Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times Banana Joe, a five-year-old affenpinscher.You know how these show-business success stories go: one day you’re just a hound nobody’s heard of, the next day you’re making your debut on Broadway. In the latest chapter of the tale of Banana Joe, the affable affenpinscher who was named Best in Show at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show on Tuesday night, this newly-minted celebrity canine is heading from Madison Square Garden to Studio 54 on Wednesday, where he will be joining the cast of “The Mystery of Edwin Drood,†the Broadway musical adapted from the unfinished Charles Dickens novel.
Matt Polk, a press representative for Roundabout Theater Company, said that Joey â€" as he is known to close friends and handlers â€" will be filling in for Macaco, the dog held by Stephanie J. Block in Act II of “Drood,†at Wednesday’s evening performance of the show.
Macaco will still perform as scheduled in the Wednesday matinee of “Drood,†while Banana Joe is appearing on Fox News with Shepard Smith. On Thursday, Macaco will then resume regular performances in the musical.
Audience members at the Wednesday evening performance of “Drood†cannot vote for Banana Joe to be the murderer or one of the secret lovers, because that would just be weird.
