Pee Wee's Big Adventure / Big Top Pee Wee
Mahoning Drive-In Theater - Lehighton, PA
This weekend at the drive-in was dedicated to Pee Wee Herman with a double feature of the character's first two films showing on Friday and Saturday night. I was at The Gap on Friday night for Mike's screening of Emperor Of The North, so I headed to the Mahoning on Saturday night so that I didn't miss the Pee Wee extravaganza.
Mahoning Drive-In Theater - Lehighton, PA
This weekend at the drive-in was dedicated to Pee Wee Herman with a double feature of the character's first two films showing on Friday and Saturday night. I was at The Gap on Friday night for Mike's screening of Emperor Of The North, so I headed to the Mahoning on Saturday night so that I didn't miss the Pee Wee extravaganza.
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| Show banner designed by Andrew Kern |
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| Show poster designed by T-Bone & Aljax |
I spent the first half of the pre-show working with Donnie at the front gate. About an hour after gates opened, actress Diane Salinger pulled up. She played Simone in Pee Wee's Big Adventure. We didn't have any special guests booked for the weekend, so this came as a welcome surprise to everyone.
Virgil called for me on the walkie talkie about 15 minutes later and asked me to meet him at the stage outside of the concession stand. I figured that he probably needed me to carry something or maybe help set something up for the photo op with Pee Wee's bike, but I was wrong. Instead, I was called in to work alongside Ms. Salinger as her assistant for the evening. That consisted of setting up her table for autographs, handling the cash and credit card transactions, and taking photos for people who wanted to take a picture with her. She was very nice, and folks in attendance were excited to meet her. She had a line from the moment she got settled in right up to showtime when she stepped into the projection booth to introduce the film.
Pee Wee's Big Adventure was the first film to hit the screen. This was my second time seeing it on 35mm at the Mahoning. They played it as a single feature on June 4th, 2023 and it was a big hit. It did even better this time around with the sales at the gate pushing last night's double feature to being a sellout.
The crowd erupted in applause when our unexpected special guest was on screen. Diane Salinger's character Simone is a waitress who Pee Wee becomes friends with on his cross country journey to recover his stolen bicycle. She once again worked with Paul Reubens in Batman Returns when the two played The Penguin's parents. My favorite of her performances was her role as Apollonia Bojakshiya in the HBO series Carnivàle.
The second movie of the night was the 1988 film Big Top Pee Wee. I hadn't seen this before last night and always heard that it wasn't great, but I didn't think it was a bad for a kids movie. It's a step down from the first film to be sure, but it's enjoyable on its own merits.
And that's a wrap on Pee Wee's Big Drive-In Adventure.
