The Pee Wee Herman Show - Live on Stage
It’s been almost twenty years since the fantastically subversive Pee Wee’s Playhouse closed its shiny candy-apple red doors; this year also marks the 25th anniversary of Pee Wee’s big screen debut in Tim Burton’s Pee Wee’s Big Adventure. Of course, some legends never die - the advent of DVD resurrected the television show and its infamously campy Christmas Special, and internet fan pages have been crying out for years for Pee Wee’s return to the small screen. Like some magical Christmas present no child ever dared hope for, Pee Wee Herman creator Paul Reubens has given us something far better - Pee Wee and his Playhouse have returned for a live, limited Los Angeles stage show.
That’s right. Pee Wee…LIVE.
A bright kaleidoscope of puppetry, comedy, song, and all the double entendres and splashes of self-awareness that fans came to love about the original show, The Pee Wee Herman Show - Live on Stage is a fantastic success. And while it will no doubt be an accessible joy to those who are unfamiliar with the original Groundling stage show or television program, for those of us who grew up with Pee Wee, the show is simply unmissable.
To experience a wave of nostalgia this expertly packaged and delivered is a rarity - when the audience wasn’t exploding in laughter, they were cheering and waving as one familiar character after another took the stage. Yes, they’re all back: Chairy, Conky, Cowboy Curtis, and recreating their original roles, John Paragon’s Jambi the Genie and Lynne Marie Stewart’s Miss Yvonne. Recurring themes and features from the original show find their way into the play with some inventive staging: you get your Secret Word, some flirtatious bickering (and a duet!) between Pee Wee and Chairy, and plenty of absurd surprises that won’t be spoiled here. As Pee Wee himself would remark, you’ll love it so much you should marry it!
Tickets are still available (click here) for the show’s limited four-week engagement. The play is staged at Club Nokia, a small space within the Nokia Theatre that provides an appropriately intimate atmosphere. Tickets are divided between a seated area and a General Admission standing area; though the view is fine from the standing area, if it’s within your budget, seats are recommended as they are closer to the stage and a more comfortable way to take in the experience.
It would be wonderful to see this play find success and tour to other cities - no doubt if anyone has the tireless energy and manic ambition to pull that off, it’s Pee Wee Herman.
- Logan Crow
January 17, 2010
Comment:
