Last week I was in New York on business and went to see the Pee-Wee Herman Show, which just opened on Broadway. It is running on a limited engagement at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre (6th/Broadway). I've long been a fan of Pee-Wee, from his original show in LA to the Saturday morning TV 'Pee-Wee's Playhouse', to his big screen adventure, 'Pee-Wee's Big Adventure'. The Broadway show was really terrific, I truly enjoyed the entire evening. Admittedly I am still a kid at heart and thoroughly enjoyed screaming along whenever the secret word of the day was mentioned. The show re-creates the original Playhouse and cast of characters that made it so much FUN. Chairry, Mr Window, Conky, Globy, and people favorites like Jambi, Miss Yvonne, Mailman Mike and Cowboy Curtis too. It seamlessly weaves all the retro fun with the original flair of this highly creative 80's show.
Paul Reubens still has it- the look, the energy, the laugh and so much more. The full house of audience-goers to see this zany character indicates a thirst for something even greater. Perhaps another Pee-Wee movie in the near future? We'll have to wait and see. In the meantime, for the next 10 weeks fans can check out Pee-Wee and friends on Broadway and participate in a show that will leave you loving it so much "you'll want to marry it" (inside jokes for true fans). Go get your red bow-tie and prepare to have some FUN! Did someone say FUN? Aaarrrrrgggghhhh!
I usually prepare for my weekly radio show The Palm Springs Savant & Co at least five days in advance. I draft an outline, do a bit of research and have the full show's content on my laptop. If I have a call in guest, I prepare their questions and often have a pre-interview screening with the guest. This week I had a little snafu that had me hopping. The show's topic was about Broadway plays. I scheduled my friend Jimmy Van Patten to call in at ten minutes past the hour. I had prepared all sorts of research and information to discuss about Broadway as an intro to the show, and then switch to Jimmy' segment. Just as I was going live on air, my laptop crashed and I had to reboot. The show went live and there I was with no script or notes from my research. I had to wing it, and speak from memory trying to recall my notes. Me rambling on air for ten minutes just doesn't make for good radio, but I pulled it off. I was grateful when Jimmy called in at his scheduled time, as I was out of things to say. Jimmy Van Patten is an accomplished actor, writer, producer in his own right, and also son of Dick Van Patten. (Incidentally, Jimmy mentioned that Dick Van Patten will have a part in a new HBO TV series called "Luck", by David Milch, starring Dustin Hoffman. He also has a new book called Eighty is Not Enough.) Jimmy has been working on a new Broadway musical called The Flunky, in collaboration with the lovely and talented Deborah Gibson. Jimmy shared insights from his early career as a child actor; his first job was working with Jack Klugman and Tony Randall on TV's The Odd Couple. He was a great radio guest, sharing anecdotes of his father's long career on Broadway, film and TV, which was a treat. Jimmy also discussed the process of bringing a play to Broadway and the importance of persistence and patience. He had some advice to young playwrights and actors too. He also shared a great story of how he met Deborah "Debbie" Gibson at the famous Playboy Mansion and how they began working together. It was a great show, thanks to Jimmy! You can learn more about his new play from his website: The Flunky The Musical.
On Tuesday April 27th, Jimmy will be with his dad in Palm Springs for "Dinner with Dick Van Patten" at Melvyn's restaurant at the Ingleside Inn. Reservations must be made in advance by calling Melvyn's restaurant at 760-325-2323. You can learn more about Dick Van Patten's book at DickVanPatten.net
If you are someone who enjoys Broadway or wants to someday get involved, this is a show not to be missed. You can listen to the show anytime from the archives on BlogTalkRadio.com or on podcast from iTunes for free. -Rick Rockhill
Last night I had the opportunity to see the Broadway play “The Norman Conquests”, a British comedy written by Alan Ayckbourn and directed by Matthew Warchus. The play stars actors Amelia Bullmore, Jessica Hynes, Stephen Mangan, Ben Miles, Paul Ritter and Amanda Root, none of whom I'd previously had the opportunity to see perform on stage. The Norman Conquests is generally about the title character Norman and his somewhat chaotic attempts to seek love and happiness with a variety of women in his immediate life: his own wife, his sister-in-law, brother-in-law's wife. Throughout the play, the six actors represent a family who are together over the course of two days and spend loads of time arguing, living eating talking and generally misunderstanding each other. The play is performed in the round, which provides the audience with a very intimate feeling, almost drawn into the story. Theatres in the round can be very exciting, because the audience reactions are somewhat part of the event. In this case, the audience was laughing wildly throughout the play, no doubt portions of the play resonated with people's own families in some manner. I was quite tired from having had little to no sleep the prior night (From that Harry Potter midnight showing). I'm glad I was able to catch a show while in NY and enjoy another exciting evening in the city so nice, they named it twice: New York, New York! The photo inset above is from Rockefeller Center, the entrance to the GE Building where NBS studios are housed. In the distance you can see Radio City Music Hall. Just a few other random photos: above: of course NY has loads of fabulous architecture. While walking through Rockefeller Center I snapped this photo of one of the buildings. I love the art detail and the clock on the side of the building. Click it to see the detail. above: I just liked the angel of this photo, showing the gold statue in Rockefeller Center Plaza. In the winter this is the famous skating rink. Well that's all I'm afraid. Remember, this is a business trip so not much time for photos. Hope you enjoyed today's installment of Rick's Roadshow. -Rick Rockhill
Last week I was in New York on business and went to see the Pee-Wee Herman Show, which just opened on Broadway. It is running on a limited engagement at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre (6th/Broadway). I've long been a fan of Pee-Wee, from his original show in LA to the Saturday morning TV 'Pee-Wee's Playhouse', to his big screen adventure, 'Pee-Wee's Big Adventure'. The Broadway show was really terrific, I truly enjoyed the entire evening. Admittedly I am still a kid at heart and thoroughly enjoyed screaming along whenever the secret word of the day was mentioned. The show re-creates the original Playhouse and cast of characters that made it so much FUN. Chairry, Mr Window, Conky, Globy, and people favorites like Jambi, Miss Yvonne, Mailman Mike and Cowboy Curtis too. It seamlessly weaves all the retro fun with the original flair of this highly creative 80's show.
