Magic Zoo News: Chompers is Jeff O'Leary!

IRTE's latest production, THE MAGIC ZOO continues Sunday, July 27, 2014. It's our tongue-in-cheek take on the kids' shows we grew up with like THE NEW ZOO REVUE, THE MAGIC GARDEN, and ZOOBILEE ZOO.

Jeff O'Leary, guest performer and 2013 IRTE company member, asked some fun questions of our cast to get to know a little bit about the psychological trauma they went through growing up, and how children shows helped them adapt to society. This time he talked to Jeff O'Leary in a mirror:

Jeff: Tell us about the character you are playing in THE MAGIC ZOO.

O'Leary: I play Chompers, a friendly alligator who is constantly trying to balance his generous nature with his instinctual desire to kill and eat everything that has a beating heart.  He has been brought to the zoo against his will (kidnapped right off the street of his suburban Tampa Bay neighborhood by Princess Patty herself!) but decides to make the best of it. Turns out that living in a zoo is like a gourmet buffet for a gator -- penguins, zebras, marmosets, just to name a few of the delicious creatures on the menu. It's a veritable smorgasbord for a cold-blooded predator!  He never ate so well in his life -- let's face it, Tampa Bay isn't known for its culinary treasures.

Jeff: What was your favorite kid's show when you were growing up and why?

O'Leary: I grew up in Colorado and the popular kids show was "Blinky's Fun Club". It was a locally produced show starring a clown named Blinky. It was a very big deal to attend a taping of a show on your birthday, since Blinky sang his signature song "Happy Birfday to You" on every single show.  It was on the air for three decades, with over 10,000 episodes shot (thank you, Wikipedia!)

Eventually Blinky started to go downhill with the addition of two other characters (Otis and Zelda) who joined the show in the early 1980s. There were "creative differences" with Blinky -- apparently they objected to his peculiar sense of humor. For instance, he reportedly forced an overweight diabetic woman to eat birthday cake on air. It was a very sad day when Blinky's Fun Club was finally taken off the air in 1998.

Jeff: Did you ever apply any "life lessons" from a children's show to your own life? Did you ever have a problem as a kid that you wished would have been addressed on a show you watched?

O'Leary: I learned the true meaning of giving from Bert and Ernie's "Gift of the Magi" It was Sesame Street's take on the O. Henry classic story.  Bert sells his paperclip collection to buy Ernie a new dish for his rubber ducky. At the same time, Ernie goes out and sells his rubber ducky so that he can buy Bert a box to keep his paperclip collection in. Disaster!

I re-watch it every holiday season lest I forget the true meaning of Christmas.

Jeff: If you were a big shot television producer and could create your own kid's show, what would it look like?

O'Leary: I would create a spin-off of the Magic Zoo called "It's Chompin' Time!" starring (who else?) Chompers. It would take place in a swamp, where Chompers would hang out with all his old animal friends from the bayou -- poisonous snakes, snapping turtles, herons, etc. There would be a haunted cypress tree where an old coot would tell ghost stories. And Chompers would always be on the lookout for evil hunters who are constantly trying to kill him and make a fortune off his very valuable alligator hide.

Well... I hope we all learned something.

Thanks, Jeff and ... Jeff, we'll see you soon at the zoo!

THE MAGIC ZOO

Sunday, July 27, 8:00 pm

at The Producer's Club

358 W 44th St, NYC

between 8th & 9th Ave.

Tickets: $10.00