Special Reports

Westminster Winner Banana Joe was on Broadway, Reports Pretty Much Everyone

The canine champion appeared for one night in The Mystery of Edwin Drood, and it was really, really big news.

Banana Joe (left) and <i>The Mystery of Edwin Drood</i>'s Macaco (right)
Banana Joe (left) and The Mystery of Edwin Drood‘s Macaco (right)
(Banana Joe image © Lisa Croft-Elliott)

Yesterday, a tiny dog named after a fruit appeared in a Broadway show and it dominated the news cycle. Which certainly seems reasonable. (It’s not as though our President had just suggested we spend some time thinking about improving our schools and raising the minimum wage.)

Even our most respected news outlets were making quips about America’s furry sweetheart, Banana Joe. So, in case you feel like you’ve missed something, we’ve compiled some of the more…er, informative quotes:

“You know how these show-business success stories go: one day you’re just a hound nobody’s heard of, the next you’re making your debut on Broadway.”The New York Times ‘ ArtsBeat blog

“Is this the first time someone (or something) named Banana Joe has visited Studio 54? I highly doubt it.”Black Book

“The Broadway cameo is all in a (dog) day’s work, for the newly minted star mutt.”New York Daily News

“Earlier in the day, Banana Joe enjoyed a tradition like numerous fellow Broadway actors before him have done; he dined at the legendary Sardi’s restaurant.”The Examiner

“Banana Joe, the con artist mutt who stole Westminster out from under Swagger’s paws, is headed to Broadway in what is being dismissed by at least one critic as ‘stunt-casting so desperate and uninspired it makes Jeremy Piven’s performance in Speed-the-Plow seem Tony-worthy.'”Vanity Fair

“We’d be more impressed to see him playing something meatier—something like. . . The son in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”Vanity Fair

“Break a paw!”The Daily Beast

And a personal favorite: “The Best in Show winner at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show is heading to Broadway. Not to see a show — to be in one.”Salon (Because this would all make so much more sense if the dog was seeing a show.)

If you still feel like you really must have missed something, here’s the scoop:

Banana Joe is the name of the affenpinscher who won the prestigious title of Best in Show at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show on February 12. Yesterday, February 13, the new champion appeared for one evening in the Broadway production of The Mystery of Edwin Drood at Studio 54. He replaced the show’s usual canine star, cast member Stephanie J. Block’s Maltese/Yorkie mix Macaco.

But don’t feel bad if you (miraculously) missed this story. NPR seems to be the only outlet that didn’t report it. So it obviously wasn’t real news anyway.

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