Rescued Rat Dies In Fall Following Broadway Debut in 'CURIOUS INCIDENT'

Last week, the New York Times profiled the uplifting story of Rose, a white rat who was rescued last summer after being stranded on a median along New York's West Side highway. Lydia DesRoche, an animal trainer for Broadway's CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME, adopted the animal and began to train her for the role of pet rat Toby, the lead character's best friend.

According to this week's New York Times, the 8-month-old rat died tragically in a fall at home on Monday night, only four days after making her debut in the hit Broadway show. The paper reports that Rose was playing on a shelf when a metal door came off its hinge and landed on top of her. "It was just a horrible freak accident," Ms. DesRoche said yesterday.

Although Ms. DesRoche had not originally intended to train Rose for the show, she changed her mind after the current rat playing the role fell ill in December. Tulip, the understudy for the role, took the stage at first but did not do well when put in front of a large crowd. That's when the trainer decided to give Rose a shot.

The role of Toby involves a tender kiss with lead character Christopher, an autistic teenager. "She was really getting into the kiss," Ms. DesRoche said of Rose's recent progress . "She was just starting to open up."

Monday evening, Ms. DesRoche had briefly stepped away from Rose and four other rats in her living room when the accident occurred. "I heard a really loud crash," she said. "They're always knocking things off the shelf - it's like a game. But this sounded like the ceiling came down." She ran into the living room to find Rose under a pile of papers and the heavy metal shelving door. She died on the way to the veterinarian.

"She was always on those shelves," Ms. DesRoche recalled fondly. "She would run up and down them and dangle from them. She's just a feisty, agile, fearless precocious rat, and she loved adventure."

Tulip will play the role of Toby in the show for the time being.

The Broadway production of the National Theatre's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time opened to critical acclaim at the Barrymore Theatre on October 5, 2014. The production has gone on to win five Tony Awards including Best Play, six Drama Desk Awards including Outstanding Play, five Outer Critics Circle Awards including Outstanding Production of a Broadway Play, and the Drama League Award for Outstanding Production of a Broadway or off-Broadway Play.

Written by Tony Award winner Simon Stephens, adapted from Mark Haddon's best-selling novel, and directed by Tony Award winner Marianne Elliott, the production is designed by Tony Award winner Bunny Christie and Tony Award-winning video designer Finn Ross, with lighting by Tony Award-winner Paule Constable, choreography by Scott Graham and Olivier Award-winner Steven Hoggett for Frantic Assembly, music by Adrian Sutton, sound byIan Dickinson for Autograph, and hair and wig design by David Brian Brown. Casting is by Daniel Swee and Cindy Tolan.

THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME transferred to London's West End, following a sold-out run at the National Theatre's Cottesloe Theatre in 2012. The production received seven 2013 Olivier Awards, including Best New Play, and continues to play to packed houses at the Gielgud Theatre and on a tour of the UK and Ireland.

Photo: Joan Marcus