Jungle Book Tour- The Final Days

1 Tour Manager
5 Actors
2 Months
50 Performances
16,000 Miles
30,000 Students

"That's Hot Dude!"

Birthday Lobster

We are in Waterville ME. We had 2 shows this morning in Waterville Opera House. After the second show we surprised Ariel and Andrew by having the entire audience sing "Happy Birthday." Ariel's birthday is today and Andrew's birthday is tomorrow.

Tonite for dinner, because it's a birthday night AND because we are in Maine we went out for lobster. We were the only ones in the restaurant the entire time. It was Anthony's first time for lobster and everyone had a good time with the mess and the bibs.



The Waterville Opera House



Our Birthday Boy and Girl



The Group After the Lobster Massacre

Jungle Book Tour- New Blood

Greetings!

My name is Andrew Heinrich and if you've seen the show, I am the tall guy that plays Shere Khan.

On of the things I love about live theate is that it really keeps you on your toes as an actor. In live theatre, anything can happen and the show really must go on. As an actor you have to be able to qwuickly adapt to everything from crying kids to prop or set issues.

A great deal of work goes into mitigating those issues on the front end of production. Sets and props are built to endure, lines music and blocking are rehearsed and every aspect of the show is highly organized. Everything has its place.

This weekend is an excellent example of how a show reaps the benfits of hard work. Kelly Petlin had a wedding to attend in Alabama and so we had to bring in a replacement for two shows in Glendora CA at the Citrus College PAC.

Abby Hankins is an old friend of Kelly's,a San Antonio native and a fantastic actor, singer and dancer. Happily she also attends school in California and was avaliable to step in. Abby got a script, a DVD of our performance and an audio CD well before we arrived in California. The script had to highlight more than just her lines. Kelly did a great job of outlining all of her complicated blocking, costume changes, exits and enterances and backstage responsibilites. Kelly and Shelley made sure that Abby would have everything she needed to do her job.

When Abby arrived to rehearse she has already memorized her lines, her music and and her blocking. However we still needed rehearse as a group. Sadly, we don't carry a nice portable space in which to practice. Enter the Comfort Inn parking lot.

It must have been odd for the other guests to see people singing and dancing in their parking lot, but that's theatre. I was terribly impressed with Abby's command of the script. It was a lots of fun to run through the show like that. Many laughs were had.

The next day we arrived at Citrus College early and had another parking lot rehearsal. Then it was time to do our thing. Abby had never run the show in costume. She has several quick changes during the show. However, because of Kelly and Shelley's hard work and organization we didn't miss a beat. She made every change and did a great job.

When you mix talented people with excellent organizers and hard work you can tackle anything. And... it definitely keeps you on your toes.

Jungle Book Tour- Kids Say the Darndest Things!

While on tour we have performed for over 20,000 kids and adults and each audience has had its own personality and quirks. We have performed to inner city NYC high school students, to senior citizen groups, to families and to an entire audience of 1,000 first graders. We have had audiences that laughed out loud throughout the ENTIRE show, we have had audiences that showed their appreciation with only a few claps but raved about the performance in the lobby afterwards and we have had audiences that talked back to the stage on a consistent basis throughout the show.

We probably have to say we like the talkers the best. Mostly because kids say the DARNEST things and possibly because the talkers give us something new to talk about in the car for the next 10 hour drive day.

A few of our favorites-

At the top of the show, Akela asks his wolf brothers to accept Mowgli into the family. He instructs them to show their support by howling. The kids usually will howl their support during this scene. Sometimes we then get howling whenever Mowgli is threatened or whenever the kids want to show that they are behind Mowgli and against Shere Kahn. During one show we even got howling when Mowgli chases off the bad guys at the end of the show.

Towards the end of the show Mowgli is given the fire by the Village Woman and spends some time inspecting it. He touches the fire with his fingers and then with his tongue. At one performance, just as he was putting his tongue to the fire a kid yelled, "It's hot dude!"

