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Animal Stage Trainer Makes Stars Out Of Pound Pups
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21:21
It's Animal Week on Fresh Air; during these last days of summer, we're featuring rebroadcasts of our best conversations about animals and how we live with them.
Animal stage trainer Bill Berloni has 30 years' worth of experience training dogs, pigs, rats, cats and lambs for Broadway productions and Hollywood films.
Berloni got his start when he agreed to train a stray dog for the role of Sandy in exchange for an acting part in the Broadway production of Annie. That experience inspired him to actively recruit shelter animals for roles.
He has since worked on the Broadway productions of Legally Blonde, The Wiz and Annie Get Your Gun. His film work includes Charlie Wilson's War and The Producers.
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Berloni is the co-author (with Jim Hanrahan) of Broadway Tails: Heartfelt Stories of Rescued Dogs Who Became Showbiz Superstars.
This interview was originally broadcast July 18, 2008.
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But the game has changed: Congress voted to eliminate funding for public media across the country. Here at LAist that means a loss of $1.7 million in our budget every year. We want to assure you that despite growing threats to free press and free speech, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust. Speaking frankly, the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news in our community.
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