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Dorothy never did man-
age to get it over to her as
it was so excited it just ran
round the room tail wag-
ging.
Next came two bichons
with their owners. One
was actually called Toto.
Brilliant we thought, it
will answer to his name.
I went over to speak to the
owners, a married couple.
I bent down to meet the
smallest one first, who was
quite happy to meet me,
and then I turned to Toto,
who I think must have
been watching
The Wizard
of Oz
because it decided
its pal was Glinda and he
had turned in to the Wicked Witch of the West and promptly
tried to bite my hand off! “Oh he is fine once he knows you”
I was told.
Dorothy tried calling them in turn. It took an awful lot
of coaxing to get them there. In fact, Toto was just not inter-
ested. Obviously he had set his heart on playing the wicked
witch.
Another bichon arrived, a rather overweight bichon, who
waddled round the room, but who at least did not seem to
have any designs on other parts in the show. Again this one
was not interested in going over to Dorothy, but who eventu-
ally did when his owner brought out a box of cheese and gave
some to her. Apparently she is addicted to cheese. This
explained her size!
Dorothy offered the cheese and the dog came over. This
took quite some time as its tummy was virtually on the floor.
When it came to picking her up, poor Dorothy had to heave
her up. Thinking of all the baskets we would go through, or
rather the dog would, not to mention our cheese bill, it was
another no.
Next came a black dog, looking rather like the real Toto.
We all nudged each other nodding, this was it! Excitement in
the room was electric. That is, until we got close and smelled
it. It smelled and looked like it had been in a tornado al-
ready. This was a definite no as we thought the whole of the
front row might need air fresheners.
So that was it. We looked at each other in dismay. No more
dogs, what were we to do?
Just then the door opened, a lady and her daughter peeped
in and said, “Are we too late, we got lost.” With them was
the cutest little Bichon.
Dorothy called Pippa the Bichon over, she went to her at
once and, as Dorothy picked her up, she licked her cheek and
settled down in her arms.
We had found our Toto.
Pippa went on to steal the hearts of everyone in the cast,
and audiences all week, even helping a couple of the Munch-
kins over their fear of dogs.
Pippa most definitely had the “T” factor!!
The ‘T’ Factor
Hyde Musical Society’s
‘T’ Factor Auditions
Having chosen The Wizard of Oz for our next production,
the next question was “How do you solve a problem like
Toto”? ‘Phone calls and requests went out, but theatrically
trained dogs proved to be outside our budget.
Requests, pleas and bribes to cast, families and friends all
fell on deaf ears.
So, it was decided to hold
‘T’ Factor auditions. I con-
tacted the local press request-
ing anyone who thought their
pooch could play Toto to come
along one evening. I specified
the dog did not have to look
like the original, but must be
good with children, (Heaven
forbid any Munchkins getting
eaten), small enough to be car-
ried by Dorothy and well behaved.
It was with slight misgivings, the casting committee, along
with our Dorothy, waited and waited. Suddenly at last, here
were the dogs……
The plan was for Dorothy to call the dog to her, pick it up
and see how she got on, then walk it round the room. Easy I
hear you say!
The first dog was a tiny pug puppy; to use the word cute
was an understatement.
Costume & Fancy Dress Hire
Altrincham Little Theatre
has a wide range of
theatrical costumes available
for hire at
very competitive rates
For more details call 0161 928 1113
or email
alt.theatre@msn.com