Monday, January 25, 2010

Pee Wee Live!

The Vikings lost the NFC Championship game yesterday, a great - and totally heartbreaking, if you're a Viking - game. I saw posts on Facebook from friends back home saying their little kids went to bed crying, hiding under the covers. To love the Vikings is to know purple pain. They're kind of like our Cubs. I feel like it was my fault a little, as I had to leave right before the Vikes tied it up 28-28, forcing overtime. I had long-planned tickets to see the Pee Wee Herman LIVE! show downtown, and had to go, RIGHT when it was crucial time. I actually insisted that we NOT go on February 7th when getting tickets, as I knew the Vikings would be in the Superbowl that day. Sigh.

I got text updates from my friends watching the game, and then had to shut off my phone to enter the theater. I got the news of the Vikings loss/Saints victory (and I AM happy for the Saints - New Orleans deserves every chance they get to laissez les bon temps rouler after the national nightmare of Katrina, which STILL hasn't been corrected) just as we were about to enter the theater. It's a good thing that The Pee Wee Herman Show - Live On Stage! is hilarious, as it didn't allow me even a minute to be too mournful.


There were several people dressed in Pee Wee attire - male and female - and the enthusiasm was high - especially for an L.A. audience. The merch line was so long you would've missed the show to stand in it. Pee Wee doesn't seem to have aged a bit, and the set is so colorful and fun ("WOOOO!"), you are instantly cheered up, no matter what your prior disposition. (You weren't allowed to bring in your cameras, so you'll have to trust me or go yourself - now until February 7, at the Nokia Theater) All the old characters from the t.v. show were there, as well as a few new ones - which Pee Wee addressed, saying "I hate mimes and I hate new characters", when dealing with a big new Mime Bear. Each old familiar character got huge applause when they arrived on stage, from Cowboy Curtis to Miss Yvonne, from Chairy to Jambi the Genie.

The general story this time is that Pee Wee really REALLY wants to be able to fly. I won't wreck the outcome for you, but knowing that if you really REALLY want something to happen, and concentrate enough on it, dreams really can come true.

Highlights for us were the old fashioned "Mr. Bungle" movie that played on a sparkly framed screen; a "Bumpits" informercial spoof that had us crying with laughter; the magic word for the day ("FUN!") that the entire audience screamed for each time it was said; "Meka Leka Hi, Meka Hiney Ho!" shouted in Jambese (one time by all the girls, one time by all the boys, one time by all the brunettes, one time by all the "natural blondes" - which left only me shouting it); and of course, the very happy ending, which found Pee Wee singing once again about being "The Luckiest Boy In The World".

I think it would be a great show to take kids too, as eye popping, bright and fun ("WOOOO!") as this show is, but I think it's meant more for nostalgic adults who loved the show the first time around. There are several double-entendres throughout the show that crack you up, (and would most likely fly over most kids' heads), and the overall production is pretty Queen-y, which you're in on the whole time. We adored it, and would go again and again. And I bet it will tour the country, as well-received as it has been here, so keep a look out.

So thanks, Pee Wee! You brightened up my whole disposition, and the new laugh lines were well worth it!

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