ZOOM!

I think Emma was in 4th grade when she auditioned for ZOOM! She had been an avid ZOOM! viewer for several years when they broadcast an announcement of an open casting call in Boston. Emma immediately wanted to try for spot in the cast. We researched the obligation and thought about it carefully before agreeing to let her audition. Emma seemed a natural for the show – down-to-earth, a little quirky, and she already spoke the ZOOM! secret language, Ubbi Dubbi, fluently. We thought we’d better know what we were getting into because she just might get chosen.

It turns out that the full year of episodes would be taped in Boston over the summer. Since Peter would be off from school, it was actually possible to let Emma do it. We talked to her about it a lot to see if she really wanted to spend her summer taping in a studio all day and she was very enthusiastic. She insisted she wanted to go for it. We scheduled an audition time and planned a weekend trip to Boston. If nothing else, it would be an adventure. 

In preparation for her audition, Emma practiced reciting the poem Bubblegum, by Douglas Florian, in Ubbi Dubbi. If you haven't heard someone speak this secret language, it's hard to appreciate how difficult this feat was. Actually, Emma did it very easily, something the rest of us both admired and envied. We loved her little act and we were pretty sure the ZOOM audition team would, too.




There were a TON of kids at the ZOOM! audition and Emma was uncharacteristically intimidated and subdued. The audition panel wisely interviewed kids without their parents present. When Emma came out she was smiley and happy. “They were really nice,” she reported.

We were very curious to know what had gone on in her very brief interview. "Did you do your poem in Ubbi Dubbi?" we asked. "Nope," she responded. "They just asked me some questions and I answered them." “What did they ask you?” we inquired. “Oh, I don’t know, just stuff.” “Like what?” we asked. “Well, they asked me how I liked to spend a summer day, for one thing.” “What did you say?” We knew that this was an important and, I might add, responsible question. They were trying to gauge whether these kids were really going to enjoy spending a whole summer inside a studio. “Well,” she said,  “I told them I liked to just float around all day in my Grandma’s pool and play with my cousins.” Peter and I gave each other knowing looks. We both knew that answer ended the ZOOM! dream for her. But we also thought, based on her honest, guileless, answer, that it had turned out for the best.

“Good answer, Emma,” Peter said.

To get a taste of ZOOM! click here

For a taste of the Ubbi Dubbi secret language featuring Emma's favorite ZOOM cast member, Jared, click here