Ella the Dog in The Brothers Karamazov

There's an old saying in show business, that you should never work with children or animals, because you'll be upstaged every time. Well, in The Brothers Karamazov we work with both, and it works just fine, thank you very much. We thought we'd share a little more of the spotlight with Ella the Dog in the profile below. Enjoy!

Ella the Dog as Zhuchka with Craig Spidle as Fyodor Karmazov

From Baleigh Isaacs, Assistant Stage Manager:

I adopted Ella one year ago (as of the first preview), when she was 2 months old, so that makes her 14 months old now. She came from a small rescue in Michigan.  According to them, she is a cavapoo: part Cavalier King Charles spaniel, part poodle.  Most likely, she was rescued from a puppy mill and was rejected by them because of some minor flaw.  Her mix was probably meant to be non-shedding and hypoallergenic, but she does shed some and her fur is a little funny looking.  That's my best guess as to why anyone could get rid of such a sweet puppy.  She's very smart, very sweet, very friendly, and very calm.

This is Ella's first full theatre production.  However, she has made cameos twice: once in the New Year's Eve performance of The Philadelphia Story, produced by Remy Bumppo, and once in the closing performance of Lookingglass Alice (as a hedgehog).  Ella is no stranger to theatre.  She has grown up sitting through rehearsals and performances.  She commutes with me on the CTA.  Ella has also visited a hospital as an unofficial therapy dog, sharing her love with the families of patients.  She recently found her place as Miss January on a calendar published by the pet organization, Bideawee: http://bideawee.org/programs_&_services/2009calendarwin.php. Production Affiliate Patia Bartlett took the picture.