This moment often invokes some advice such as "Don't touch it!", "NO" or during one show kids just started yelling "Fire!" in the crowded theatre. (Sorry, I had to go there)

During a scene between Shere Khan and Akela, Shere Khan says that Akela's pack will not protect him forever. We have had a couple kids respond to that line with howling or with supportive yells but during one show a kid yelled "Oh yes we will!"

And just the other day when Mowgli fights off the bad guys and falls into tears we had a young man yell "Be a man!"

These little nuggets of truth and support are just some of the amazing feedback we have been getting on this tour. No matter how long we drive, how exhausted we are, or how much fast food we are eating, seeing the kids faces and excitement can always create the energy needed to perform extra hard just for them. Because even if it is the umpteenth time WE have done the show, it's the first time for them and the children deserve all that we can give.

Jungle Book Tour- Brawley CA

We are currently in California. We will have a few shows in the area including shows in La Mirada, Brawley, Lancaster and Glendora. Yesterday we had a show in Brawley CA which is fairly close to the border with Mexico. Most of the population of Brawley CA falls into 3 groups. You have the wealthy farm owners, the poor farm labourers and then the middle class; police, teachers, ect.

We were a little bit nervous since I had not been able to get in touch with the Technical Director. After speaking with the Executive Director I had been able to decipher that we were at the High School and that we were in a gym but that was about it.

We haven't done the show that often without a tech crew, a stage and proper theatrical lighting and this time we were doing the show without all of those things. We had to make a few changes to accommodate the venue.

However the show was good and the kids LOVED it. The actors certainly went the extra mile in terms of physicality and facial expressions.





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Jungle Book Tour- KDLM Radio

Today The Jungle Book Tour made it's Radio Debut.

Kelly and Damian were on KDLM in Detroit Lakes, MN. We woke up this morning to be on the 8:30 morning show. The interview went very well and lasted quite a long time. We discussed our show this afternoon at the Historic Holmes Theatre, talked about our costumes, music and props and discussed touring in general.

The interview went very well and I should be getting a digital copy soon which I will post on the blog. In the meantime here are some pictures!

Jungle Book Tour- The Pizza Blog

Here is my Pizza blog or as I like to call it my Plog...

It's time for Damian's Jungle Book Pizza Blog! As I travel the U.S. seeing the sights and painting the landscapes of our grand land, I really must say that this is a beautiful country we lve in. Some highlights include: three sold out shows in Houston (equals 6000 screaming kids...and I mean SCREAMING!!) We were Rock Stars to the Sponge Bob set. The Lincoln Memrorial and Viet Nam Memorial in DC, were the most touching moments. Seeing the sunset in New Mexico and now the beginnings of fall colors up in the northern states, I have been inspired me to paint again. As a Native New Yorker who transplanted to TX at the age of ten - I sure do miss the fall!!! But now on to one of the reasons I started this tour and this blog: PIZZA!!! Before we get to New York I wanted to highlight some of the best pizza places I experienced in the best country in the world:

BIRRAPORETTI'S - HOUSTON, TX An Irish/Italian restaurant - YES, it is true! My two favorite things in the world: Irish Drinks and Italian Food!!! The Pizza was fabulous! Two great tastes that go great together!!!



