Wilson, a longtime circus performer and animal trainer, now rescues dogs from shelters or takes them in from the street and turns them into show dogs.
The eight dogs in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang are all hers. Edison is actually Samantha, a mixed-breed mutt she adopted about eight years ago after her vet called to say he had an abandoned dog with, perhaps, a whiff of showbiz potential.
When Wilson took Samantha home, she was a skittish dog who barely lifted her head due to an extreme shyness that Wilson suspects was born of neglect. Now Samantha is a diva who can sit in a chair on command, walk a tightrope and offer high-fives - to say nothing of starring in a show where she has the acting chops to play a male dog.
"It took a while but all of a sudden she opened up and said, 'I'll do anything you want,' " Wilson says, as she coaxes Samantha to beg in the lobby of the Hippodrome.
While fame, money or perhaps meaty roles motivate most actors, the furrier artists including Samantha turn it on for just one thing - hot dog.
"Anything for the almighty hot dog," Wilson says, laughing, as Samantha and the other players strain to nip tiny bits of it from her hand.
With it, she gets the dogs to enter and leave stage on cue, stand where they need to stand and generally behave better than some card-carrying theater professionals.
There's Buddy, the spotted rat terrier who can waltz on his hind legs. There's Penny, a caramel-colored Pomeranian who weighs only a little more than a pack of kosher all-beefs. There's Lucky and Bear and Cory and Percy and Sugar.
Wilson and her husband follow the show from town to town in a van that's about 17 feet long and 8 feet wide - a space that would be cramped for two people, let alone two people with eight show dogs, plus five more of Wilson's other dogs and yet one more pooch that belongs to a cast member.
For Chitty Chitty Bang Bang's 10-month run, that truck is not just a ride, it's home for man and beast. In Baltimore, one might find Wilson's residence parking spot on Eutaw Street, right in front of the theater. The barking gives it away.
Backstage, while they wait for their scenes, Wilson restrains the dogs in a portable pen. The cast can often be found there, grabbing a quick nuzzle or scratching someone behind the ears.
Dick Decareau, who plays Grandpa Potts and has the most onstage interaction with Edison, has had plenty of time since the show opened in November to contemplate the upside of acting alongside a dog.
