Last Sunday we didn’t go to the theater. I figured we were just taking a day off, a break. Then Wednesday came around and I didn’t get a bath. I sure wasn’t going to remind anyone about that! Suddenly it was Thursday night and it is almost 7:00 and we haven’t left for the theater yet. I’ve gone to the door and keep looking at it and back at Mom. She has forgotten…hurry, it is time to go! I am going to miss my curtain call!! Everyone will be looking for me on stage and holding their breath to say “Awwwwww,” and I won’t be there on time! Mom, please, Mom, please, Mom pleeeeeeeease!
October 12, 2006
So there I was near the front of the stage and I was getting a bit bored just standing there with my good pals – no one was feeding me or petting me or singing to me – and out of the corner of my eye I saw the wicked witch sneaking across the back of the stage. Thinking it would be great fun, I turned and ran after her, barking as loudly as I could. She kept stopping and motioning with big waves of her arm to go away. The audience started laughing so of course I kept it up until she was clear off the stage. What a great time that was! I tried it again the next night to see if people still thought it was funny, and they did, so I am just going to add it to my part. Won’t the wicked witch be surprised!
October 8, 2006
Mom told me she had this funny thought about when I go over to Dorothy’s house (you know, Dorothy, from the Wizard of Oz) and meet her dog Graham. Graham is going to say, “Why do you keep saying ‘Dorothy’?”
And of course I will reply with, “Because that is her name.”
After a few rebuttals back and forth (which I hope doesn’t turn into a fight) Graham may come up with “I knew it! My Mom is leading a double life. The first clue should have been when she came home smelling like you! By day, my sweet, innocent Mommy Kim. By night, well, I don’t know what the heck she does with you! But she’s had your stink on her for weeks now.”
Me: “I hear people say I may be going to have an identity crisis. Do you think that is what is happening to Dorothy-Kim?”
Graham: “I don’t know what that is. Let’s play.”
Isn’t my Mommy funny? Everyone knows my friend’s name is Dorothy!
October 5, 2006
I keep adding things to my part as Toto, as the audience notices and responds. I have, however, decided to leave one thing out, and Mom has finally stopped trying to make me do it, because I am not going to do it anymore. Period. End of discussion. Those trees scared me. They walk around and dance and act entirely not like trees. Well, they got in my way after I skipped – well I try to skip – with Dorothy and the Lion and the Tin Man and the Scarecrow across the stage. It is the third time I sort of skip down the proverbial yellow brick road during the play. The first two times went fine. Then that third time those trees, oh those nasty moving trees, got in my way and it scared me and I will not do that again when they are on the stage. Absolutely, positively not.
October 2, 2006
I am the star. That’s what everyone says. They say I steal the show, but honest, I didn’t steal anything. I just run out on the stage (at least most of the time) when Mom says, and get treats, and run off, back to Mom who is always there waiting for me. Now I have found that I can go down the front stairs and off the stage into the audience. That’ a hoot. Mom seems kinda freaked out when I get back, though. She says she can’t see me and isn’t sure if I am coming back. I know when I have to be back for when the good witch points at me and asks if I am the witch – how silly! I haven’t missed my cue yet.
And those monkeys – oooooh I don’t like those monkeys. I run as fast as I can when I see them coming and Mom picks me up. But then she hands me to one of the monkeys! So last time they came after me, I ran into my kennel off-stage where I would be safe. When I came out of my kennel, thinking they were all gone, Mom picked me up and handed me to one of them again. I don’t know how I am going to stop her from doing this. Doesn’t she know they are scary??
September 22, 2006
I am having such a great time at the theater, both on-stage and off. I try to think of something new to do every night as well as on Sunday afternoon. I pay close attention to how the audience reacts so I will know if I should do it again next time. When Dorothy and I go back onstage after the house has landed in Oz, all the little kids called Munchkins sneak out around the edges of some fake plants and start giggling. I have started running and barking at them, and they giggle harder and run back behind the plants. Everyone in the audience laughs a lot when I do that, so I have kept it in my role as Toto.
One day before the show opened I went to an upstairs place back behind where the audience will be sitting. Mom kept telling me to bark by saying my word, free! She said they were recording me and I should bark as much and in as many different ways as I wanted. All I have to say to that is BARK! BARK! WOOF, WOOF. RRRRRRARRR. So in the scenes where I am supposed to bark, the audience hears the recording. Who knew that when I did a little improve that it would sound different! A few people actually asked if some of my barks were recorded. I wasn’t sure if I should feel embarrassed or proud…
September 15, 2006
Last night the show opened and I got to perform on-stage for the first time ever! It was a Thursday night and there were a lot of older people, which was great, since I really relate to that age bracket. I have had lots of practice with my Grandma, after all. Dorothy was about to take me out on stage with the old-looking new leash she had gotten for the part when Jeffery the director said, “No. We aren’t using a leash.” You should have seen the looks on both Dorothy and my mom’s faces. Dorothy took a deep breath and I think Mom started praying. No one knew what I would do since I had never been able to show them that am a born actor. We had rehearsed a lot and I knew my part and did it. When I first ran out to Dorothy on cue, and the audience breathed a collected sigh of “Awwwwww,” that sealed it. I knew I had found my calling. I would have done anything to hear that again. Then when I stole the hot dog from the stick like I was supposed to do and everyone laughed, I knew I loved this job more than anything. Dorothy had treats hidden in her socks and gave me lots of them during the play. Mom helped by always waiting off-stage where I was supposed to run when it was time and she always had a treat for me too. I think I am in heaven.
