When Scot Pondelick found out a Kansas City opera was looking for four-legged actors for a new production, he knew he had to take his 7-year-old service dog to try out.
“Oh, Venus would be perfect for this role,” he says, on one of two nights of auditions at the Lyric Opera of Kansas City’s production building in the Crossroads. “Cause she is extremely slow and lazy.”
Pondelick, an Army veteran, says Venus trains once a week with the group Dogs 4 Valor, which provides trained service dogs to help veterans and first responders manage anxiety and depression.
“She got bit by a spider like last year,” Pondelick says. “She refused to walk. I had to carry her in and out of the vet. Oh man, my back was killing me.”
Last month, eight dogs and their owners showed up to audition for a special role in the opera’s rendition of “Of Mice and Men,” which opens Friday. Each audition took just 10 minutes.
During Venus’ shot at the spotlight, she was led to a bed where she had to sit quietly while resident artist Alex Smith performed an aria from the Italian opera “I Puritani.”
Director of Production Tracy Davis-Singh, a dog owner herself, says it’s important to see how each one responds to the environment around them — the bright lights, the action onstage and the sound of the singers.
“We need to make sure that we have a dog, first of all, that doesn't want to sing with the singers,” Davis-Singh says, “but also, can either sit or stay or stand there comfortably for 10 minutes.”
Led by Davis-Singh, Venus lumbered through her audition before being sent home with a tasty bag of dog treats.
‘No labradoodles, no fancy, designer dogs’
The Lyric Opera has previously featured dogs in several productions, mostly in walk-on roles. This time around, the dogs are competing for the part of Old Dog.
(A smaller role in the opera went to a 6-week-old Saint Bernard and Bernese mountain dog puppy named Waverly, from Wayside Waifs, who did not audition.)
The opera is based on John Steinbeck's 1937 novella, "Of Mice and Men." It follows two migrant workers through California during the Great Depression.
Because the opera’s aesthetic draws from Dust Bowl-era photography, when Stage Director Kristine McIntyre was considering a dog for the production, she had a specific look in mind.
“We have to believe that it's a dog that could possibly have lived on a ranch in the mid 20th century,” McIntyre says. “So no doodles, no labradoodles, no fancy designer dogs.”
For McIntyre, who directed the production at Houston Grand Opera before bringing it to Kansas City, the authentic appearance was important because the role is not just window-dressing.
“The dog is very much a symbol of the inhumanity of the people who work on this ranch, and society in general,” she says. “How we don't value age. We don't value experience in others, be they animals or humans.”
Davis-Singh says this is the first time a dog has had a chance for some real stage time in a Lyric Opera production.
“What I appreciate in this story and doing these dog auditions is that the dog is essential to the story,” Davis-Singh says. “It's not just a convention.”
A tragic conclusion
Lynn Gowler brought her tawny, 9-year-old English Labrador to audition for the critical role after her husband saw the announcement on Instagram and thought the dog should try out.
“I've been a high school English teacher for 33 years, and it is my favorite story to teach with students,” Gowler says. “And I answered him back and I said, ‘You know, that dog gets shot, don't you?’”
Gowler says her husband was shocked.
“Well, of course they won't do that, but that's what happens in the book,” she remembers telling him.
Gowler says she adopted Bear from KC Pet Project. He loves attention and knows a trick or two, she says. Before he headed out onto the audition stage, Bear lay down to ask for a nice, long belly rub.
“Bear will give you a paw for a shake, and he absolutely loves playing with children,” Gowler says. “All the children in our neighborhood get very excited when they see Bear outside.”
Cue the orchestra, costumes and stage lighting
One month later, Elena Owens waits in the wings of the rehearsal hall with 12-year-old Charlee Blue.
Turns out this salt-and-pepper blue heeler has the right look and the right training for the part — an important part of which is staying mostly silent.
“My daughter is an acting major at the University of Minnesota and has been in shows like ‘A Christmas Carol’ several times,” says Owens. “I'm kind of used to the stage mom gig.”
Charlee started out with the Owens family as a foster dog, and he’s been with them for more than a decade, she says.
“We're theater people, but not as much opera. I think it's been fascinating to hear them singing and how amazing their voices are,” Owens says. “What a gift, you know?”
Davis-Singh says rehearsals like these will help Charlee get comfortable before his big debut.
“You practice it in the rehearsal hall, then you practice it on stage,” Davis-Singh says. “You add costumes, you add lighting, then you add orchestra.”
Opening night, of course, is something that can’t be rehearsed, Davis-Singh says.
So, when Charlee Blue steps into the spotlight for real, it will be his very first time in front of an audience.
Lyric Opera of Kansas City's “Of Mice and Men” runs May 1-3 at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, 1601 Broadway Blvd., Kansas City, Missouri 64108. For more information visit the Lyric Opera of Kansas City website.
