Broadway Barks 2026: Watch Actors Melt, Dogs Fidget

‘I kissed a dog, I liked it,” the cast of ‘&Juliet sang, weirdly, at the 28^th annual Broadway Barks pet adoption event at Shubert Alley, as captured in one of the videos below. They were adjusting the lyrics of a Katy Perry song, as they each held up their assigned canines: “And these dogs are so magical: Soft fur, wet tongue, so kissable, hard to resist, so touchable.”

They were not the only Broadway performers who seemed smitten. Ayo Edebiri, star of “Proof,” interrupted her pitch for Mobby to say simply “I love you” when the pooch suddenly stared up into her eyes. Zachary Noah Piser, the new star of “Maybe Happy Ending,” looked like he was about to cry while holding Twixie — getting a reassuring kiss from Bernadette Peters, who founded Broadway Barks with Mary Tyler Moore, and was the co-host this year with Andrew Rannells. The crowd itself looked teary when Laurie Metcalf, currently in “Death of a Salesman,” introduced an epileptic Siberian Husky named Sage; “this is Sage’s fourth Broadway Barks. So I’m hoping she gets adopted.” Ben Ahrens, also from “Death of a Salesman,” also had a tragic tale to tell about a husky; his was three-legged Peg. (Notice how both cast members of a modern-day tragedy held up their fingers, she for four, he for three.)

Watch below while Yoshi climbs all over Lost Boys’ Miguel Gil (the awwws from the crowd seeming to be for both boy and mixed breed puppy), and Jak Malone of “Operation Mincemeat” returns for a second year, lost in a reverie of holding and cuddling his charge while his co-stars pitch the other would-be pets (“Anybody who adopts them is going to be so lucky.”) Sam Tutty, of “Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)” seemed more hands-off on stage. Jessica Hecht struggled to hold onto a cocker spaniel on the day before the close of her show, “Dog Day Afternoon,” an apt name as well for Broadway Barks 2026, although Maybe Happy Ending could fit too as the animals gathered to await whether they will join the more than 2,000 over the years for whom the event has found them forever homes. And yes, before Hecht departed, she kissed a dog.

The cast of “& Juliet”