MIAMI – It's a reunion that was 40 years in the making.
Steven Bauer, Barbara Martin and Connie Ramirez are about to step back into the roles that made them famous around the globe. They starred in a local TV show produced for public television.
The groundbreaking “Que Pasa USA?" was the first bilingual sitcom ever on television. It gave us the Penas -- a multigenerational Cuban family adapting to exile life in Miami in the 1970s and the crazy cast of characters that came their way. "We were us and in a sense, it felt like we would be us forever," said Bauer, who played Joe Pena.
For 39 episodes that originally ran from 1977 to 1980, we fell in love with Pepe, Juana, Abuelo, Abuela, Carmensita and of course, Joe, Violeta and Sharon.
The show became a monster hit and the cast had no clue. "There was no internet. The only way we would know is when we would walk on the street and people knew us here," said Connie Ramirez, who starred as Violeta.
And not just in Miami. The show was so popular, it was soon broadcast across the country, and later, the world.
And it never went off the air.
But two cast members aren't laughing. While Ana Margo will join Bauer, Martin, and Ramirez at the Adrienne Arsht Center to reprise their roles in a new stage play, "Que Pasa USA? Today ... 40 Years Later," the actors who played Juana and Pepe will not.
Bauer practically begged his TV dad, actor Manolo Villaverde, to reconsider."I really talked to him about doing the show, and he has his reasons, and I respect that," Bauer said.
The abuelos, Velia Martinez and Luis Oquendo, have died, but both Villaverde and Ana Margarita Martinez are still angry at WPBT for not paying them money that they feel they're owed. The entire cast forfeited royalties 40 years ago because the show was being produced for public television on a shoestring budget."I'm not resentful at all. I find it that I was given an opportunity to grow as an actress," Ramirez said.
Barbara Martin adds: “People walk down the street and say, 'We love you. You made me laugh.' I'm grateful that I was able to give that."
Bauer is also grateful because staring in "Que Pasa USA?" made him a movie star.
In fact, when Hollywood came calling, he abruptly left the show in the third season and never got the chance to say goodbye.
In the show, Joe went to college, but now the new play tells us what happened next and why these characters are still in each other's lives. For the cast, it's like coming home, literally, the old Pena house is still standing."We just started rehearsing recently, and I was, like, 'You're getting it. You're getting it, chica.'" Martin said.
So yes, they're older, but then so are we who grew up watching them, and the cast is vowing to give audiences an experience Pepe Pena would be proud of. "I want them to walk away and say ... Wow man. That was worth it. That was worth the wait," Bauer said.
"Que Pasa USA? Today ... 40 Years Later" opens May 17 with performances through May 26 at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County, 1300 Biscayne Blvd. in Miami. Tickets start at $39. For more information, visit arshtcenter.org.
