Early this AM, I was reminiscing about the original Pee-wee Herman Show at the Groundlings. That brought this message from my old pal Dawna Kaufmann…and I'm not sure if I'd forgotten that Dawna was involved with the show or if I just plain never knew. Here's some of what she remembers…
All the early meetings were in my Hollywood apartment, as we brought in John Paragon, Edie McClurg, John Moody, Lynne Marie Stewart, Ivan Flores, Tito Larriva and "musical maniacs" Brian Seff and Monica Ganas, aka Rick and Ruby. Gary Panter designed the colorful look of the production and its poster, his then-wife Nicole was cast as an actor, and their pal Jay Condom (nee Cotton) composed the wacky music and theme song. Rounding out the team were brilliantly inventive puppet makers, set builders and techies. At some point near the premiere, Bill Steinkellner was brought in as another pair of eyes and served well as director. The line producers were Betsy Heimann and Chuck Minsky, who then and now have huge careers in the film biz, respectively as a costume designer and a cinematographer.
The script was written by the performers; I didn't take a writing credit, although I should have; my credit was variously Executive Producer and Executive in Charge of Production. We would rehearse at the theater, and I would audio tape each rehearsal, then Paul and I would spend hours honing the script. It was tough editing out some very funny bits but I insisted it had to be done. I brought in and edited the 1950s training film about school cleanliness, as well as the Mr. Pincushion Man cartoon and a Gumby adventure. An elderly opera singer named Dora Romani, whom we found at Sarno's restaurant, was our opening act. She would work in the audience and flirt with all the men.
The Groundlings let us have the theatre for weekend midnight shows, and we opened on Feb. 7, 1981. I had designed a media campaign to promote the show, calling it "a late-night kiddie show for kids of all ages." I controlled the guest list, making sure that anyone who could help get out the word would be rewarded with free tickets. The Groundlings Theatre was a 99-seat venue and by opening night we had 2,000 people begging for seats.
Throughout our run the most amazing folks would be in the audience, including Robin Williams, Steve Martin, Marty Scorcese, Robert DeNiro, Cindy Williams, Cheech Marin and others. It became such a cultural touchstone that Melrose Avenue, which at that time was a dead zone at midnight, suddenly took on a hip appeal. In the months we played there, we watched that area become the technicolor place to be. Eventually, it became necessary to move to the Roxy Theater, where we could expand the show and play more nights, at earlier times. We transferred our set, cast and crew to Sunset Boulevard, and clicked there too. During the day, Paul and I would meet with TV networks as we saw our dream of turning the project into a series take shape.
Paul's agents brought in a music video director and the show was sold to HBO's just-beginning On Location series. We taped our last night at the Roxy as the show you still see running on HBO, which is what the DVD on Image Entertainment will consist of when released in July. The major difference in the Groundlings vs. Roxy productions is that Ivan Flores, who was a school kid, was replaced by Joan Leizman, another Groundling, who plays the hypnotized woman in the audience on the HBO show. For the HBO version, we also had to drop the Gumby cartoon when we couldn't make a deal with Art Clokey. We also didn't include Dora Romani on the HBO program, but I understand a rough tape of her will be on the DVD.
Mostly my memories are terrific, knowing I helped put into the world one of the greatest comedy collaborations ever.
Thanks, Dawna…and I know you won't mind my observation that the version at the Roxy, though quite wonderful, wasn't as wonderful as what I saw down on Melrose the first time. And come to think of it, the version that aired on HBO wasn't as wonderful as what I saw live at the Roxy. Which is not to say people shouldn't buy and enjoy it.
The one time I worked with Paul Reubens, he struck me as a very canny guy with a good sense of how far Pee-wee could go…which was far from infinite. On ye olde Internet, one often finds the myth that his CBS Saturday morning show was cancelled because of that silly legal mess he got into down in Florida. In fact, he had retired both the show and the identity long before that, which is why the infamous booking photo of him had long hair. He hadn't played Pee-wee in quite some time figuring — I assume — that the character had run its course…and maybe that it wasn't going to play as well as he got older.
But while it lasted, it was quite enjoyable — the show at the Groundlings and the Roxy, the TV series and at least the first movie. I always thought Pee-wee was funny and that that first show was one of the most memorable nights I ever spent in a theater. I wish someone had captured that on tape…but then again, a lot of what made it great was that sense of audience involvement. So I guess you had to be there.