PIZZA PALACE - KNOXVILLE, TN - My vow from the day one of this tour was to never eat at any Fast Food or Chain restaurants! To my joy, Kelly suggested we try a local joint in Tennessee that was recommended by "Diners, Drive-in's & Dives" on the Food Network. It was a Drive-in but it was a PIZZA DRIVE-IN Who needs Sonic, huh?! As we sat there pondering what to do with the 70's era telephone device to communicate with the inner workings of Tennessee's best Pizza... one of the employees - Vanessa (a name did not match her personality or her teeth) walked by and asked if we were a "maaa-jick shoow" or something like that (huh...not quite sure how to write accents down phonetically.) We told her that we are on a National Tour of "The Jungle Book." She flipped! It was her favorite book as a child. Can you say ecstatic!? She wanted to see "Who is Mowgli!?!?" Within a minute ,,,We were rock stars again. She asked us if we wanted to come in and sit down instead of waiting in the van. So we did. They offered us drinks and brought out a large batch of Onion Rings which we devoured (what is it about actors and FREE FOOD!?!) while we waited for our pizza orders. We chatted and met everyone behind the counters and even took some pictures next to Guy Fieri's picture on the wall. maybe we'll be up there too some day.

ZAXBY'S CHICKEN PARM SANDWICH in ARKANSAS - I know it is not a pizza joint but it was too funny... The lunch special: a chicken Parm Sandwich with julian fries & drink for $4.99 - Sounds great, huh? It was a rainey day and it was a much needed relief from all the I-hops, Wendy's & Subway's that America loves to eat so much, My Chicken Parm sandwich consisted of three fried chicken strips on Texas Toast (do they still call it "Texas toast" outside of Texas?!) with some kind of mystery BBQ-flike flavored sauce on it...perhaps there was some "parmesan" in the the mystery sauce...I don't know. Needless to say I did not finish the sandwich.

NEW BERLIN WI- Had the day off. I usually walk to see the town we are in and to catch the "local color" as I like to call it but it was raining I was feeling blah, so I opted to dine in. Taking the advice from the guy at the front desk of the Hotel I ordered Mama Mia's or something like that. It was not too bad. The crust was unappealing if not just plain bland. What made up for it were the toppings...I ordered the bacon cheeseburger pizza and the toppings were great...tasty & plentiful. I don't remember the sauce, so that means there was not enough of it. The bacon was delish, so that almost made up for the sauce & crust... a lot of flavor. It came in a square box as usual but when I opened it, to my surprise, the pizza itself was square also! More pizza for your dollar! It fed me for two days!



SBARRO's in BALTIMORE MD - It was Pizza joint at a food court but the Calzone was big as your face and stuffed full of riccotta, the way I like it! I could only eat half. It made a great breakfast the next day.



BEST OF THE NON-NY PIZZA: SALS PIZZA- in HARTFORD, WI - Best of the trip so far - Across the street where we were staying. When I first walked in I could smell the authenticity..Very NY style.... instantly brought back memories of my brothers & I riding our bikes to Vincent Pizza in NY as kids...MMMM! Thin, but not crispy. She had a European look & accent that made her exotic but I could not place her dialect to Italy for sure. I had a simple slice of cheese. While we were waiting she brought us free Garlic knots that were delicious!

Those are the best so far...thanks for reading my PLOG. My next Plog will be about NEW YORK PIZZA!!!

YAY!

Jungle Book Tour- Wisconsin

The past couple days we have been in Wisconsin. We spent a few days in Muskego WI and performed at the Performing Arts Center's fundraiser on Saturday afternoon. The theatre was very beautiful and then show went well.



Today we performed at the Schauer Arts Center in Hartford WI. The show was very full and we had a great time. Afterwards the actors went for a meet and greet in the lobby. Andrew's family had come in from the Madison area so he was really happy to see everyone. After the show some of us went to Sal's to have NY style pizza. The night before the entire cast went to a restaurant on Main Street called The Mine Shaft.



Tomorrow we have 2 more shows in Hartford and then we will drive to Toledo OH. The next day we will drive to New York City and have a day off in the city before our next show in Sugar Loaf NY. Kelly and I are looking forward to going home for a day and the rest of the cast are planning on sight seeing in the city.

Jungle Book Tour- New Mexico

On October 4th we had 2 shows in Alto New Mexico. As we drove from Amarillo TX to Alto NM the scenery changed completely. In Amarillo it was very flat and well suited for cattle ranching. As we went further southwest the land became very hilly and then all of the sudden we were in these huge mountains. The air was very clear and the fall colors were out in full force. Damian created several watercolors of the scenery because it was so beautiful.

