Tank Aikman took a seat, assumed a confident stance, and sniffed out the competition. A husky fellow, with a thick neck and jowly cheeks, he knew he had the right look for the part. He was also one of the more experienced actors auditioning yesterday to play Bill Sikes' tough sidekick in the Walnut Street Theatre's forthcoming musical Oliver!

Would this give him a leg up on the competition?

"Probably not," shrugged his best friend, Steve. "But I know they're going to love him."

He said he saw no reason why Tank, charming and handsome, wouldn't hold his own against any of the two dozen dogs who showed up for the open call.

"In the musical, the dog's name is Bullseye, so I'm looking for one with a dark eye," said Mark Clements, the play's director. "But it's not a be-all and end-all. If we get an all-white one, we can dye the fur."

The theater has experience in working with animals, said Bernard Havard, producing artistic director. Several lucky dogs, all former rescue animals, were snatched from obscurity, and occasionally euthanasia, to play starring roles in Annie and The Wizard of Oz. The theater hired Bill Berloni, Broadway's veteran dog trainer, to prepare them for their roles.

The mutt chosen to play Bullseye, however, will not need much coaching. The script requires no dialogue. All that's needed, said Havard, is "one who reacts well to children and is obviously well-trained."

For example, he said, during the scene in which the dog has to chase after Sikes, revealing the criminal's hiding place, it would not do for the actor to stray into the orchestra pit in search of dried liver treats.

The first to audition yesterday was Sun, a dashing three-year-old pit bull and bulldog mix, belonging to Sarah Ross, a dog trainer in King of Prussia.

Clements asked her to unleash the dog and make him sit. "Now you'd be off on the other side of the stage. Can you get him to look at me?"

Sun sat at Ross' feet, chin up, gaze fixed on her face.

Clements crouched down calling, "Hey, Sun! Come to me!!"

Sun glanced at him for a second, then looked back at his owner, waiting for permission.

"Come, Sun! Come!!"

No response.

"It's OK," Ross told the dog. "Go."

He hesitated, then, tail wagging, trotted over.

An actor must take risks.

Sun was followed by Pancakes and Pork Chop, a pair of bulldogs from New Jersey; Archie, a pit bull mix from Glen Mills; and Diesel, a mutt confident enough in his manhood to sport a pink leash.

"He's cute," said Clements.