It was Broadway’s big news last week: Vito Vincent,“actor/comedian/model,” according to his Web site, and star of Broadway show “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” fired amid rumors of diva demands that make J.Lo look low-key.
It had all started so well. With piercing green eyes and bright ginger hair, Vincent was poised for stardom, having worked on “30 Rock” and “The Colbert Report.” The press release he issued last Friday in response to his dismissal featured a picture of him in the warm embrace of his beautiful co-star, “Game of Thrones” actress Emilia Clarke. His rep tweeted the following to his fans, including celeb supporters like “GMA” ’s Lara Spencer: “The devious tactics and lies by some became too much to bear, and they ultimately led to my need to separate. I did my best to stay until my understudies were readied.”
But rumors are that this puss got too big for his boots and left with his tail between his legs on March 27.
Vincent is just one of a new pack of animal actors marking out Broadway as their territory this season and setting tongues wagging.
From the cat in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” to the dog in “Pippin” to a real live vulture in “The Testament of Mary,” there’s a new breed (or breeds) ruffling feathers in town.
While it’s said respectable actors don’t work with children or animals, esteemed stage vets are increasingly finding themselves sharing their precious stage space with furry thesps who are sucking up most of the glowing reviews.
Which is why, according to Michael LeCrichia, Vincent’s handler, the cat was let go. “Vito was receiving all the positive attention, from the New York Times to the Hollywood Reporter,” he says. “His reviews were great, shining a spotlight on us. Right then and there, I knew it was going to go downhill fast.”
LeCrichia does acknowledge that Vincent may have made some first-timer faux pas: asking for his own dressing room, rather than sharing one with the production’s three other cats for fear he might pick up kitty flu. He denies reports that he asked for his own driver, saying he paid for the cat’s cab fares up- and downtown from his century-old limestone building in FiDi. He also maintains that his gig wasn’t making him a fat cat. While an all-day commercial might net Vito about $500 for eight hours of work, “After taxes and expenses, we pulled in about $40 per show,” insists LeCrichia.
“Breakfast at Tiffany’s” remained tight-lipped: “The production holds all of its cat actors in the highest regard, and we wish the talented Vito well. All other matters are strictly confidential feline-resources information,” a spokesperson says.
A dog’s life onstage sounds just as diva-like. Bill Berloni, famed animal training veteran, and owner of collie dog Sunny, who plays Sandy, Little Orphan Annie’s charge, had to fight for former rescue mutt Sunny’s benefits, which now include a $400 monthly parking garage and uptown Manhattan accommodation.
Berloni believes star animals deserve their high-maintenance packages and takes direct aim at shows that allow their actors to use their own untrained, unregulated pets onstage, a nascent trend.
“Up until this January, we had to be licensed by the USDA, but this January they removed the regulation and let personal pets be used,” Berloni barks. “Who’s taking care of the animal, or regulating working conditions? Do these actors have insurance for their pet if it bites someone? It’s worrisome.”
“The Mystery of Edwin Drood” star Stephanie J. Block, who trotted out her own dog, Macaco, a
3 1/2-pound Maltese for a star turn this past winter, didn’t do Berloni’s argument any harm by admitting to Broadway.com that “My dog is trouble!”
But what of the actors working with these demanding dogs and cats? Are their egos at risk as these four-legged fiends steal the show?
Not in the slightest, according to John Bolton, the veteran stage actor who played Mr. Parker opposite two “Bumpus hounds,” Pete and Lily, in last winter’s “A Christmas Story.”
He says he wasn’t jealous of the hounds’ comparatively ginormous dressing room in the basement of the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, nor their “expensive, organic treats.” He sees it philosophically: “At least I get to drink my water out of an ergonomically designed water bottle.” As opposed to a dog bowl.
So if A-list animals are still in demand, what’s next for Vincent, the plucky feline who fell from grace?
LeCrichia is hopeful for less catty colleagues in the future: “I don’t think we’re going back to Broadway soon,” he hisses. “Hey, maybe we’ll get a reality show — or something positive.”
Legendary animal trainer Babbette Corelli, whose family has worked every stage from “Pagliacci” at Lincoln Center to Diana Ross in “The Wiz,” is cautiously optimistic:
“Vito’s a great cat, but that show wasn’t the right fit for him. It was his first theater production, and it’s very draining. He looked miserable at the opening night party,” she says. She’s hopeful about his future, though: “He will do very well in commercials and movies.”
So it seems this cat still has a few lives left in him yet.