“How will the Hartford Symphony Orchestra pull off its May 20 concert ‘Playing With Dogs,’ which features dogs appearing live on stage?” writes Susan Dunne in Tuesday’s (5/16) Hartford Courant (Conn.). “By hiring Bill Berloni of Haddam, the veteran Broadway dog trainer.… Berloni and his wife, Dorothy, who was once director of programming at The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, have created a show that gives the audience the ‘aww factor’ without sacrificing music by alternating canine performances with musical numbers.… The concert will be made up of dogs performing agility and freestyle exercises, dogs interacting with conductor Adam Boyles, and filmed segments honoring hero dogs, rescue dogs and therapy dogs. A few superstar dogs trained by Berloni will make appearances: the mutt Sandy from ‘Annie,’ the Cairn terrier Toto from ‘The Wiz,’ the Chihuahua Bruiser from ‘Legally Blonde.’ … UConn’s Husky mascot, Jonathan, also will be there, as well as German Shepherds trained by Bloomfield-based Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation. Representatives from the Connecticut Humane Society will tell adoption stories. Berloni … is hoping the show will catch on and other regional orchestras will book him and the hounds to perform with their musicians.”
Posted May 17, 2017
