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Bucks County Playhouse bones up for 9-dog weekend

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Are the nine canines who make up "Mutts Gone Nuts" therapy dogs or, given the title of their comic cabaret, in need of therapy themselves?

Joan Houghton doesn't shrink from the question: No, there's no need for a therapist to tag along with the untroubled troupe. As far as being therapy dogs? "Aren't all dogs just that?"

She should know. With her husband, Scott, who also serves as emcee, she and he changed their longtime career as a vaudeville-style comedic couple and placed their hopes in this pack of rescued pooches joining them almost 10 years ago, traveling the world with pit stops at such places as New Hope, where the rescued mixed breeds will mix it up with four human handlers for three performances on May 5 and 6 at the Bucks County Playhouse.

They bow, they wow — all while climbing, jumping, spinning and winning hearts, collaring new Fido fans each performance.

They certainly have captured the attention and hearts of the Houghtons, who first fell in love with mixed breeds when Joan brought home a terrier mix for her family more than a decade ago. No other canine has had a leg up on this original cast member, who set the pace for what would become a worldwide sensation.

But there have been other duos with dogged determination who have made their marks on canine chronology. Throw those dogs a bone? Jane is eager to give them a standing ovation, as she salutes Bob Williams and his dedicated Springer, Louie, who might have even gotten smiles out of the sad-sack eponymous host of "The Ed Sullivan Show," where they often appeared back in the 1950s.

"Dogs have a lot of heart," says Joan of canines' appeal both on and off the stage.

And home is where the heart is, a 4.5-acre spread that is north of Baltimore, as soothing an animal farm that Orwell could never have imagined.

That's where these mutts gone nuts go to retire when it begins to show that they've had it with show business and want a break. "We never push our dogs to do anything they don't want to do," says Joan.

Here's something that could perk their ears up: Would the Houghtons ever consider going Broadway? If those finicky cats were able to do it all those years, why not some cuddly canines?

"Why not?" she laughs. "The universe is a wonderful place."

Michael Elkin is a playwright, theater critic and novelist from Abington. He writes occasional theater-related columns.


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