Join us for a screening of Pee-wee's Big Holiday followed by a Q&A with Paul Reubens.
SYNOPSIS
The new film stars the beloved fun-loving hero of TV, stage and film, Pee-wee Herman. In Pee-wee's Big Holiday, a fateful meeting with a mysterious stranger inspires Pee-wee Herman to take his first-ever holiday in this epic story of friendship and destiny. The film stars Pee-wee Herman, Joe Manganiello (True Blood, Magic Mike XXL), Jessica Pohly (Stalker), Alia Shawkat (Arrested Development) and Stephanie Beatriz (Brooklyn Nine-Nine), and was directed by John Lee (Wonder Showzen, Pee-wee’s Big Holiday). Paul Reubens and Paul Rust (Love, Arrested Development) wrote the film, that was produced by Reubens and Judd Apatow (Trainwreck, Bridesmaids).
PANELIST BIO
At 5 years of age, after seeing an elementary school Indian pageant, The Legend of Leelawallah, Paul Reubens decided to become an actor. His father built him a stage in the basement of their house and Paul wrote, produced and starred in plays he performed for the neighborhood. In 6th grade, he stepped onto a real stage for the first time as Nick Burns in A Thousand Clowns.
Reubens created Pee-wee Herman while a member of the famed Los Angeles improv group The Groundlings. The Pee-wee Herman Show premiered at The Groundlings Theatre on February 7, 1981 at midnight. It quickly moved to The Roxy on Sunset Strip where it ran for an unprecedented five months. The HBO broadcast of the show introduced Pee-wee to a national audience.
Pee-wee was brought to the big screen in the hit 1985 comedy Pee-wee's Big Adventure, which he co-wrote and marked Tim Burton’s directorial debut. Reubens went on to create, co-write and co-direct Pee-wee’s Playhouse on CBS where the series earned 22 Emmy® Awards during its five year run. Reubens has been nominated for 14 Emmy® Awards, winning twice. Pee-wee Herman was made an honorary Muppet and received a star on The Hollywood Walk of Fame. Pee-wee was also made an honorary Marine in conjunction with his work with Toys for Tots.
In January of 2010, Reubens starred in, produced and co-wrote The Pee-wee Herman Showwhich completed a critically acclaimed four week run at LA Live’s Club Nokia in Los Angeles. With the incredible success in Los Angeles, Reubens brought The Pee-wee Herman Show to Broadway which opened November 11, 2010 to rave reviews with The New York Times calling the show, “Yummier than chocolate;” New York saying, “Welcome Back, Pee-wee! You were sorely missed;” and the New York Post saying, “the audience screams for joy!" Three decades after his first HBO special, Reubens returned to the network with an exclusive version of the hit Broadway show.
Reubens can next be seen in Pee-wee’s Big Holiday, which he wrote alongside Paul Rust (Comedy Bang! Bang!; Arrested Development). Judd Apatow is producing alongside Reubens and has John Lee (Broad City, Inside Amy Schumer) making his feature film directorial debut. The film will be released exclusively by Netflix on March 18, 2016.
Amongst his many other talents, Reubens has starred in a number of diverse film and TV roles. Most recently he appeared on NBC’s hit drama The Blacklist alongside James Spader. Other TV credits include: 30 Rock, Pushing Daisies, Reno 911, Everybody Loves Raymond and Murphy Brown for which he earned an Emmy® nomination. His vast array of film credits include Mystery Men, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Ted Demme’s Blow and Todd Solondz’s Life During Wartime. He has also lent his vocal talents to many projects including Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, Star Wars Rebels, Robot Chicken, Family Guy and Smurfs.
Last year, he supervised the re-mastering of Pee-wee’s Playhouse, which was ultimately released in its entirety in October 2014 by Shout! Factory on both BluRay and DVD.
