THE GOTH TEEN OF BEETLEJUICE

By Marcy Macdonald

Sophia Anne Caruso, wows the Broadway audiences 8 times a week, in the new hit Broadway show, Beetlejuice The Musical.   On stage, she’s a pro. At home, her dog, Pucci, readily identifies her as the best dog mom ever but at heart, he wishes she would give it all up to scratch his tummy, full time.

A native of Spokane, Washington, she now calls New York her home. That’s where Pucci found me, she says of her 13 year old Shih Tzu. “I love rescue dogs,” she affirms, “and was just visiting the Pink Poodle pet shop there when we met.” It was definitely love at first sight.

“All of the other pups were eating and rolling around and behaving like puppies, but he looked right at me and sat up on his back legs like a groundhog. I swooned. And was instantly sold! Pucci still sits that way to this day!”

“I’m a huge animal lover, and I’m looking to rescue a pal for Pucci. He’s not that friendly with other animals (not to mention other humans), but I’m certain that I can find him the right girl: I’m trying to find him a lover to fall in love with,” Sophia shares, forever hopeful.

Pucci has never been on stage, but “has a lot of character of his own,” Sophia maintains. “He always knows when I’m sad and comes and sits right next to me and licks my hand”. Together they solve the problems of the world. When she and Pucci became a team, she became a “dedicated vegan who believes in a connection to all living things. It’s important, not just for humans. But I became a vegan for the safety of animals and freedom.

I have always felt weird about eating animals. Guilty in fact. I am an empath and it is almost as though I can feel the energetic pain that a ‘food has endured. I say ‘food’ in quotes because that is what people call it but I simply think animals are not food. Our bodies aren’t built to even digest animal products.”

Downtime with her pal Pucci is precious. Together with her pup, Sophia can be found chilling under a tree, flipping the pages of a relevant read or home working on her own writing. Of course, there is always time for a game of tug of war or a leisurely stroll in a nearby park.

Ask why she thinks it would be good for all of us to have a dog, and she’ll tell you the answer is “limitless love. Dogs will never stop loving you. Even if you’re an unlovable character like Beetlejuice!”