When casting for the fall musical, “Annie,” theater director Tim Broeker had to prepare auditions for a unique role. Broeker created a Google Form to cast Sandy, Annie’s dog.
“I didn’t have to think about it too much early on, but it’s very clear that we have to have a dog,” said Broeker. “There’s so many productions … where they just have a kid dress up as a dog. I said, ‘No, we’re gonna have a real dog.’”
The online form, which was sent out to cast and crew members, asked for dogs’ names, breeds, ages, training backgrounds, photos and blurbs about their personalities.
After looking at the forms, Broeker decided to cast Australian labradoodle Benji Shaw.
Shaw was picked for the role because he is a therapy dog and already knew sophomore Noa Levin, who plays Annie.
“He interacts with people and is not reactionary in the way that a lot of dogs are,” said Broeker. “There’s a lot of different things kind of thrown in [‘Annie’] like the bright lights … [Levin] is singing to the dog, so it’s pretty loud with lots of movement.”
Broeker set up a time for Shaw to come into rehearsal and see how he would react to Levin singing in the “Tomorrow” scene.
Shaw did not need to have extra training for the show, but Levin fed him some treats to keep his attention during rehearsals.
“Because [Shaw’s owner] was there, he was kind of distracted by [her],” said Broeker. “We did try it where Noa had some chips and was able to feed him … When we’re actually working with him, if he knows that Noa has treats, he will want to be [on stage with her].”
Levin submitted Benji Shaw’s application on behalf of her friend sophomore Sarah Shaw.
Sarah Shaw plans to handle Benji Shaw during the show, and when watching the performance, Sarah Shaw’s grandma plans to step in.
“Annie” gave the department the ability to do a period piece with many opportunities for casting, Broeker said.
Since many students wanted to be involved, the department wanted to have a show with a large cast to accommodate everyone.
It is interesting to see how high schoolers are interacting with a historical piece that took place so far in the past, student director Molly Becker said.
Since the ensemble members each have multiple roles, they get to experiment with a range of different characters.
Junior Maya Spreckman has a lot more freedom to do what she wants with her character and create a stronger backstory, which she has been unable to do in past musicals, she said.
The musical debuted yesterday and is scheduled to take place today at 7 p.m. and tomorrow at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. All performances are in the CPA. Tickets can be purchased on ShowTix4U for $10.
“When I found out there was going to be an actual dog, I was nervous but so excited,” said Spreckman. “I’ve never been in a show with an animal before, and it’s so exciting to get to do something new.”