PHOTO EXCLUSIVE: "In the Jungle..." A Two-Show Day With The Jungle Book's Elegant Peacock, Nikka Graff Lanzarone | 半岛体育

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PHOTO EXCLUSIVE: "In the Jungle..." A Two-Show Day With The Jungle Book's Elegant Peacock, Nikka Graff Lanzarone

This is my peacock hat. One final check downstairs, then it鈥檚 time to go up and put the dress on!

PHOTO EXCLUSIVE: "In the Jungle..." A Two-Show Day With The Jungle Book's Elegant Peacock, Nikka Graff Lanzarone

Musical theatre favorite and popular 半岛体育 contributor Nikka Graff Lanzarone is on her latest theatrical adventure at Chicago's Goodman Theatre, playing a 7'2" Peacock in the world premiere musical adaptation of The Jungle Book. The performer/photographer/blogger/podcaster shares a recent two-show day.
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This is my peacock hat. One final check downstairs, then it鈥檚 time to go up and put the dress on!
Good morning, 半岛体育! I鈥檓 a bit of a disaster when I wake up, so I鈥檓 not showing you a picture of that. Instead, we start this two-show Saturday early, to record an interview for my podcast, 鈥淭he Ensemblist!鈥 All set up, I鈥檓 just waiting for t
Why, it鈥檚 <i>Jungle Book</i>鈥檚 own Geoff Packard, coming by to tell us stories of his time in <i>Phantom of the Opera</i>. I promised him I鈥檇 make him coffee if he did the interview before two shows. It鈥檚 only fair, right?
Say hi to my podcasting partner extraordinaire, Mo Brady! Mo and I do our interviews for 鈥淭he Ensemblist鈥 over Skype. He鈥檚 the best. Check us out on iTunes or at theensemblist.com!
After the interview, I pack up and head over to the Goodman Theatre for the matinee.
Look how cute we all are, up on the wall!
Through the door and down the stairs- that鈥檚 where the magic happens!
Our callboard- full of announcements, fun pictures, and鈥hat鈥檚 that?
Some girl is going to be taking pictures of <i>The Jungle Book</i> cast? All day? That sounds like SO MUCH FUN.
Let鈥檚 head to the dressing rooms, but not before stopping to sign a couple of posters- anyone who promises popcorn as a reward certainly knows how to lure actors into doing what they want, right?
Just outside our door鈥
This is my station. Let鈥檚 get a closer look.
Boyfriend Dan, sweet 8-year-old cousin Holdenn and Dan鈥檚 brother and sister-in-law with our super-cute nephew! Also a peacock, but more on that later.
Usman Ally, our awesome Bagheera!
Alka Nayyar, our resident brilliant Indian dancer, says hi.
Hi, Monique Haley!
Nehal Joshi arrives, also poses for an album cover.
Angela Nicole Patmon, super duper lady swing, gives me the old double-show-day thumbs-up.
Tommy Derrah, who plays Kaa, pokes his head out of his dressing room to say good morning.
Half hour! We鈥檙e called into the green room because we have a birthday! It was banana cake with caramel frosting. You KNOW you鈥檙e jealous.
Doug Peck and Victor Wisehart are very happy about cake. Do you blame them?
Kevin Carolan, who plays Baloo, is also looking forward to cake.
How adorable are Doug, Geoff, Kevin, and Anjali Bhimani? Just a little monkeying around before we have to get ready.
Mowgli in the house! Akash Chopra enjoys his pre-show treats.
Time to get ready! Alka does her makeup.
The boys鈥 monkey frills are good to go.
We use the hallway as our warm-up room. I stretch, but when I see this, I stop and grab my camera鈥ait for it鈥
The one and only Ed Kross, just waiting to do a full wolf-costume photo shoot. How can I resist?
Seriously. Look at this gold. He鈥檚 so ferocious!
One final pose, then I have to finish getting ready.