You should have seen me at the Annie Awards just before the show opened. I wore a white tux collar and red bow tie – I just knew clothes were going to enter into this at some point! Mom says it was, after all, a black tie affair. So where does this red bow tie come in? Mom wore a red gown to match my red bow tie. I worked the crowd. Pet me, feed me, adore me. And they did. Mom managed to ruin it a bit when she stood up on a chair and warned everyone, “Do not give any ham to the schnauzer.” After the social hour in the lobby, I sat on Mom’s lap for the awards in the auditorium – the one where I will be performing. At first, all the clapping, yelling and hooting bothered me. After about 20 minutes I decided it didn’t matter and settled down to watch the awards, even taking a little nap at the end. Then back to the lobby for dessert! I found the cream puff table and stood with my front paws on it, looking longingly at the treats – not without reward! The director is extremely impressed with my behavior, everyone’s reactions to me and my reactions back to them. What does he expect? When I am nice everyone feeds me treats and pets me. Isn’t that what life is all about, anyhow? So Mom says I don’t have to wear any more clothes during the play. That’s good. Now, if I could just get rid of those darned flying monkeys.
When I was a young pup and having a great time chewing to shreds my potty paper, who would have thought that some day I would be a feature in a newspaper? Yep, there I am, posing so beautifully with Dorothy on the front page of the Lifestyle section of the Chattanooga Times Free Press.
I sure hope some puppy doesn’t peepee on my picture.
I got to go back to the Theatre Center and got interviewed. I tried to answer some of the questions but I think the lady only wrote down what Mommy said. I had my picture taken a bunch with Dorothy. I decided I like having my picture taken and posed very nicely outside right next to Dorothy’s red shoes. All of her they got in the picture was her red shoes. Ha, ha, won’t she be surprised! The camera lady said I was very photogenic. What’s photogenic?
Maybe the lady will give some of the pictures to my Mommy and she will put them on my web page.
I followed Dorothy everywhere during rehearsal. I was soooo excited to see her. She came over to my house last week and played with me. Then she came back another day just to take me for ice cream. I wonder how she knew I love ice cream best of all? She is my special friend now. I heard her talking to Mommy about coming to see me again. She is going to come pick me up from my Grandma’s. Dorothy said something about taking me on TV with her. That sounds so silly. Why on earth would she want to be on a TV? I hope I don’t have to sit on the TV. It is up a little too high and I might fall off. I am not a cat, you know.
I love rehearsal now. I get lots and lots of treats. And lots and lots of petting and “good girls”. But especially lots of treats. Everyone is very impressed that I bark when Mommy tells me. Once she remembered the right word to tell me to bark, I understood and now I bark every time she says it. It goes back to me learning to “stay” while we were at the park. First Mom would tell me to “heel,” then “sit,” then “stay.” When it was ok for me to get up again, Mom would say, “free!” The first thing I would do when she said “free” was to jump up and bark, then take off running. So now when Mom wants me to bark, all she has to do is say “free!”
It is late and I want to go to bed now. I always get a treat at bedtime!
Woof, woof! (And a special woof at the witch’s old hat!!)
Man, easy street is over for LexiToto (me). I have to go to rehearsals and get dragged out to Dorothy where she always picks me up. I’m not liken that at all. I have to memorize my lines – mostly woof! It’s getting the knack of when to say them, especially after a life-time of being told to stop barking.
But then everything changed. Dorothy came to my house! and she played ball with me! and she played platy (platypus) hand puppet with me! and she took me for a walk! and she gave me new treats! She even understands dog-speak!! And she sang to me too! I heard her tell Mom she’s not going to pick me up any more because I don’t like it. Ya know, maybe she’s ok after all. Then we went to the meat market and the butcher came out to see me and brought me a big bone. It is so big I can hardly lift it, and boy oh boy is it good!
Mom got me this super yummy treat that is soft and tastes like peanut butter. She keeps making me roll over on my side before she will give me any. I don’t like that. It doesn’t feel right. She said something about poppies and looking like I am asleep. Right now, I am hoping she gives up on this “over” thing. What are poppies?
I had my audition today to be Toto in the Wizard of Oz. It was no big deal. No, really. I am not just being modest. Come on, think about it— me, modest? Mom just asked me to do some stuff I do for her all the time anyhow, like sit, down, stay, heel, twirl. The guy that was watching me do all this asked Mom if I would walk with him, so she gave the yummy bologna to him and he asked me to heel. He was real impressed, but what did he think, that I was going to let him walk away with my bologna? No way! Anyhow, I have to go back on Wednesday to play with the rest of the cast. He said something about they would all want to feed me cookies. I don’t care if I have to sit or lay down for cookies. I sit and lay around a lot anyhow, so again, no big deal. Cookies and bologna…I knew this Toto thing was going to be good.
Oh, and better yet, this guy wants Mom to let my hair grow out. You know what that means don’t you? No grooming!!!! It only keeps getting better and better. Now, if only I don’t have to take baths, either…
“I’m off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of Oz.” What’s Oz?
I'm Dalton, a Rat terrier mix and I came here in Sept, 2017, I was rescued from Hurricane Harvey. My birthday is 8-20-2016. My Gotcha Day is 8-27-2017. And I am Benji, a terrier mix of unknown origin. MY Birthday is June 6, 2018, and my Gotcha Day is Dec 28, 2018. I also was a rescue from a different part of Texas. We also have Angel MrJackFreckles, (2-5-2018); and also we have Angel Minko, (6-18-2017); and Angel Pipo, (11-3-2020);There are also Angels Groucho, Simba, Suki, & Toki. We meezers used to be known as WeBeesSiameezers. We'e all from Michigan, Dalton and Benji both came here from Texas, as rescues..
Xena Schnauzer Warrior Princess with Lucy and Chia 