The Pee-Wee Herman Show played Hollywood's Roxy Theatre in 1981, was made into a hit movie in 1985, and ran as a Saturday morning kids' show from 1986-1991. And despite Paul Reubens' 1991 arrest for indecent exposure, Pee-Wee's reputation is as good as ever, with "The Pee-Wee Herman Show" set to open at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre on October 26. Reubens sat down with "New York" so talk about the production.
During the interview with "New York," Reubens discussed previous Broadway offers, saying " I hate to come off as such a hick here-it's not like I'm totally unfamiliar with Broadway. I almost took over for Alan Cumming for Cabaret, and almost went into How to Succeed ... after Matthew Broderick. I've been offered stuff, but always to replace somebody, and it's always too long of a commitment. This is a long commitment, too, but it's a commitment to my own story."
He also explained that the Broadway show follows the same plot as the television series, in which Pee-Wee dreams of flying.
Reubens discussed his experience with CBS, saying that there was no censorship. "I've been in many situations where people promise to leave you alone, but you write a script and the next day they have fifteen notes for you: ‘Change the dog to a cat.' Instead, in five seasons of my show, I probably had a total of five notes. They never even saw the show until it was finished, two hours before it aired," he said.
When explaining his goal for the "Pee-Wee Herman Show," Reubens told "New York," "Sesame Street was already on, but it was very corporate in a certain way, and I just felt I had this opportunity to be entertaining, less "we're going to learn the letter Q today." They had that covered. I was going to be lighter and more specific, more like: All your friends got invited to a party, and you didn't. I was so lucky-I was presented with such an opportunity. And if I can pat myself a teeny-tiny amount on the back, I delivered. I was in a position to shape a certain percentage of kids who watched, teach them things that I think are important in life, like the golden rule, and wrap it up in colorful eye candy and make it seem like fun. It would be hard to do that at all today-and I got to do it for five years."
For the full article, click here.
