The actor portraying Sandy in the production of the musical "Annie," -- which the Anchorage Concert Association brings to Alaska for a six-day run starting Wednesday -- has to be careful not to steal the show from the title character.

Not that his role isn't important.

He has to partner with the orphan girl, pick up on subtle cues, try to get the her out of jams, protect her from the authorities bent on returning her to the horrid orphanage and search for her through the dirty, dangerous, friendless streets of the big city. He has to project nuanced drama without becoming frantic.

But in the biggest scene, as the title character gushes out her emotion and the audience invariable goes wild with cheers and applause, he has to stay absolutely still.

Sandy, as fans of the "Little Orphan Annie" comic strip, the musical and movie know, is played by a four-legged actor. He's the stray dog who befriends Annie.

In Anchorage that dog is played by Mikey, age 8.

"I found him in an animal shelter," said trainer William Berloni.

"He'd been tied up outside for years and was somewhat socially retarded."

Worse, Berloni discovered, Mikey had heartworms, a serious and difficult-to-treat disease.

But he had the right look and the right attitude. Berloni took a chance and brought him home.

From Shelter to Broadway

Berloni and his Sandys -- "I must have 30 Sandys that I've rehearsed" over 32 years -- have been part of "Annie" since the beginning. Berloni was fresh out of high school and hoping to become an actor. To get his foot in the door, he volunteered to build sets for a regional company, the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, Conn.

In his second season the company needed a dog for a new musical they were going to try out. They offered Berloni a small role if he'd find and train the right canine. "I said, 'Sure! Anything for a part!' " He headed to the local animal shelter, picked out a likely candidate and adopted it.

The musical was "Annie" and, Berloni admitted, it flopped. He left for New York and, as a responsible pet adopter, took the dog with him.

Then the miracle happened. Director Mike Nichols wanted to bring the flop to Broadway and Berloni just happened to room with the only performer ready to go on stage in the role of Sandy.

In New York, "Annie" became a giant hit and has been running somewhere ever since. The once discarded animal, rescued from a shelter, turned out to be his owner's ticket to a lifelong career in theater.

" 'Annie' is one of those shows," Berloni said. "It's done everywhere around the country. So I always have a pair of Sandys available."

A pair because, just like two-legged actors, there's always an understudy standing by. Mikey's break came when one of those understudies had a stroke and died just as the show was about to open in Seattle.

Mikey was still new, barely recovered from his medical problems. "I wasn't even sure that he was good enough to go on the road," Berloni said. "But we didn't have a choice."

At first Mikey seemed a little shell-shocked at the city. But he adjusted quickly. He spent two years traveling around the country as the understudy, Berloni said, and took over the role last year.

The right price

Those who can't get their pet to stay off the bed or come when called may marvel at a dog who performs precisely on cue before a noisy crowd night after night.

But Berloni said it's not as hard as it sounds. "We all have our price. If an animal is young and healthy, I usually can find something they really like and exchange it for the behavior I need. The simple thing is that the animal has to want to do it."

Unlike two-legged stars with egos, Mikey doesn't need bottled water and caviar, though he won't refuse a plain old dog biscuit. "We keep the treats very simple," said Berloni. For one thing, dogs can get bored. "If food is the motivating factor, you have to increase the value of the treat."

Furthermore, "Mikey's not really a toy guy." Though his understudy, Oliver, age 112, remains more interested in puppy things.

Instead, "We reward them with affection. You never run out of that and you can give it to them on stage."

Of course being a celebrity has its perks. Mikey will fly to Anchorage on Alaska Airlines in a passenger sea, Berloni said. ("We never transport our animals in a cargo hold,") In the Lower 48, he travels from gig to gig in a customized van. He shares a hotel room with Oliver and their handler, whose job is to "keep them happy," feed them, exercise them and keep them safe; these visiting stars won't be taking any dog sled tours or hanging out at an off-leash area.

When Mikey and Oliver arrive in Anchorage, they'll get a tour of the Atwood stage, be allowed to explore it and become familiar with it.

"Every night before the performance, the dogs say hello to the cast -- we don't want them distracted by seeing their friends for the first time after the curtain goes up," said Berloni.

There's a short warm-up with Madison Kerth, who plays Annie. Then it's off to Mikey's private dressing room for final preparations and to await his cue.

The tough part comes early, when the runaway dog meets the runaway kid. "It's the same scene that has the big hit song, 'Tomorrow,' " Berloni noted.

"You can't have a dog wandering around the stage or even sitting up and distracting the audience while Annie's singing her big number. It's not a scene about a dog, it's about a kid and her optimism. So he has to lay perfectly flat and do nothing for two minutes."

Good karma

It may be nothing, but it's meant a good life for the dogs rescued from pounds over the years -- all of Berloni's Sandys came from animal shelters -- and for Berloni too.

Today his credentials include training theater dogs and cats, birds, lambs and other critters, including the Chihuahua and the bulldog in the musical version of "Legally Blonde," Julia Roberts' dog in the film "Charlie Wilson's War" and even a rat for Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Woman in White."

He's the author of a couple of unique books, "Broadway Tails" and "Yoga for Dogs," a guest on network television shows, and the proud owner of 90 acres in Connecticut where he moved just last month with 23 dogs (15 at the moment, eight are working), three horses, two cats, two lamas, pigeons and other critters.

"When the dogs aren't on tour, they're back here hanging out with this pack," Berloni said. After years of housing the menagerie in tighter spaces, he decided he'd rather see the animals have a "dream place" than a mansion for himself.

"We're not going to have a retirement home," he said, a bit wistfully, by cell phone. But there was eagerness in his voice when he said, "I have to go feed the llamas."

And there was a lot of enthusiasm in the background barking that accompanied the call.

"Treat animals with respect," Berloni advised pet owners. "There's a whole karma, I believe, in doing good to others. If my life is an example, I've benefitted from helping animals all my life."

Find Mike Dunham online at adn.com/contact/mdunham or call 257-4332.

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