William Berloni’s ‘Full Circle’ with Goodspeed’s 50th Anniversary ‘Annie’

William Berloni’s ‘Full Circle’ with Goodspeed’s 50th Anniversary ‘Annie’

His Life and Career Changed at a Dog Shelter

By Frank Rizzo

For famed animal trainer William Berloni, Goodspeed Musicals’ 50th anniversary production of “Annie” this fall is an emotional homecoming. His assignment is the same as it was in 1976: find a dog to play Annie’s “Sandy.”

“I decided I wanted to make this search for the revival a sort of homage to how it all began, going through the search and training process, just like I did before.”

In the summer of 1976, Berloni was a 19-year-old acting apprentice at East Haddam’s Goodspeed Opera House when executive director Michael Price, now 88, told him to get a dog — without spending any money — and train it for the show. In return, he would get his Equity card.

It was an assignment that came with harrowing drama, a career-change twist and a Broadway musical-style happy ending.

The show’s book writer Thomas Meehan told Berloni to find a friendly, mixed-breed, medium-sized and sandy-colored pooch. After striking out at several dog pounds, Berloni arrived late in the day at the animal shelter at Newington’s Connecticut Humane Society. There, he found one particular animal, quietly sitting in the shadows — thin, wet, dirty and probably had been abused. The dog slowly approached Berloni, looked up at him with his sad brown eyes and for the first time allowed someone to pet him. Berloni knew he found the right dog.

But the teen apprentice didn’t have the $7 to rescue the animal, which was to be euthanized the next day. Frantic, Berloni returned to East Haddam but couldn’t find any of the show’s creative team for guidance. His roommate urged him to go back regardless and fellow apprentices and crew members chipped in their dollars, too. The next morning, Berloni was sitting on the shelter steps before it opened, paid for and adopted the dog, and saved the nameless pooch who would forever be “Sandy.”

That story would have been a good one if it ended there. But it gets even better.

The new musical faced improbable odds. The show opened in a torrential rainstorm. The leading critic was dismissive. And the young actress playing Annie was replaced (by Andrea McArdle). Things looked dire for the show.

But at the last Goodspeed performance, legendary director Mike Nichols saw the musical and its potential. Under his producing savvy, the show was reworked and headed to Broadway the next year.

That’s when Berloni — still an aspiring actor — was living in Manhattan in a six-floor, no-dogs-allowed, Bleeker Street walk-up with two other roommates — and a secret Sandy. Unexpectedly, he and his canine buddy were asked to join the new Broadway production, which turned out to be a sensation, running nearly 2,400 performances. Touring productions followed as well as revivals, films and television versions of the show, launching Berloni into a career he had never envisioned for himself.

Over the decades, Berloni, an only child who grew up on a farm on Kensington, became a leading show biz animal trainer with 34 Broadway credits and countless off-Broadway, touring and regional productions. 

Films for his animal stars began with 1981’s “Neighbors.” Others followed, including “The Greatest Showman,” “Charlie Wilson’s War” and 2024’s “The Friend,” starring Naomi Watts, Bill Murray and the Great Dane title character. 

His man television gigs include “Sesame Street,” “Only Murders in the Building,” and “High Maintenance,” the latter which featured an entire episode from a dog’s point of view. Berloni also guided canine performances in NBC’s “The Wiz Live!,” “Peter Pan Live!” and in 2021’s “Annie Live!”

Berloni and his wife and business partner-producer Dorothy — along with 20-plus animal family — live on their 90-acre property in Haddam. A life-size bronze statue of the original “Sandy” greets visitors at the combination retirement/rescue/working-dog home. 

Berloni’s heart has a special place for Goodspeed, which also produced 2019’s “Because of Winn-Dixie,” a musical based on the 2005 film. The lead was a dog named Bowdie, one of Berloni’s biggest and most beloved stars.

Berloni found Goodspeed’s new Sandy in a shelter in Florida, “and he has an uncanny resemblance to the original Sandy.”

“I’ve seen a lot of ghosts this time out,” Berloni, 69, says of this latest Goodspeed production. “About 80 percent of those involved in that first Goodspeed show are now gone. But I look back knowing I was in the room where it all happened and feel very humbled.” 

Over the years, Berloni has received many honors, including recognition at the Tony Awards, and by the Drama League, Outer Critics Circle and Playbill. But he received a special tribute last year at Goodspeed’s annual gala. 

Instead of a simply being given a plaque, a duplicate of Berloni’s “Sandy” bronze statue now stands in front of Goodspeed Opera House (goodspeed.org), honoring the dog — and the man — where it all began. “Annie” will play at the theater through December 2.