The shows went well. The staff was very friendly and helpful. As we loaded out it became very windy and we had to travel back down the mountain in winds that almost pushed the Penske truck off the road.

The pictures below show the scenery, the theatre building and a group shot of the cast after the second show. I think this is the first time we have posted a picture of them in their costumes.

Jungle Book Tour: Reasons to Learn How to Change a Tire

Before I start on my lesson, let me introduce myself. My name is Kelly Petlin, I play Tibaquni (the jackal) and Kaa (the snake). I have been performing my whole life. Originally from San Antonio, TX now living in Brooklyn, NY as a waitress/actress. I’ve done many children’s theater tours in my life and I have never had a flat tire.

As I was driving the “Magik Bus” down I-81 we heard a noise that sounded like a bag had gotten caught on the car then slowly, but surely we heard air leaving from our brand new tires. Five seconds later, we were calling Shelley and pulling over. By the way, when you have a blow out, don’t hit the brakes to slow down. My first thought was, “Uh Oh I don’t know how to change a tire...” I was hoping at least one of our people knew how to change a tire. Lucky for me, that was everyone! Anthony (Mowgli) stepped up to the plate and changed the tire. Even though he is the youngest, you’d never know it. He did a great job and didn’t even get dirty.

My point is, after experiencing what could’ve been a long cold time along the side of the highway and really REALLY expensive AAA phone call turned out to be not too awful. Well, I guess, Shelley did have to wait in Wal-Mart for two hours while they put the new tire on, sorry Shelley. EVERYONE should make sure they have a spare tire and know how to change it.

Other then that, we are having a great time. Lots of laughs and lots of hours on the road. We will keep you posted.

Jungle Book Tour- Washington DC

This week we had 4 shows at the Publick Playhouse in Cheverly MD. The shows were in the morning and in the afternoon we took the opportunity to go to Washington DC. Kelly, Anthony, Damian and I got on the train and took it to the Smithsonian stop. It was a beautiful day. The sun was out and there was a cool breeze that sometimes blew so hard that it blew Anthony's hat right across the mall.

We walked from the Smithsonian across the monument to the Lincoln Memorial before turning north to go through the Vietnam Memorial. Then we walked to the White House, by Fords Theatre and back across to the FBI building before getting back to the train to Cheverly.

Jungle Book Tour 2009 Has Begun!

A few pics from our opening performance at the Wortham Center's Cullen Theater in Houston, Texas, beginning with sound check...

Jungle Book Blog- On our way!

Today we finished our 2-show run at Our Lady of the Lake and then packed up and drove to Houston. We perform tomorrow at the Wortham Center in downtown Houston. This is the very beginning of our tour, and everyone is very excited. From Houston we will make our way to Maryland. It will be a long drive but we are excited to be on our way.

Tour Dates and Venues

THE JUNGLE BOOK opens in Houston this Thursday, before making a BIG loop around the U.S. over the next 8 weeks.

It's a great show -- very true to the original Kipling stories -- and we're not just saying that because it's ours!

Here are the great venues where you can catch the show for yourself...

September
24 - 25: Houston, TX
Wortham Theater Center / Cullen Theater

29 - 30: Cheverly, MD
Publick Playhouse


October
5: Alto, NM
Spencer Theater

7: Junction City, KS
C L Hoover Opera House

10: Muskego, WI
Muskego High School

11 - 12: Hartford, WI
Schauer Arts & Activities Center

16: Sugar Loaf, NY
Lycian Centre

17: Brentwood, NY
Van Nostrand Theatre

18 - 19: Manasquan, NJ
Algonquin Arts Theatre

20: Bronx, NY
Bronx Science

24: Detroit Lakes, MN
Historic Holmes Theatre

27: Helena, MT
Helena Middle School

28: Billings, MT
Alberta Bair Theater

29: Idaho Falls, ID
Colonial Theater


November
1: La Mirada, CA
La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts

