Review - The Pee-wee Herman Show: Somebody, Force Me To Care

Back in the days of Henry Miller, it was one of the great Broadway traditions for him and other men of the theatre to name playhouses for themselves. I won't discount that perhaps some ego-stroking was involved, but it was also a shrewd business move. The popular actor/producer was telling the public that even if he wasn't appearing in the house's current offering, the production arrived with his seal of approval. This wasn't just some play paying money to rent his space; Henry Miller believed this to be quality theatre.

But the building whose landmark façade still states "Henry Miller's Theatre" now bears a marquee with the signature of Stephen Sondheim, allowing fans to imagine The Stephen Sondheim Theatre as a venue which will honor its namesake by housing challenging and thought-provoking works. I'm happy to state that this is indeed the case, at least with the newly named theatre's first offering, playwright/actor Paul Reubens' absurdist drama, The Pee-Wee Herman Show.

As in Sondheim's landmark musical, Company, the central character of the piece is an emotionally arrested adult who rejects allowing himself to be vulnerable enough to enter into a mature romantic relationship ("I don't have to worry about love and that creepy junk," he proudly mutters as he displays his abstinence ring.) and instead finds acceptance by playing the familiar child's game of imagining himself as the star of his own television show.

With his unit set, David Korins provides a bachelor pad for the emotionally stilted, splashed in garish colors and attention-grabbing patterns, while costume designer Ann Closs-Farley ingeniously clothes Pee-wee in a conservative grey suit which is noticeably too tight, suggesting the character feels constricted by society's conventions.

Through Basil Twist's puppetry, simultaneously whimsical and disturbing, we see how the lonely Pee-wee envisions inanimate objects - such as Mr. Window, a talking globe, a "Magic Screen" and a boom-box/phonograph contraption known as "Conky the Robot" - as his playmates. Most beloved is a large baby-blue lounger he calls Chairry, who he snuggles with for motherly comfort. His most prominent male role model is the Genie Jambi (John Paragon), a disembodied head whose lack of physical assets no doubt greatly influences Pee-wee's pronounced asexuality.

While Company's Bobby is surrounded by friends who want to see him able to enjoy the pleasures of coupling, the people in Pee-wee's life are enablers who encourage him to stay in his fantasy world. The sexy Latino handyman, Sergio (Jesse Garcia), arrives to help him connect to the Internet, a move that would increase the man-child's capability to live without human contact. Lance Roberts, as The King of Cartoons, introduces a short feature from the misleadingly chaste world of 1950s educational films.

There are hints that Pee-wee may be ready to understand human relations in the slight plot where he helps his friends Cowboy Curtis (Phil LaMarr) and Miss Yvonne (Lynne Marie Stewart) find true love, but this episode also introduces Pee-wee's most cherished wish, that he be able to fly. (Which, of course, is symbolic of his desire to escape responsibility.)

Director Alex Timbers is best known for pieces like this, which play with the boundaries between reality and fantasy (Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant) and though the play is co-authored by Bill Steinkellner (with additional material by Paragon) the bulk of credit for the evening's haunting level of tragedy must go to Reubens, who has been workshopping this material for nearly thirty years; the pitiable state of Pee-wee's lack of emotional growth increased by the actor now being in his late 50s.

Early on, exemplifying the character's need for attention, he instructs his imaginary audience to make as much noise as they can whenever someone says the day's secret word. The afternoon I attended, many playgoers were actually moved to the point of participating in this game; perhaps a sign that though we may pity the Pee-Wee Herman's of the world, there is an undeniable part of us all that envies his simplicity.

Photos by Jeff Vespa: Top: Paul Reubens; Bottom: John Paragon and Paul Reubens.

********************************

Now, if I was in charge of the Macy's Seasons of Love jewelry ad, they would have sung about something that cost 525,600 dollars.

Click here to follow Michael Dale on Twitter.

"There's no long lost star that you cannot reach / For your perfect day starts each / Tomorrow morning."

-- Jerry Herman

The grosses are out for the week ending 12/5/2010 and we've got them all right here in BroadwayWorld.com's grosses section.

Up for the week was: THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS (18.0%), MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET (13.5%), THE PITMEN PAINTERS (9.2%), NEXT TO NORMAL (8.3%), LOMBARDI (7.6%), A FREE MAN OF COLOR (7.0%), BRIEF ENCOUNTER (6.8%), FELA! (4.8%), WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN (3.6%), LA CAGE AUX FOLLES (2.7%), RAIN: A TRIBUTE TO THE BEATLES ON BROADWAY (1.8%), TIME STANDS STILL (1.4%), Colin Quinn: LONG STORY SHORT (1.3%), PROMISES, PROMISES (0.6%),

Down for the week was: THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (-25.8%), THE ADDAMS FAMILY (-21.6%), MARY POPPINS (-16.9%), WEST SIDE STORY (-13.8%), CHICAGO (-10.6%), ELF (-10.4%), AMERICAN IDIOT (-9.8%), LA BETE (-6.2%), A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC (-6.1%), BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON (-5.9%), WICKED (-5.5%), BILLY ELLIOT: THE MUSICAL (-4.0%), ROCK OF AGES (-4.0%), THE Pee-Wee Herman SHOW (-3.7%), THE LION KING (-3.7%), MAMMA MIA! (-2.8%), DRIVING MISS DAISY (-2.1%), JERSEY BOYS (-2.1%), MEMPHIS (-1.8%), SPIDER-MAN TURN OFF THE DARK (-1.5%), IN THE HEIGHTS (-1.3%), THE MERCHANT OF VENICE (-0.1%),