Pee Wee Herman on Broadway, 87 mins. (HBO)
Pee Wee's Playhouse has always been labeled a "children's show," one that parents can also enjoy. It was always the children's show we wished we could have watched as kids. Pee Wee is a little boy played by an adult (brilliant, irreplaceable Paul Reubens) who kinda sorta looks like a kid, but isn't. The show was part of CBS' Saturday morning line-up from 1986-90. It was, in its day, a sensation. The Playhouse borrowed heavily from the basic formats of classic kids' programs like Bozo the Clown, Captain Kangaroo and Mister Rogers, and exaggerated them to the ultimate degree. Pee Wee's Playhouse was wild and surreal, a live-action show that seemed more like a cartoon.
Characters like Chairry, an impressively expressive talking chair, and Pterri, a talking Pterodactyl that made no attempt to hide the fact that it was dangling from cheap-looking wires, pulled viewers into Pee Wee's almost dreamlike world. Reubens tried to be a role model to his younger fans. His cast of characters, both human and non-human, were of diverse racial origins, like Cowboy Curtis, a jolly, larger-than-life, African American cowboy, and buddy to Pee Wee. Cowboy Curtis was a popular regular on the series, but race was never an issue. "I wanted to illustrate that it's OK to be different," Reubens said at the time.
Pee Wee Herman on Broadway premieres on HBO on March 19. The TV series was G-rated, while Reubens' stage version definitely has a more adult sensibility. In this updated version of the 1981 stage show that inspired the TV series, there are references to the Internet and other technologies that didn't exist three decades past. Lynne Marie Stewart returns as Miss Yvonne, "the most beautiful woman in Puppet Land." With her big bosoms and even bigger hair, her beauty is somewhat questionable.
Stewart, who's played the role on and off since Pee Wee's first appearance, knows the character well. In one hysterically funny scene, she shows Pee Wee how she makes herself look so "beautiful." While she smears makeup across her face, she reveals her "secret wish." As she and Pee Wee close their eyes and clasp hands, Yvonne proclaims, "I wish that Cowboy Curtis would like me so, and think I'm beautiful from head to toe." She briefly shakes her booty, hoping that he "really" likes her, implying a sexual connotation that would never have got past the TV censors.
Even more naughty is a visit from Sergio the electrician (Jesse Garcia). Sergio checks the wiring in the Playhouse, then breaks out into a suggestive dance that would have been unimaginable on the Mickey Mouse Club. When Sergio joins Pee Wee for a special Pee Wee dance to the tune of "Tequila," the audience cheers.
But for the most part, Pee Wee Herman on Broadway is an affectionate nod to the children's programming that Baby Boomers recall with fondness. In "You're My Favorite Chair," a brief musical interlude, Pee Wee and Chairry express their genuine affection for each other. It's a lovely moment that reflects on the meaning of friendship, making its sweet statement while never leaving the Pee Wee universe.