About 30 Chihuahuas have come to the open casting call on this Saturday in late January at Derby Dinner Playhouse in Clarksville, Indiana. Director Lee Buckholz and Kentucky Humane Society obedience trainer Katy McClellan are looking for a Chihuahua to play Bruiser and for an English bulldog to play Rufus in a musical version of "Legally Blonde" (with rehearsals in March and performances beginning in April).
In the rehearsal-turned-waiting room with floor-to-ceiling mirrored walls, a small show Chihuahua named Gidget taps her paws on the floor, never moving more than a foot away from her owner. “The cheese is key,” the owner says, pulling out an individually wrapped cheese stick. Charlie, on a retractable leash, sniffs the other dogs, the belly of his thrift-store onesie hanging toward the floor. Taco wears a sweater. Louie, in a shirt collar and sequined bowtie, is “typed out” because his fur is not blond — the color an audience would expect of Elle Woods’ companion.
McClellan admits that, until an audience fills the seats and the stage lights are on, it’s difficult to know how a dog will react. For Bruiser, she and Buckholz want a dog that’s social, perky and friendly, one that doesn’t push its ears back or constantly shake, as Chihuahuas are prone to do. Bruiser must be comfortable in Elle’s arms (or handbag). All Rufus needs to do, Buckholz says, is “be big and dumb and super-cute.” “You can train them to a certain point,” McClellan says, “but there’s always going to be that element of — sometimes they’ll listen, sometimes they won’t.” In the audition room, McClellan and Buckholz assess each dog’s ability to sit, stay and come, judge how they react to being picked up. At press time, they had narrowed the field to three Chihuahuas and were waiting to see how they would interact with the actress playing Elle.
Derby Dinner has mostly had good luck in the past with stage animals, previously casting rabbits, goats and chickens. Some longhaired dachshunds once caused trouble. “There were a couple times when they were just hungry, probably,” Buckholz says. “They smelled chicken, and they took off.”
Photo by Chris Witzke
