A Trip To Pee Wee's Playhouse

This past weekend I had the luck and the joy of getting to see Paul Reubens perform the Pee Wee Herman Show on Stage at the Club Nokia Theater in Los Angeles. Well, I should say I had the joy of getting to see him, there really wasn't a lot of luck involved. In fact, it was a bit of a pain in the ass to make sure I had tickets to see this show. You see, originally the show was set to take place back in November at a smaller theater, but due to the overwhelming demand for tickets to see Pee Wee, as well as the need for a bigger stage that could do more complicated things, the show was moved to a bigger venue. Those of us who had already purchased tickets had to call in and try to get tickets again to one of the shows at the new venue. I'll be honest, that whole experience pretty much sucked, but I was willing to go through it because I wanted to see this show so badly.

I've been a big Pee Wee Herman fan since I was a little kid. While I can't exactly recall my first introduction to the character of Pee Wee, I vividly remember watching new episodes of "The Playhouse" (as I called it back in the day) every saturday morning as I ate at least three or four bowls of Crunch Berries or Lucky Charms and began what was sure to be a day long sugar rush. Yeah, I also watched a good couple of hours of cartoons too, but more often than not those were half ignored as I played with my toys. Pee Wee's Playhouse, on the other hand, was something that I gave my full attention to. While it was on, I didn't give anything else my time. There was just something so hypnotic about it. I don't know if it was the wild colors and amazing art design of the set, the crazy puppets and talking furniture, or the ball of pure (almost psycho) energy that was Pee Wee Herman himself, but something about that show hooked me as a kid. I had almost all of the toys. I had as many as I could get my dirty little hands on at least. I had The Playhouse playset, I had the talking pull-string Pee Wee doll, and I was even getting good at working on my impressions of him.

Just don't ask me about the Conkey The Robot toy. That was the one toy I wanted the most, but never had. Some wounds run too deep to talk about.

As I got older, I'll admit my interest in Pee Wee wained a little. It's not entirely my fault. After his show got taken off the air in 1990, it was hard to stay a Pee Wee fan when his beloved image had been pulled from every possible outlet available to a young kid. His toys disappeared, his show disappeared, it was like he never existed at all. I was forced to move on to other things, but that's not to say that Pee Wee was ever forgotten. Far from it in fact. As I got older, I was able to appreciate some of the earlier gems of Pee Wee's History even more. When I learned in High School that Pee Wee's Big Adventure marked the directorial debut of Tim Burton and was the first film ever scored by Danny Elfman, my mind was officially blown. In college I got to see the HBO special of the original Pee Wee Herman Show stage performance for the first time, and I was finally mature enough to start realizing just how brilliant the character of Pee Wee really is. Somehow, Paul Reubens had created this amazing adult themed parody of a children's show, took it to the stage, became incredibly popular, and then managed to make an actual kids show out of what was originally a very dirty adult show. The only other comparison I can think of that is similar would be when Johnen Vasquez (the guy who created Johnny The Homicidal Maniac) was asked by Nickelodeon to create a children's animated show, and in return we were given Invader Zim.

As an adult, it's been the subversive nature of Pee Wee and his Playhouse that I have really loved. Yes, The Playhouse was very much a kid's show and wasn't really all that dirty, but it was created in such an intelligent way and was written so well that it became one of those rare shows that both kids and adults can love. Those shows are just as relevant and entertaining today as they were then, and even after 20 years with no new Material, I've maintained my steadfast loyalty to Pee Wee and his Playhouse.

You can imagine my shock and delighted suprise then when I first read that Pee Wee was coming back, he was going to be performing a new version of his original stage play, and it was happening within driving distance of my house. I'll be honest here, I may have let slip a shout of joy that my coworkers probably mistook for the sounds of an overexcited six year old girl. I couldn't contain myself. I was determined to see this show, come hell or high water. Yes, the tickets were a pain to get, but it all became worth it last Saturday as I say down in my seat in front of this.

What wonders waited for me behind that curtain? Was it the playhouse that I knew and loved so well? Was it an all new playhouse? Was it more akin to the original stage show's set? I had no idea, but the anticipation was killing me. Luckily, I didn't have to wait too long. The lights dimmed, the filler music that had been playing an excellent mix of 80's new wave faded out to nothingness, and the audience got quiet as we all waited for the show to begin.

Almost demurely, Pee Wee Herman walks onto the stage from the right hand side, the curtains are still down on the stage. It's just him and a spotlight. The audience goes wild, Pee Wee looks immensely excited. Once the crowd dies down, he very politely asks us to join him in reciting the pledge of allegiance. Suddenly, as if I was suddenly back in grade school, I'm on my feet, my right hand is over my heart, I'm looking at an American flag which has been wheeled on stage, and I'm saying the pledge of allegiance for the first time in at least 20 years. I'm actually suprised that I remembered it. I'm also suprised that the rest of the audience rememberd it too. It was a very surreal way to start the show, but it was a brilliant move. Even before the show officially begins, I'm already feeling like a little kid again. After the Pledge, Pee Wee thanks us, tells us he hopes we enjoy the show, and then runs back stage. A few seconds later, the curtains come up up and the stage's lights turn on.

