One of the many things that make Tuacahn shows so special is the use of animal actors. There’s something about a dashing prince riding in on a powerful white horse, the sharp hollow sound of the horse’s hooves clip clopping across the stage, or a real camel traveling with the wisemen in the Live Christmas Nativity or appearing alongside the Ishmaelites when they purchase Joseph from his brothers in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
Currently, a host of animals call Tuacahn their home. Horses have the most animal roles in the outdoor musical productions, so they naturally outnumber everything else. But still, they are in good company with several goats and sheep, a camel, and a dog. At one time a zebra and a peacock even spent time in the backstage barns. No matter the animal, Tuacahn’s Head Animal Wrangler, Kimberlee Davis has their welfare well in hand.
“Tuacahn is just very, very dialed in to making sure I have everything I need to give the animals proper care,” she says. “We don’t spare any expense on good feed—obviously, because the animals are in good condition. We also have the best farrier, a team of veterinarians, and even a chiropractor. There’s a team of grooms who get them all scrubbed up for the show. And when it’s hot, we run misters and misting fans for both the animals and the team.”
In addition to the health of the animal actors, Kimberlee is responsible for their training. There are two parts to the training. The first requires developing a level of trust and cooperation with each animal, so that they can do their part on the stage in a safe way. This close relationship allows Kimberlee to know if they are uncomfortable with something that they are being asked to do.
In this, Kimberlee has their back. She says, “There was a scene in Wonderland where they could not get the horse to walk onto the stage. I was watching, trying to figure it out, and I realized that the set pieces were moving a little every time there was a breeze. So, what was happening was that the shadows that were cast on the stage were moving. To the horse, it looked like it wasn’t safe—that the ground was moving. All we had to do was change the lighting, so that the shadows didn’t show on the floor. I have great support from the stage management and production team, the directors, and the executives. When they want to put an animal in a situation that I don’t think will work, they trust me. They say, ‘We get it. What can we do instead?’”
The second part of training to be a Tuacahn animal actor involves what Kimberlee calls “acclimation.” This is where she trains the animals to stay calm when faced with sudden movements or loud bursts of sound.
“At some barns,” Kimberlee explains, “I’ll see people say, ‘Don’t be waving that when you’re by the horse.’ But at this barn, I say, ‘Be sure to wave that as you go by the horse.’ In The Hunchback of Notre Dame, we have a horse that walks out in the middle of a bunch of dancing gypsies. In the props container, they have all of the dancing ribbons [for the actual production]. But here in the barn, we also have all the dancing ribbons.”
Kimberlee has her team use lots of bright colors, lights, and things waving around, to help the animals expect the unexpected. To go along with this, she encourages Tuacahn’s pyro technicians to do their pyro testing in the backstage arena because that helps the horses know that sudden explosions of light and sound can be anywhere, anytime.
She says, “With performances every night with fireworks and special effects, they get very used to it. While some horses will bolt and run away, ours will just stand there and eat. So, we are not very quiet around here.”
Each animal that stars on the stage has their own unique role that brings value to the show. Read on to meet some of Tuacahn’s biggest stars.
Meet Filly
This beautiful quarter horse started the season playing the saddlehorse for Phoebus in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, but is now on maternity leave! She’s a second-generation animal actor and has been one of Tuacahn’s stars for an entire decade. Her sire performed at Tuacahn for many years, and she has carried on the tradition.
She was nicknamed “Filly” because that’s what a young female horse is called, and she was only three years old when she came to Tuacahn. The name stuck, and now at thirteen, she’s due to have a baby this spring. Often an animal’s calm mindset and quiet demeanor follows generation after generation, so the hope is that Filly’s foal will also carry these attributes and go on to grace the stage, as well.
Meet Burt
Burt, the camel, has been at Tuacahn for six years. He’s now eighteen, and he’s often found relaxing in the shade chewing the cud. His lower jaw moves in a slow circular motion, and he has a very pleasant nature about him. According to Kimberlee, most camels are downright cranky, but Burt is “really and truly a gentleman.” Last year Burt starred alongside David Archuleta in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. This year he has the summer off, but will make his usual appearance during Tuacahn’s Live Christmas Nativity.
Meet Cat and Dog
It might surprise you that Tuacahn’s magnificent Black Clydesdale team are named ‘Cat’ and ‘Dog,’ but it’s true! ‘Cat’ became the nickname for the one whose official, registered name is Victory Cathleen, and so, by default, her half-sister (same sire), Victory Mae, had to be ‘Dog.’ Only four percent of Clydesdales are black, so they are not only astonishingly beautiful animals, but they are also fairly unusual. While both appear on stage to pull the carriage in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Cat is also filling in as Filly’s understudy, acting as the saddlehorse for Phoebus since Filly is on maternity leave.
Meet Feta
Playfully named ‘Feta,’ and a host of other nicknames, this little goat is only 4 months old and, of course, new to Tuacahn this season. Feta has her moment in the limelight when Esmeralda carries her onto the stage in The Hunchback of Notre Dame. One little-known fact is that she wears a baby’s disposable diaper under the blanket she’s wrapped in, so there aren’t any messy surprises during the show!
Meet Maggie
As Kimberlee’s personal pet, Maggie enjoys free reign of the backstage barns and arena during the day and takes the spotlight at night when she makes a quick dash from stage left to stage right as part of a joke about chocolate in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Meet Jaq and Gus
This stunning white team was purchased specifically for Cinderella, thus their names, ‘Jaq’ and ‘Gus.’ Kimberlee reports that they like to step up and look pretty, and that they share a somewhat haughty attitude. This year, they have their moment pulling Veruca Salt’s carriage in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Taking care of and training this many animals for the show productions at Tuacahn is a costly endeavor and some have questioned whether the animals are worth it. In fact, once a wealthy businessman who was on a backstage tour shook his head and said to Kimberlee, “It’s a lot of money for so little impact.” She was quick to set him straight.
“An animal might be on the stage for only 2 minutes,” she explains, “but first you hear the audience gasp, and then there’s cries of ‘a real horse!’ or ‘they really did turn a pumpkin into a pumpkin coach!’ It’s just so rewarding. Having live animals in the shows is money well-spent, and Tuacahn knows that. It’s part of the magic, and there’s no doubt that it has a huge impact.”
Don’t miss your chance to see Tuacahn’s animal actors in action! Get your tickets now to see Cat, Dog, and Feta in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Jaq, Gus, and Maggie in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and plenty of gorillas in Tarzan, that—shhhh, don’t tell anyone—are only masquerading as real animal actors.