Magic Zoo News: Robert Baumgardner is Game Warden Bob

IRTE's latest production, THE MAGIC ZOO continues Sunday, July 20 and 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 Robert Baumgardner:

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

Robert: I play Game Warden Bob. He's sort of the Magic Zoo's general manager, mechanic, animal handler, cleaning man and rhythm guitarist. Luckily he has a lot of help from the uncaged animals running around the zoo.

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

R: The McLaughlin Group. Every Sunday morning my parents would tune in to these five animals in suits that would screech and bellow about news events. It was hilarious, especially when Pat Buchanan the Bear would grunt how well prohibition worked! Plus, "McLaughlin" has the word "laugh" in it.

J: 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?

R: Sure, The McLaughlin Group had a game called "Which of these things is not like the Other?" There was John McLaughlin, Pat Buchanan, Fred Barnes and Eleanor Clift. Eleanor was the different one. Why? No, not because she was a woman. She was known as a blee-ding-heart-li-ber-al. As an adult, while finely crafting the character of Game Warden Bob, I had a choice of four props: a hand gun, a machine gun, a bazooka, and a whip. I chose the whip. Why? Not because it was leather and the other objects were metal, but because it does not shoot projectiles.

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

R: It would look awesome!! Like a nuclear submarine that was blown out into space because of a tsunami caused by global warming. Me and the rest of the crew would travel through time and space looking for the causes of, and a solution for global warming. It would be educational because all the adults on board can read. Because they can read, they make good role models for children.

Well... I hope we all learned something.

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

THE MAGIC ZOO

Sundays, July 20, & 27, 8:00 pm

at The Producer's Club

358 W 44th St, NYC

between 8th & 9th Ave.

Tickets: $10.00