This is my peacock hat. One final check downstairs, then it鈥檚 time to go up and put the dress on!
Welcome to the Peacock! It has to live upstairs because it鈥檚 too tall to track downstairs to the dressing rooms. Also, I can鈥檛 walk up stairs in stilts. Time for Act I to begin!
The only break I have comes when it鈥檚 time to become a monkey. Hello, monkey.
Look at how fancy these ants are! Geoff and I don these gloves for a special appearance during 鈥淏are Necessities.鈥 See you on the other side of Act I.
Intermission! Kevin Carolan is kind enough to take my Saturday Intermission Picture鈥
Remember this one? No? Instagram: @nikkalanz. Check it out!
What else is happening at intermission? Anjali stretches in the hallway.
Govind Kumar looks generally adorable all the time.
The Goodman takes photos of their swings with a crown and scepter every time they go on. I think that鈥檚 an awesome tradition.
First show of the day is done! Let鈥檚 take a walk and find some dinner, shall we?
Down the alleyway to the FANCIEST WALGREENS EVER. They have a sushi bar. I know what you鈥檙e thinking, but it鈥檚 incredible.
Look who鈥檚 also getting sushi! It鈥檚 Govind and Tim Wilson.
And Geoff? Looks like we all had the same idea today. There鈥檚 an ice cream social later, so I want to save room for that.
Back at the theatre, there鈥檚 a meeting onstage. I just liked the way it all looked on the green room monitor.
Akash and Glory Curda, who plays our Little Girl, hang out in the green room.
Scene It? Disney edition! They鈥檙e totally winning against our Young Performer Supervisors Katie Cora Clark and Emily Jewison. Doug Peck is doing slightly better.
Ice cream social time! Everyone brings in sweet treats.
Doug, Tim, and Govind enjoy their ice cream, but Andr茅 de Shields? A grapefruit.
Yep, a grapefruit. You wanted a close-up of that, you say?
That is Andr茅 de Shields and his grapefruit. You鈥檙e welcome, 半岛体育.
Geoff invents a game called 鈥淲ikipedia Quiz Show.鈥 You pick a topic you think you know the most about, then someone else pulls up the Wikipedia page of that topic and quizzes you on it. Glory helps pick questions for Emily about 鈥淪tar Trek.鈥
Ed Kross chose 鈥淭he Dick Van Dyke Show.鈥 He knows an alarming amount about it.
Mieka, my incredible dresser, is put through her 鈥淏uffy the Vampire Slayer鈥 paces.
Nehal chose 鈥淭he Simpsons,鈥 which totally derailed the game once we started reading about who does which voices.
It鈥檚 our intrepid dance captain Jeremy Duvall! He chose Janet Jackson.
Larry Yando, our tiger Shere Khan, does鈥omething鈥o Anjali鈥檚 coat. No matter鈥
It鈥檚 half hour again! Time for show #2.
Anjali does her best impression of a subway flasher.
Mieka adjusts Usman鈥檚 tail鈥
鈥nd then tortures him with it. We head upstairs to get back into the peacock costume.
The kids play basketball before every show, and stop for just enough time to say hi.
Peacock time! It takes a stool and two people to get me into this dress. But wait, what鈥檚 that鈥?
TIGER ATTACK! OH NO! Even at 7鈥2鈥, I鈥檓 powerless against Larry!
And there I am!
Showtime! What are we, now? Monkeys? Elephants?
A drive-by photo of Andr茅 and his dresser Jene茅, as they prep for King Louie鈥檚 number.
We celebrated the 35th Anniversary of 鈥淎nimal House鈥 with an intermission toga party!
Time for Act II! Alka shows off her monkey taps.
The show is over, but not before Liz and Nehal have a slap fight in the hallway. We really love each other here at <i>The Jungle Book</i>. No, seriously. We do.
Goodnight, 半岛体育! Thanks for sharing this two-show-day with me! We're here at the Goodman thru the 18th, then on to Boston!
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