4: Brawley, CA
Palmer Performing Arts Center

5: Lancaster, CA
Lancaster Performing Arts Center

7: Glendora, CA
Haugh Performing Arts Center

12 - 13: Columbus, GA
River Center for the Performing Arts

17: Waterville, ME
(venue TBA)

20: Union, NJ
Kean University, Wilkins Theatre

22: Owings Mills, MD
Gordon Center for Performing Arts

The Jungle Book Tour- Costumes

Rehearsal Update- Friday we ran though the show twice! It is still very loose but getting better each time. Next week we move into Northwest Vista college to have rehearsal there. We will also be available to talk to students who want to know more about professional theatre.

In The Jungle Book all of the actors will play more than one character. The actors will use their body and voice to convey to the viewers which character they are playing. However, so that it is very clear, the audience will also be able to tell by the costume that they are wearing. Each actor will wear a black shirt and black pants. Then they will put on a tunic and a headdress. The tunics are called dashiki and are the native dress of several countries in Africa. The tunic and headdress, along with their physical movement and voice, will tell the audience which character they are playing.

This is a picture of the 2 of the headdresses. The green one is for the jackal, Tabaqni. The blue one is for the bear, Baloo. Once we get into costume I will put up pictures of the actors wearing each headdress.

Jungle Book Tour- Set Building

Rehearsal Update- Yesterday we learned the choreography for Monkey Dance and Pride and Power. They look amazing. Apollo Bradley, a Company Member at The Magik Theatre, did the choreography for Monkey Dance and Dave Morgan worked on Pride and Power. Today we are reviewing the dances and blocking/ choreographing the other musical numbers. We are hopingto have the entire show blocked by Friday. Wish us luck!

While we rehearse the technical team at The Magik Theatre is building our set, props and costumes. Everything will have to fit in one van so they need to be very careful and design items that can be stored easily and set pieces that fit within the van space. These are going to be part of the rock piece in the center of the stage. First they built them out of steel so that they are sturdy since the actors will be climbing on them. Then they added plywood steps. They are currently being painted black and then foam and wood will be added for texture. Finally our graphic artist, Chris Boneta, will paint them to look like rocks.

This is our Narrator Elephant. Some of the story is told by this Elephant so we don’t have to show you everything that is going on over the ten years the story takes place. That would make for an EXTRA LONG show! The Elephant was made from foam and will be glued to a framework that will allow her to stand upright. Then it will also be painted.

The set will also have a hut piece to remind the audience that the people are not far away from the jungle and it will have bamboo “trees” to make the set feel more like it is in the jungle. The technical crew at Magik is working very hard to get everything done as soon as possible. Dylan, Chris, Joe and Apollo are doing a great job!

The Boys

Each of the actors in The Jungle Book plays more than one role with the exception of Mowgli. For example we have only 5 actors on tour but the show calls for 9 characters. We are using different headresses to let the audience know that the same actors is now playing a different character but we also expect the actors to use their bodies and voices to create a different persona for each character. For example; Kelly is playing Tabaqni and Kaa. Tabaqni is a jackal and Kaa is a snake. As Kaa, Kelly is making her "s" sound long and hiss-like. She is also moving more fluidly and slowly. As Tabaqni she move quicker and is very defferential to the bigger more dangerous characters just like the jackal in real life who feeds after animals such as the lion or panther.

We have 3 boys in our cast. Let's meet them now!

Damian Gillen is playing Bagheera and Akela. He is a trained Shakespearian actor with lots of experience in Shakespearian plays. He has performed in Austin, Fort Worth, San Antonio and Houston. He also runs his own theatre company, The Company Theatre, and in the winter perfoms in a one man version of A Christmas Carol called BAH HUMBUG!

