Harrison White, Janet Krupin, Jessica Gisin, Justin Michael Wilcox, Dane Biren and Shanna Marie Palmer star in ‘Bark! The Musical!’ (photo by Alyssa Brennan)
Six canines of different breeds, from an aged Labrador to a Jack Russell terrier puppy, spend at day at Deena’s Doggie Daycare in “Bark! The Musical!,” which opens this week at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center.
“Bark!” became a critical and popular hit after it opened at the Coast Playhouse in Los Angeles nearly six years ago, becoming the third longest running production in the city’s history. The Civic Light Opera of South Bay Cities’ production has its gala press opening Saturday, Feb. 13, following three nights of previews.
“Part of what you’re looking for is no fear, completely open, there can’t be any kind of reservations from them because they are playing creatures that are not restrained at all,” said director Stephanie Coltrin of her cast. “You need people who are gifted enough to play the truth of that but also fearless enough to go all the way with it in the moments where we need for them to go all crazy. The voices are glorious so you’re looking for a combination of talent and absolutely fearless skill.”
Many of them are dog owners but the cast has spent some time recently at the Redondo Beach Dog Park studying their habits as well their physicality.
Justin Michael Wilcox plays Sam, a pit bull and husky mix.
“What I’m trying to find is the constant experience of constantly seeing something for the first time,” Wilcox said. “Dogs are so great at ‘Oh, my God, Oh my God. That happened just six seconds ago but I’m as excited as I was six seconds ago.’ I love that. A couple of us have gone to the dog park and we’ve been watching dogs. It’s great because the one thing about dogs, they love you no matter what. You can shove their head under water and nearly drown them but they would have no idea. They would just lick your face.”
Jessica Gisin plays Golde, a bulldog mix that is the “cranky” dog of the group. She said finding the physicality of playing a dog low to the ground that waddles was a challenge.
“It’s finding a place of letting go of your inhibitions,” Gisin said. “Physicality is really important and something I’m trying to find because otherwise I’m pretty much uninhibited. Sometime we can get ultra-self-conscious on the stage. It’s fun in this because we get to play and find that physicality and all the dogs we saw had different personalities, they walked differently. I think people try to personify dogs and make them like people and they’re not, but they definitely have their own personalities.”
The youngest of the group is Rocks, played by Dane Biren, who is a Jack Russell puppy that is spending his first day at doggy day care.
“I tried to take the childish wonderment of being a dog and also heighten that because he is a puppy and he’s here to learn and just find everything exciting and new about everything that is going on,” Biren said. “One of the images I always keep in my head is that I love when dogs are sitting somewhere, have a thought, bolt out of the room and you always wonder just what they’re going for because they get to the other room and - nothing. I think that captures everything about how I would want to play a dog.”
King, a chocolate Labrador, is the oldest of the dogs. Harrison White, a veteran of CLOSBC productions, plays him.
“I’ve been staring at dogs a lot lately, more than I normally would do,” White said. “What I’m looking for in myself is the inner child, trying to be more uninhibited and find the joy of life.”
Janet Krupin plays Chanel, a “high-maintenance” bichon frise whose “nails are not chipped.” The love of her life is her human, Stephen, who is as spoiled as she is and desires the finer things in life.
“Dogs have that enthusiasm for living in the moment that I think humans are separated from because we have such conscious thoughts about the past and the future,” Krupin said. “Trying to embody a dog’s absolute joy and rapture and what’s right there in front of them, their person, their ball, the grass, the air, a butterfly, and the exciting idea of going on that ride and full-on experiencing the joy that maybe this species is better at than us.”
Boo, the cocker spaniel, played by Shanna Marie Palmer, is one of the smaller dogs at the doggie day care.
“Boo is a nurturer, she is a protector,” Palmer said. “She is also really spazzy and she has a sock issue. I’m kind of neurotic. The challenge is to find those neurotic places without going overboard. Also, being at the dog park watching their butts go before the rest of them and they get super excited.”
According to musical director Daniel Gary Busby, the songs of “Bark!” borrow from many different styles and are quite intricate. The fact that the story is told mainly through song is a challenge for the cast.
“It’s a rarity as a performer you get the chance at such a ground level of a piece put together like this and creative team is awesome at giving us the freedom,” Wilcox said. “It’s about I think finding feelings and it’s about coming together as a pack.”
The dance sequences are another challenge, according to choreographer Karl Walden.
“The challenge is bringing, communicating the canine embodiment through movement without going on your hands and knees for every single movement and at the same time doing something that is cute and funny and poignant and appropriate for musical theater and appropriate for a family audience,” Warden said. “The show is not like ‘Cats’ in that they are rarely on all fours so it’s going to be harder for them to constantly be in the moment and be in character and really embody their personal dog. They all had no fear, that’s why we hired them to do what they’re doing right now. In the auditions these are mostly singers and actors. We have a term in musical theaters, ‘singers that move well,’ and they all moved so well and they moved well because they had no fear. Even an old dog you can train to do a trick. I can train all these singers to do a dance that’s going to look challenging for an audience member. They’re all kicking butt.”
The gala opening for “Bark! The Musical!” is Saturday, Feb. 13, at 8 p.m. The regular schedule is Tuesdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. There are Saturday matinees Feb. 20 and 27 at 2 p.m.; and Sunday matinees Feb. 14, 21 and 28, also at 2 p.m. The show closes Sunday, Feb. 28, at 7 p.m.
