Musical explores human-canine relationships

By Brenda Rindge
The Post and Courier
Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Piccolo Spoleto has one show this year that has gone to the dogs — literally.

"Dogs: The Musical," written by Chapin resident Paddy Mahoney Bell and featuring music by composer-arranger Dick Goodwin, has a 12-show run that started Monday and goes through June 10 at the Footlight Players Theatre.

Come, sit, stay for this musical comedy/tragedy, which features adult actors playing the pups, but beware that it touches on issues such as abuse, death, social injustice and some minor sexual innuendo, making it inappropriate for pups younger than 10.

It's the tail — uh, tale — of two misfits and their lives over a two-day period in a city square and its adjacent park.

Emerson, a streetwise mutt, and Shadow, the puppy, search for a sense of belonging while working hard to stay ahead of the pack. Others in the ensemble include Chaos, a split-personality schnauzer; Chairman, an old field trial champion; Gypsy Rose Flea, the companion dog who takes her classification to the extreme; and KD McLady, a displaced sheepdog.

There's also an appearance by a young girl and a real dog, Foster, who happens to be Bell's pet.

Camden resident and Broadway veteran Joy Claussen plays Purrscilla, the token cat who longs to return to Broadway.

The show is artistically directed by Jerry Stevenson, the artistic and executive director of the Columbia Children's Theatre, who also plays the role of Emerson.

The story's told from the canines' perspective but is as much about human nature as anything, exploring the relationships between people and their dogs and the desires of both to be cherished.

Bell says that anyone who has ever tried to keep a leg up on the competition will identify with the theme.

Although it features upbeat tunes such as"Every Dog Will Have Its Day" and "Collar/Leash Tango," the first song Bell penned for the show was "Seven Times As Fast," which is "based on human emotion but is more intensely felt when we think of the brevity of life in terms of a dog," she told the (Camden) Chronical-Independent.

It was inspired by Emmerson, Bell's beloved pet who was born with physical problems but defied the odds by living seven years.

"Emmerson was a gift, and he inspired me to create this show, 'Dogs,' as gift in return," Bell said. It's "a way to attempt to tell the story of the human-canine bond and what a treasure it is to be loved by our dogs."

"Dogs" was first performed as a one-act play in Kershaw County in 2003, and Bell has been tinkering with it since, turning it into a full-length musical.

She wrote the libretto, lyrics and most of the melodies. A first-time playwright, she is president and chief executive officer of PBP Inc., a production company she runs from her home, and an alumnus of the 2005 Creative Theatre Institute in New York.

Goodwin wrote some of the melodies and arranged and orchestrated the score. He is a performer and recording studio composer-producer, a distinguished professor emeritus at the University of South Carolina and the recipient of the 2001 Elizabeth O'Neill Verner Individual Artist Award, the highest arts honor given in the state.

Bell and Goodwin also have produced a CD of songs from "Dogs: The Musical," and Bell has created a "Dogs" bandanna, suitable for dog or human wear.

A portion of the proceeds from the show will be given to local animal shelters, and a percentage of merchandise sales will go to the Walter M. Crowe Animal Shelter in Camden and the John Ancrum SPCA in Charleston.

Reach Brenda Rindge at brindge@postandcourier.com or 937-5713.

DOGS: The Musical was conceived and written by Paddy Mahoney Bell.

Music arranger/composer, Dick Goodwin.

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