INTERVIEW: Popovich Comedy Pet Theater comes to NJ
Gregory Popovich makes a living at his home base of Las Vegas and traveling around the world as the maestro behind Popovich Comedy Pet Theater, a circus spectacle featuring cats, dogs and other animals. He brings his family-oriented show to the State Theatre in New Brunswick, New Jersey, for two performances Sunday, April 9.
The State Theatre will also partner with radio station WDHA to support local animal shelters at the performances, and the 1 p.m. show will be a relaxed performance for families with children on the autism spectrum or with other sensory sensitivities.
“This is a show we call Pet Theater because in my show the main actors are pets — house cats, dogs — which I got from animal shelters, and we build our show around the pets,” Popovich said in a recent phone interview.
Popovich, who has been featured on The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson and America’s Got Talent, grew up in a Russian circus family, and he proudly counts himself as a fourth-generation circus performer. His parents worked with dogs in the circus, and Popovich said his first babysitter and friends were these canines.
“My relationship with animals was very nature-like,” he said. “In my show, I use only positive reinforcement technique because if you press animal, if you push hard, the pet feels unhappy, and the audience can see this.”
The treatment of animal actors and performers is on the radar of many activist groups. In many ways, circuses and live-entertainment venues with performing animals are changing their practices and missions. For example, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus will hold its final performances in May.
Popovich, who describes himself as a lifelong advocate of animal rights on his website, said that after he adopts a pet, he spends a lot of time with them in his living room, trying to figure how their natural inclinations. After a few months, some of the pets will take part in the Comedy Pet Theater. Currently, the show has 14 house cats, 12 dogs and a miniature horse, among other animals.
The performer said there have been several pets that he adopted that seemed uncomfortable on the stage. So they simply remained house pets. “They became part of my family,” he said. “I never returned them. … A couple of cats are shy of the stage. They do whatever I want in the living room, but when they go on stage, they say, ‘OK, I don’t want to do this. I feel uncomfortable.’ And I understand their body language, and I don’t push them. They just stay in my bedroom just like [a] personal pet.”
When Popovich is not touring the world, he’s based at the V Theater at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas. He resumes performances in that venue in May. Accompanying the pets on stage are eight human performers. Sometimes the humans — being human — can make a mistake, but that’s not the case for the pets. “It’s a combination of talented pets and talented humans, and believe it or not, humans make mistakes,” he said. “Pets, as long as they learn, they never do mistakes. They know routine.”
Before beginning a performance, Popovich has the pets walk the stage for 30-40 minutes; this way they can smell the area and have a look around. When it’s showtime, Popovich’s mission is to have his cast of performers entertain both the young and young at heart.
“My goal is to entertain all different age groups,” he said. “In fact, after the show, I have a lot of good comments because I keep the classical style of vaudeville, and a lot of adults or even a senior citizen remember that vaudeville era. And they tell me, thank you for keeping this alive.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Popovich Comedy Pet Theater will perform at the State Theatre in New Brunswick, New Jersey, Sunday, April 9 at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. Radio station WDHA will partner with the State Theatre to support Somerset Regional Animal Shelter and Mt. Pleasant Animal Shelter at the shows. Click here for more information and tickets.
