Animal Attraction

The performers being put through their paces at this dress rehearsal were wearing fur coats.

All of them, that is, except the hairless rat--the one dancing atop the hairless head of Rachel Rosenthal.

Rosenthal, her shaved head glistening beneath the spotlights, seemed unfazed by the darting rodent named Tulip. The four dogs milling around at Rosenthal’s feet, however, were focused on the tiny headliner.

If the scene Tuesday night at the Robertson Boulevard rehearsal hall was bizarre, you can imagine what the performance of “Welcome to Woof Woof (Meow)” will be like Sunday, when a dozen rats, 15 dogs and perhaps a cat or two are joined on stage by some of Los Angeles’ top performance artists.

Rosenthal, who at 71 is considered the grande dame of West Coast avant-garde theater, is also an animal lover. So she’s staging the show to benefit homeless dogs.

The show’s human actors say that they plan to improvise their dancing, music and monologues around the four-legged actors’ performances so as not to upstage the animals.

That means Tulip had better watch her tail.

“Yes, Barney is fascinated by the rats,” Rosenthal said as she patted the floppy-eared collie mix--one of more than 60 strays she has rescued, rehabilitated and found homes for during the last four decades. “But he doesn’t ever lunge at them.”

Proceeds from Sunday’s 8:30 p.m. show at Highways, 1651 18th St., Santa Monica, will go to volunteer groups that find homes for unwanted animals. Tickets are $25, $50 and $100.

Rosenthal’s trademark bald head and pierced eyebrow contribute to her own striking stage presence--one that a Times critic once labeled “near-iconic.” But she promised that the animals will be the stars of this show.

“People don’t usually look at animals. They’re invisible,” she said. “But when you put them on stage, framed and with lights, what people see is not what they are expecting.”

Actress Anna Dresdon of Westwood is contributing the rats to “Woof Woof.” She rescued them from a pet store, where she says they had been destined to become snake food.

“People will not see a circus in this show. They’ll see a relationship,” Dresdon said as she cuddled a furry rat in her arms. “Sophie here is certainly not going to twirl fire batons with her feet to the tune of ‘Hawaii 5-0.’ ”

The “Woof Woof” audience will see animal-themed acts by performance artists Dianne Lawrence, Joan Spitler, Tad Coughenour, Jacki Apple, Peter Schroff, John Fleck, Anna Homler and Stephanie Payne. Folk singer Phranc will sing “Wee Gee the Rodeo Parakeet.”

Performer Rochelle Fabb of Venice plans to incorporate her shepherd-whippet mix named Shade into a piece about “being stylish.”

“I want her personality to come out,” Fabb said. “She may look bored or blase. But Shade is very sensitive.”

A costumed Michael Sakamoto, also of Venice, will dance as half-man, half-beast--depicting either a monkey or a lizard. “I have a very good lizard mask. But I want to do a monkey. I’m looking for an affordable monkey mask,” he said.

Rosenthal said she has included animals in her previous shows, including performance art pieces in which she has confronted animal rights issues.

In fact, Barney and her other pet dog, an aging part-Australian shepherd named Hytoo, reclined on stage and were shown fetching balls in video images projected as part of Rosenthal’s last major production. That show, a 1996 autobiographical effort called “Timepiece,” celebrated her approaching 70th birthday. A Times reviewer called it powerful and compelling.

Rosenthal is hoping Sunday’s show has that kind of bite. And that’s the only kind.