My jaw dropped and I felt myself take in a deep breath of shock as the lights came on. There, not 30 feet away from me, glowing brightly and sparkling in multi-colored radiance is Pee Wee's Playhouse. It's almost a perfect replica of the TV show's set, only it's better because it's real and if I wanted to I could reach out and touch it. Everything is there. The funky shaped red door, Chairy, Clockey, Mr. Window, the flowers, the fish, the tin can telephones, Conky sitting deactivated in the corner, magic screen, Globey, Jombi's box. It's almost too much to take in at once. I'm suddenly flooded with childhood memories. It's so beautiful it almost makes me cry. I'm eight years old again, and I'm watching my favorite show, and it hasn't changed a bit.

Then Pee Wee comes in through the door and he sings the opening song from the original stage show. We're not even five seconds into the show, and I've already gotten my money's worth for the $80 I spent on my ticket. From there the show goes very much as if it was just an episode of The Playhouse from back in the day. Pee Wee starts off by showing us some cool stuff, and then people start showing up to say hi. Mailman Mike stops by, so does Miss Yvonne, The King of Cartoons and my personal favorite . . . Cowboy Curtis. Sadly, Laurence Fishburne didn't reprise his role as Cowboy Curtis, but the amazingly talented Phil LaMarr did an incredible job playing the character. All of the other characters were played by the original actors though, even Jombi. There were also two new characters added to the show. Sergio the handyman, a half naked Fireman and a giant mute Bear who spent most of the show annoying Pee Wee to no end.

A word of note, Bear is awesome.

I know it's a stage play, and chances are there won't be a release of the show on DVD or anything, but I still don't want to ruin the story or the jokes for you, even though the odds are that you won't ever see it. It was just too magical, too amazing and too funny to allow me to ruin it for you even though it's almost impossible that I will. I'm sorry, but I will not speak of the story. Suffice it to say though that Pee Wee hasn't lost a single bit of what made him great back in the day. His humor, style and delivery are still dead on. Paul Reubens may look a little older in the Pee Wee outfit (only very slightly), but he's still Pee Wee through and through. Overall, the show is much more of The Playhouse than it was the original stage show. There were some really good adult jokes here and there, but for the most part the show was very kid friendly. This Pee Wee Herman Show wasn't anywhere near as racy as the original stage play. While I would have liked to have seen a bit more adult humor thrown in, I can't really fault Reubens for not having written more in. Pee Wee has changed a lot since his beginnings on the Groundlings improv Stage back in 1981. To go fully back to his original ways would be to do a disservice to his Playhouse days, which really is the reason all of us are there anyways, right?

After the show was over though, as amazing as it was, something even more amazing happened. Since myself and many other people had to deal with the hassle of getting tickets a second time, and since a lot of out of state people had to reschedule hotels and plane flights, there had been a lot of negative fan reaction to the shows being moved at all. In one of the classiest moves I have ever seen, Paul Reubens announced that he wished to apologize to his fans in person after every performance. Those of us who had gone through the process of getting tickets to both shows were invited to stay in the theater after the performance for a meet and greet with Mr. Reubens so he could apologize to us for what had happened. As far as I can recall, no other actor or performer has ever done such a thing on such a large scale before. He could have simply said, "tough luck, deal with it" and we wouldn't have had much choice, but to make sure his fans had no hard feelings he wanted to give them something extra for having gone through so much to see him.

After a short wait during which most of the audience left the theater, we found ourselves down to about maybe a hundred or so people left in the building. Soon enough, Pee Wee once again takes to the stage with a microphone in hand and says hello. Only it's not Pee Wee, it's Paul Reubens the actor. He's still in his Pee Wee Costume, but this is the man himself coming out to connect one on one with his audience. The very first thing he does is say he's sorry, but before he talks to us adults he wants to meet all of the kids in the audience. He then takes his time, finds each and every kid in the audience and takes a couple of minutes to speak to them. He asks them their names, where they live, what parts of the show they loved the most and generally spends a minute or two getting to know them. Seriously, he did this for every single child in the audience. It was amazing to see someone showing that much dedication to their work and to making kids happy.

Once he had met all of the kids, he then started taking questions from the audience. During all of this he switched back and forth between Pee Wee and Paul Reubens. He would tell a story from his days as a struggling actor and then immediately follow it up with a Pee Wee joke or comment. He talked about his hopes for making another Pee Wee movie, he told us where the original bike from Pee Wee's Big Adventure is, he even told us of his love for all of the cartoons on Adult Swim. It was a rare glimpse into the man who makes Pee Wee who he is, and it really was something special. He didn't need to do this, but he wanted to. That difference is what made this matter. This was easily the single most sincere bit of fan service I have ever seen a performer give.

Paul Reubens is 100% pure class all the way. Let no one ever tell you different.

At the very end of the meet and greet, right as he was about to say his goodbyes so he could get ready for his second show of the night (we were there for the matinee), I finally worked up the courage to take a little bit of video with my phone to document this great occasion. Unfortunately, the quality of the video isn't all that great, but the audio is clear enough. This was Pee Wee's goodbye and thank you to us. A more heartfelt goodbye I have never heard.



Thank you Mr. Reubens for an amazing show. You gave me an evening with amazing memories that I will always treasure.