. His tone is never condescending, just genuine. Just as he was at the book signing I attended. Hard to imagine anyone who loves both animals and theater not enjoying this book.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, so it is not literature, but what isn't too like about heartfelt stories about dogs and Broadway?

[Aly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book that showed what it would be like to be a dog on broadway.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a sucker for books about shelter dogs.

[Mrs.Y. Yeingst]

This is a great book for those of you who love animals. I met this author a couple of weeks ago!

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved the dog stories. But, it was very predictable.