RHEOSTAT'S RESTAURANTA Musical Variety Show for Ages 3-6

Rise and shine! The sun is coming up, and it's time for the Bisco family to get up, get dressed, and get to work at their family restaurant. A lively musical opening conveys the enthusiasm and hope of every brand new day, and shows the out-of-this-world morning routine of outer space aliens (portrayed by puppets) as if they were a typical earth family.

Mom levitates 6 year-old Rhea (short for Rheostat) down from her cocoon-like bed in the chandelier. Dad’s arm appears (separate from the rest of him!) in the attic to roust 9 year-old Jax out of his unconventional pine-knot-hole bed. The rest of Dad is taking a steel wool bath in the bathtub. In the kitchen, Mom pulls tubes out of the ceiling and fills bowls with breakfast food. When Jax arrives in an inappropriate t-shirt, Mom makes him take it off (his limbs unscrew and the shirt pops off) and get another. Rhea brushes her teeth. Finally, Uncle Omet pulls up the driveway in his saucer station wagon to drive everybody to the family business: “Rheostat’s Restaurant.”

The restaurant is a cute little truck stop/café somewhere in the U.S. Southwest. Paper plates, hung on the wall behind the counter, list specials in many Earth and alien languages.

Sometimes – like today – the family gets to work late and finds customers already waiting in the restaurant. A man is sitting at the counter, strumming a guitar. It is Tom Chapin.

TOM
Whoa there! No need to rush.

MOM
We’re so sorry – we’ll be with you in a
minute. You know how it is getting a
family up and out in the morning!

TOM
I sure do. Everything is in the nick of time.
I wrote a song about that.
(sings “In The Nick Of Time”)

And so it goes. Guests from the world of music and art perform and converse with the alien family, all with the intention of teaching the customs and musical styles of different cultures. Humor arises from the aliens’ need to hide their own special talents (limbs that attach and re-attach, for instance) and their planet of origin. Uncle Omet, who is in the kitchen, is removed from the action and doesn’t always understand what is going on. His comic misunderstandings (“I’ve nicked myself shaving – why would I want to nick time?”) add a playful layer of wordplay.

All this, of course, leads to lessons about self-esteem and respect for the differences of others.

Human and other guests don’t comment on the fact that the restaurant is run by aliens. While there may be an arched eyebrow or two over something Rhea, Jax, or Uncle Omet does, they are always accepted for who they are. (This is like Sesame Street, where Muppet characters are never addressed as being of a different species.)

Dialogue is written on multiple levels to engage both parents and children. Young children will always see the love and respect the characters show each other, even though some of the comedic references may go over their heads. The alien family is a functional family with strong communication skills, and therefore presents a good example for adults, too.

A simple storyline runs through each episode, with each musical performance commenting on, and forwarding, the action.

The music presented is not “kiddie music;” it is “people’s music” from around the world (in America, we call it “country music”). After the taping of an episode, audience members -- both children and adults -- will leave wanting to buy a CD of the show’s music, since the music doesn’t talk down to them.


MAIN CHARACTERS

The show’s main characters are a puppet family of aliens from a distant planet who are here to study our culture. They are curious – sometimes even intrusive -- about other people’s backgrounds, nationalities, and cultures.

Rhea. A six year-old alien girl and the star of the show. She is a precocious child who sometimes whines and wishes that she could be just like the humans. When this happens, you can be sure that she will end up with a lesson in individuality and pride (and then end the show with her home planet’s unintelligible, screeching national anthem). She is also very charming and lovable. Guests warm up to her and are delighted to share their talents while answering her endless questions.

Jax. Nine year-old big brother to Rhea, he is the pack rat of the group. He is constantly showing up with animals, appliances or other garbage that he has found that he takes apart, and doesn’t necessarily put back together. He and his sister are home schooled by Mom and Dad.

Dad. The scientist. As a devotee of the scientific method (plan, hypothesize, plan, experiment, plan some more, etc.), he is endlessly frustrated by Jax’s “just dive in and see what happens” method. Much comedy comes from his and Jax’s interactions over Jax’s lessons and collections.

Mom. A loving mother and eternal optimist who sees possibilities in everything. Where Dad and Jax are interested in the guts of things and how they work, she is interested in where things lead to, and how they promote love and the good in life.

DAD
(holding a melted mass of plastic)
Jax tried to see if the microwave would play CDs.
(depressed)
He cooked my favorite Britney Spears album!

MOM
I love that he is thinking about how
sounds are made! Why don’t you give him your salsa CD so he can cook up something spicy for dinner!


Uncle Omet. A great source of comic relief. Omet is a talkative, garrulous adult who is just a “big kid” at heart. (Uncle Omet is responsible for everybody’s Earth names, as their own language is unintelligible to humans. He took the names of household supplies and dropped off the first letter or syllable. Omet is from Comet cleanser, Jax is from Ajax, Bisco is from Nabisco, etc.) He is constantly experimenting in the kitchen and coming up with ideas that work (peanut butter pancakes) and don’t work (peanut butter ice cubes).

LICENSING POTENTIAL

The preschool product licensing category is one of the biggest, and Rheostat’s Restaurant’s warm, musical premise will allow us to license the characters in a broad range of categories. There’s “country children’s music,” plush toys, games, books, videos, and more.

Rhea, herself, is designed to be the next “Elmo,” a super-star character that will cross international – or, in her case, interplanetary – boundaries.