Luke Hura is the country’s leading film, television and theatre dog trainer. The Groodles (Golden Retriever and Poodle cross-breeds) under his care, Bodhi and Sandy, will share the role of Annie’s loyal companion in the musical of the same name that will open in Sydney’s Capitol Theatre on 27 March 2025.
As well as this pawsome duo, Hura has trained Koko, the star of the film Red Dog, as well as Buddy, who played Sandy for a previous production of Annie in 2012. Hura has been tasked with training the dogs to perform a variety of tricks “set to script”, as well as teaching the future actresses who will play Annie, how to work with the dogs to ensure they perform correctly and don’t misbehave on stage.
Thuy On is the Reviews and Literary Editor of ArtsHub and an arts journalist, critic and poet who’s written for a range of publications including The Guardian, The Saturday Paper, Sydney Review of Books, The Australian, The Age/SMH and Australian Book Review. She was the Books Editor of The Big Issue for 8 years and a former Melbourne theatre critic correspondent for The Australian.
Her debut, a collection of poetry called Turbulence, came out in 2020 and was released by University of Western Australia Publishing (UWAP). Her second collection, Decadence, was published in July 2022, also by UWAP. Her third book, Essence, will be published in 2025.
Threads: @thuy_on123 Instagram: poemsbythuy