Andrew Heinrich is playing Shere Khan. He is originally from Wisconsin and is a musician as well

as an actor. He has a few albums out with Celtic music. He is also a

trained stage-fighter. He works around San Antonio choreographing and teaching stage fights for St. Philips College, Northwest Vista College and with The San Antonio Opera.

Anthony is a Company Member at The Magik Theatre. He works there full time and is the youngest company member at this time. He only discovered acting a few years ago and became quite good very fast. Last season he was a member of the local touring company and this summer he performed as Charlie in Willy Wonka at the theatre.

Rehearsal Update- Today we had a read through of the script with the music. Tomorrow we will start blocking! Blocking means "telling the actors where to move and when."

The Ladies of the Jungle

In our cast we have 2 ladies.

Ariel Rosen plays Baloo, Rakaha and a Monkey. She is from San Antonio and went to a performing arts high school before moving to New York City for a few years. She has a beautiful voice and sings sophrano in most of the musical numbers. Ariel has been onstage since she was a little girl. Some of her favorite roles include Rosaline in As You Like It, Lucy in You're A Good Man Charlie Brown and the first Witch in Macbeth.

Kelly Petlin is also a San Antonio native. She currently lives in Brooklyn NY.

She just finished a tour of If You Give A Pig A Party with American Family Theatre. She has also performed with the Manhattan Children's Theatre and attended The New School in NYC. Kelly is an amazing actress and sings the alto part in most of the musical numbers. Kelly plays the snake, Kaa, and the jackal, Tabaqni.

Today in rehearsal we continued to go over the music for the show. We are hoping to record a cast album on Saturday so the actors are all working very hard to learn it.

Production Team

Our first day of rehearsal went really well. The cast and production team met and went over calendars and contracts before they ran through the music. We will be learning the music all week.

Some introductions are in order.

My name is Shelley Laabs. I am the Tour Production Manager. That means that I am in charge of the schedule, booking hotel rooms, advancing the show with each venue, making sure that the props, costumes and vehicles are properly maintained, handling the finances and basically keeping the tour running. I have been working in theatre since college. I also have my Masters degree in Teaching and taught school for three years. Now I am living in New York City and I work as a Stage/ Company Manager.

Our author/ producer/ director is named David Morgan. David has been working professionally in theatre for years and works as the Artistic Director and Technical Director at The Magik Theatre. David has written several plays including The Jungle Book. He is also an artist. He will be the person in charge of the look and feel of the show. He will decide where each light cue goes, when the actors move on stage and how all the set pieces will come on and off.

Richard Rosen is the Executive Director of our parent company, The Magik Theatre. He is the head of the company and is also an author. Richard has been adapting children’s literature for the stage for many years and has been running The Magik Theatre for 15 years.

For more information on The Magik Theatre click here. For information on the people who work at The Magik Theatre full time click here.

In our next blog you will meet “the girls” of the cast.

Day One- Rehearsing the Jungle

This blog is written by the cast and crew of the national tour of The Jungle Book produced by The Magik Theatre. We will be on tour from the end of September 2009 until Thanksgiving 2009.

Before we can leave on tour we have to rehearse the show. Rehearsal allows the cast and crew to learn how to perform the show. It also allows the director to try different things to see how he wants the actors to move, when he wants people to enter and exit the stage and if he likes how they are portraying the characters. Rehearsal gives the actors time to learn their lines and the designers time to create and build any costumes, props or set pieces that the show will need.

Rehearsal will begin on September 1^st at The Magik Theatre. The Magik Theatre are the producers. That means that they are paying for the tour and that they have a say in the artistic direction of the play. Artistic direction means the way the show takes shape.

The Magik Theatre is a children’s theatre in San Antonio TX. They produce over 9 children’s shows a year and many of them are original scripts. They also have summer camp and after school classes in acting and the creative process.

Please stay tuned and follow us as we start this fascinating trip!