Paul Reubens to Star as Pee Wee Herman on Stage in L.A.

Paul Reubens will bring his most famous character to the stage in a forthcoming Los Angeles run of The Pee-wee Herman Show, according to The Los Angeles Times. Previews begin on November 8 for a limited engagement through November 29 at the Music Box @ Fonda in Hollywood.

“I’ve put part of him away for a long time but part of him has always been here with me,” Reubens told the Times of the bow-tied Pee-wee. “I think it will be like riding a bike—which is not a bad analogy for Pee-wee, by the way.”

The new stage production is a “re-imagined” version of Herman’s past theatrical outings. The original version of The Pee-wee Herman Show, aimed at adults, debuted at the Groundlings Theatre in 1981 before playing at L.A.’s Roxy Theatre for five months. The production had a 22-city tour that included New York’s Carnegie Hall. The cult hit feature film Pee-wee's Big Adventure was released in 1985, followed by a sequel, Big Top Pee-wee. Reubens went on to play the character in a TV series aimed at children, Pee-wee’s Playhouse, from 1986 to 1990.

The new production will feature Pee-wee "regulars," including Miss Yvonne, Mailman Mike, Cowboy Curtis (played on TV by Laurence Fishburne) and Jambi the Genie, as well as Pee-wee’s talking chair, Chairry, and his friend Pterri, the pterodactyl.