The Thespian

So tonight, a story...

Once upon a time (two years ago), I received a phone call about the fact that Beachwood Middle School was performing the play Annie and was looking for a dog to play Sandy. This person (Amy Gutmann of Canine University) thought of Abby and wondered if I would be interested. WOULD I BE INTERESTED? ARE YOU KIDDING? I called the woman in charge of the play about 12.5 seconds after hanging up with Amy and we went down to audition that evening.

So, we enter the auditorium and walk down the aisle toward the front (it was sort of obvious why we were there...) Sam and Mike stayed in the back and rolled their eyes a lot (in support, I think). Abby greeted everyone enthusiastically (surprise, surprise) and everyone loved her and was asking questions about her. After a few minutes they decided to have one of the two Annies sing "Tomorrow" up on stage with Abby, to see how Abby felt about the singing, the music, the costume, the stage, etc. I found this completely amusing since I knew that Abby would absolutely adore being on stage. So up on stage they go, Abby looking adoringly at Annie, Annie singing to the crowd and to Abby. Abby wagging her tail and looking thoughtful, then lying down at Annie's feet and looking up at her and out at the audience. I am not making this up. This is exactly what happened. I was nearly in tears from trying to stifle my laughter so as not to distract her.

When the song was over, they were pretty sold on her to say the least. The actor who was playing Daddy Warbucks said to me, "Has she acted before?" I attempted to keep a straight face as I answered, "No, but she's always been a ham. She has never, ever done this before." He was amazed...

And so, Abby became a paid thespian. Another episode tomorrow...