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.