Sometimes all it takes is a little trust to change your life.

Bill Berloni, Broadway’s most beloved animal trainer and activist, didn’t set out to work with animals, but with a little bit of faith and dog treat dust, he has soared to the top of the industry. With 23 Broadway credits to his name via William Berloni Theatrical Animals, Inc. (including this season's Left on Tenth and Gypsy), Berloni has transformed the way animals are utilized onstage, training rescued animals to follow cues previously thought impossible. 

To kick off 2025, check out Berloni's special episode of My Life in the Theatre, featuring some puppy cameos. In the video above, Berloni shares his tricks of the trade for working with furry and feathered friends (including the complications of using live baby lambs onstage) while introducing you to four of stars currently on Broadway.

When Berloni started his life in the theatre, he fully intended to be an actor. At 18 years old, he snagged a coveted apprenticeship at the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, Connecticut, where he served as the company's catch-all helper in addition to honing his craft. His willingness to try any challenge placed before him, trusting that it would work itself out along the way, changed his life forever.

“They were doing this new musical [Annie], and the show had a dog in it. New York dog trainers were very expensive,” Berloni recalls, smiling tenderly. “So basically, we needed a sucker. It was the summer of 1976, I had never trained a dog, and it took me a week to realize what I had agreed to.” Berloni laughs, rubbing his hands together.

“Someone said they had cheap dogs at the animal shelter. So, one day, I took the shop van and a Polaroid camera, and I went to shelters…I'd go to these places and I'd see these dogs in horrible conditions, in dirty cages and skinny." At the Connecticut Humane Society, Berloni saw a “sandy colored” dog. It was morose, not barking—but it sniffed his hand. A staff member told him that dog was going to put to sleep the next day. “I had never known that dogs had expiration dates,” recalls Berloni with tears in his eyes.

Berloni rocketed back to the Opera House to get the necessary approval to adopt that dog, but both the producer and the director had left town for the night. With a fiery determination in his gut, he instead borrowed some money from his roommate to adopt the dog, who would go on to be the very first Sandy in Martin Charnin and Charles Strouse beloved musical Annie.

That flash of fire to save the dog's life, and Berloni’s faith that, somehow, he would figure it all out as he went, changed him forever. As Annie took off, he set his acting career aside, instead becoming the most recognizable and respected animal trainer in Broadway history—training not just dogs but pigs, geese, and even lambs. With Broadway credits such as Legally Blonde and Oliver! to his name, Berloni received a special Tony in 2011 in recognition of his work. 

He estimates that over his four-decade-long career, he's adopted over 300 animals (they live on Berloni's farm outside of New York City); he says it all goes back to that pivotal summer in 1976. “I often think back to that moment of innocence. I'll never forget that moment.”