updated 12-15-02
Ember & Journey were in a production of "Annie" with the Peninsula Youth Theater
November 9-17, 2002 at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts.  
They did 10 performances and were instant "stars"!

Pictures courtesy of Peninsula Youth Theater photographer, Lyn Healy

More pictures to come soon.

Press release written by PYT Media Contact, Victoria Velleneuve

DOGS EMBARK ON STAGE CAREER

          The mother regularly provides companionship for the elderly. Her son occasionally helps rescue dogs lost in highway accidents. Now these two talented golden retrievers are about to embark on a stage career with Peninsula Youth Theatre’s upcoming production of “Annie.”

          Owner-trainer Bea Moore of San Jose is as confident that the dogs will take to the footlights as the musical’s title character is that the sun will come out tomorrow. Between them, 9-year-old Ember and 5-year-old Journey own five American Kennel Club obedience titles, four AKC tracking titles, two hunting titles and an international champion title. Both are certified Canine Good Citizens and Therapy Dogs.

          So that they don’t get too tired, Ember and Journey will alternate performances, just like the productions’ two casts of about 40 children ages 8-20. Joyah Spangler of Los Altos, who plays Annie in the Mets cast, works with Journey. The other Annie, Jennifer Kranz of Atherton, and Ember are in the Yankees cast.

          In the story, the spunky little orphan of newspaper comic-strip fame runs away from New York City’s municipal orphanage to find her family. She first befriends a mutt, then the millionaire Oliver “Daddy” Warbucks. The musical version of Harold Gray’s stories opened on Broadway a quarter-century ago, winning seven Tony awards, and remains a perennial favorite.

          Moore says the most difficult scene for Ember and Journey comes right after Annie meets the dog, when she tries to convince a police officer that she’s not a runaway and the dog’s not a stray.  Suspecting that Annie isn’t telling the truth, the officer challenges her to summon her dog by its name. Ember and Journey have to wait for the third time Annie calls “Sandy” before they run over to her.

          "First, I had to call her in a voice that did not sound like I was asking her to do something,” Jennifer, 11, says. “I looked toward the back of the stage so she wouldn't think I was talking to her. Then, when she was supposed to come, I raised my voice, looked right at her and excitedly called Sandy. Ember came rushing over! I was so excited it worked. Ember is a very talented actress."

           “The experience is unique for them since my dogs have never worked for anyone except me,” Moore says. “But by the end of that first meeting, they were both listening to their Annie and actually did quite a nice job.”

          It helps that Annie’s costume has a special pocket to hold dog treats. At the moment, Ember and Journey are partial to Baa Baa Q's, made from lamb. Moore also taught Joyah and Jennifer some hand signals for such commands as “down,” “sit,” “come,” “stay” and “heel.”

          Moore got started in dog training in 1983, with her first golden retriever, Au. She signed up for obedience classes through the San Jose Recreation Department, then at the Town & Country Dog Training Club. “Dog training clubs are generally very good places to take dogs for obedience classes,” Moore says. “They are generally not for profit, have very good trainers and don't cost anywhere near what other places, like pet stores and private trainers, charge. Plus, the dogs get as good if not better training because it is done in group classes, which are very good for keeping dogs socialized and able to mind you with other dogs close to them.”

         When Moore flew down to San Diego to get Ember in 1993, she had big ambitions for the 7-week-old pup – and eventually Ember’s son Journey, one of a litter of nine. Their obedience training earned them numerous titles, making them sought-after tracking and therapy dogs.

          In tracking, a dog learns to follow a scent to an article at the end of the track; it’s similar to search-and-rescue except that the dog remains on a leash. Advanced trackers can pick up fainter scents (up to five hours old) over longer tracks (up to 1,000 yards) on several kinds of surfaces. Journey put his tracking experience to use twice in the past two years to search for dogs that panicked and ran away from the scene of automobile accidents on Highway 5 in central California.

          Another rewarding service Moore’s dogs provide is bringing comfort and joy to the elderly at Cupertino Senior Day Care Center. Both are certified by Therapy Dogs International, a New Jersey-based non-profit that encourages qualified dog handlers to visit hospitals and other institutions, and they have made more than 200 visits in the past three years to the Cupertino center and others.  “The seniors love visits from Ember and Journey,” says Moore, who knows firsthand the power dogs have to increase people’s emotional well-being and improve their quality of life. Ember and Journey are, after all, her “replacements” for children who now have families of their own. “I really enjoy the relationship and closeness you get when you work with your dogs and ask them to do things for you and show them how. Dogs love to please their ‘people’!”

          Moore won’t know for sure how the dogs will perform on stage for an unfamiliar audience until the curtain opens on “Annie” on Nov. 9. That’s part of the excitement of live theater. But don’t be surprised if they lap up the applause.

          “Annie” runs Nov. 9-17 at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro St., Mountain View. Show times are 2 and 7:30 p.m. Nov. 9, 10 and 16; 9:30 a.m. Nov. 14; 9:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. Nov. 15; and 2 p.m. Nov. 17. Tickets cost $13-$16 for weekend and evening performances, and $6 for the 9:30 a.m. weekday matinees. To order, call the MVCPA box office at (650) 903-6000.