The Real Twin Peaks 2025 event in Snoqualmie Valley, Washington offered several complimentary panels about David Lynch and Twin Peaks. The first panel of the weekend featured an interesting discussion about Lynch’s 2001 film, Mulholland Drive.
‘TIME TO WAKE UP’ – DISCUSSION ABOUT DAVID LYNCH’S ‘MULHOLLAND DRIVE”
The “Time to Wake Up” panel was held on Friday, Feb. 21 from 11:00 a.m. to Noon at Friends & Co. Ice Cream, located at 111 North Bend Way in North Bend, Washington.
This first free panel featured John Thorne, author of “Devious Dreams: Reimagining David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive” and Josh Eisenstadt, Director, Screenwriter and long-time David Lynch fan. Josh and John’s conversation about decoding Twin Peaks Part 8 ar Real Twin Peaks 2024 was one of my favorite panels.
John and Josh were joined by Richard Green, director of “I Know Catherine, The Log Lady” and the actor who played The Magician in Mulholland Drive; and Rebekah Del Rio, singer and the actor who played the Club Silencio singer in Lynch’s 2001 film.
FRIENDS & CO. ICE CREAM IN NORTH BEND, WA
Friends & Co. Ice Cream Company officially opened on July 30, 2023. This local spot serves a variety of delicious ice cream and other sweet treats. During the Real Twin Peaks event, the shop offered the Twin Peaks Sundae which had scoops of cherry chip and espresso chip drizzled with caramel and chocolate sauce. The dessert was topped with whipped cream and a cherry (tied stem not included).
For the panel on Friday, fans gathered inside the downtown ice cream shop just before 11:00 a.m. It was a packed house!
Shop owner Heather Dean welcomed everyone to Friends & Co. Ice Cream and highlighted some of the shop’s delicious menu items including the themed sundae.
I then gave a quick introduction of the panel members. Thanks to local State Farm Insurance agent and rock star Jeff Warren, the entire room could hear the presentation as he let us borrow a microphone and amp.
John Thorne and I couldn’t resist imitating Ben (Dean Stockwell) from David Lynch’s Blue Velvet. Granted his used a utility light but it had the same vibe.
John has discussed David Lynch’s work for more than three decades, serving as the co-editor of “Wrapped in Plastic” in the 1990s. A few years after Twin Peaks: The Return aired on Showtime, John wrote a definitive look at Lynch and Frost’s third season. Titled “Ominous Whoosh: A Wandering Mind Returns to Twin Peaks,” Thorne dives deep into The Return, closely examining each episode and offering in-depth theories about the show’s most perplexing riddles.
On August 5, 2024, John turned his attention to Lynch’s television pilot-turned-film, Mulholland Drive, with the publishing of an incredible book titled “Devious Dreams: Reimagining David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive.”
In the book, Thorne argues that a simple story hides beneath the film’s chaotic surface. Through a study of the film’s production documents, shooting script, and original configuration as a television pilot, and through analysis of David Lynch’s approach to editing, sound design, scene arrangement, and camera movement, he offers compelling evidence that the first part of the film is an exaggerated reflection of the latter—that a dream interpretation is the most coherent way to read Lynch’s award-winning film.
John read several passages from the book during the morning discussion.
MULHOLLAND DRIVE’S CONNECTIONS TO TWIN PEAKS
John began the discussion by explaining how Mulholland Drive was connected to David Lynch and Mark Frost’s Twin Peaks. Originally, the film was planned as a television show spin off staring Sherilyn Fenn as Audrey Horne who traveled to Los Angeles.
Mark Frost was the individual who came up with the shows title, Mulholland Drive based on an image of a limo driving up a winding road at night.
Similar to the Twin Peaks pilot, the show was planned to air on the ABC Television Network who asked Lynch to film an ending for the European market. This same request was made for the pilot episode of Lynch and Frost’s Twin Peaks, known today as the European or International pilot.
The show also had Twin Peaks stars such as Michael J. Anderson as Mr. Roque. Anderson played the Man from Another Place throughout the first two seasons of Twin Peaks. Naomi Watts and Robert Forester would appear years later in Twin Peaks: The Return.
VISITING THE SET AT PARAMOUNT STUDIOS
Josh Eisenstadt was assisting Michael Anderson during filming of the Mr. Roque scenes which placed him on the sets of Lynch’s film constructed at Paramount Studios. Josh recalled seeing the “I Told Every Little Star” scene being filmed. Lynch was famous for having playback on set, so Josh heard that song 16 times and tried locating it at a local Tower Records after his set visit was complete.
The standing room-only audience listened intently as John and Josh discussed other theories and interpretations of the film.
RICHARD GREEN, THE MAGICIAN AT CLUB SILENCIO
Richard Green, who played the Magician in the Club Silencio scene, was in town to promote his new film, “I Know Catherine, The Log Lady” about the life of the late Catherine Coulson. He spoke about filming his scene which was once planned to have him burst into blue flame. The production team even made a half body mold of Richard’s torso to use for filming.
The Club Silencio scene was shot in the former Tower Theatre-turned-Apple Store located in downtown Los Angeles, California. In the photo above, Richard is standing on stage with Cori Glazer in the background playing the Blue Lady. She served as the script supervisor for Twin Peaks.
Twin Peaks fans may recognize the former Tower Theater as it was used as the Fireman’s house throughout the show’s third season.
This is the same box seat where the Blue Lady sat in Mulholland Drive. Sadly, the theatre is now home to an Apple Store so the interior looks completely different with only nods to its iconic past.
REBEKAH DEL RIO AS THE CLUB SILENCIO SINGER
Musician Rebekah Del Rio, who played the Club Silencio singer, joined the conversation. She recalled how her a cappella performance used of Roy Orbison’s “Crying” in Spanish, titled “Llorando,” was the take she first performed for David in a studio. Richard shared the late John Neff made only one small adjustment removing a brief pause in Del Rio’s performance.
Del Rio also explained how the make up team allowed her to add the small teardrop just below her eye, making her the La Llorona de Los Angeles or the crying lady of Los Angeles. This figure has significant importance in Hispanic cultures as described in this article from the Library of Congress.
Josh shared a deleted scene that was filmed with Del Rio that took place in the area where Agent Cooper and Deputy Andy Brennan speak to The Fireman during Twin Peaks; The Return.
The scene would have shown Del Rio’s on-screen manager pushing her rather violently on stage to perform “Llorando.” John and Josh concluded the scene was cut as they felt Lynch didn’t want to reveal the magic behind the stage.
Rebekah stayed after the presentation to meet with fans and sign autographs. Before the panel ended, she performed a brief snippet of another song by Roy Orbison, “Only the Lonely.”
OTHER OBSERVATIONS DURING THE PANEL
Richard shared more insights about the actors involved with the production, including the late Wayne Grace whom passed on August 13, 2022. He said Grace had known Lynch since the 1970s and Lynch was fond of ensuring his friends were included in productions.
Grace played director Bob Booker in the memorable audition scene with Naomi Watts. His brief performance was so good – encapsulating what I think over-the-top Hollywood directors sound like on set.
Fans asked questions during the latter half of the panel including the identities of the older couple seen in the film.
John shared that additional scenes of this older couple were shot when the television pilot turned into a film. There was debate about the role they played in the film – disapproving grandparents, jitterbug contest judges, etc.
John and Josh both stressed throughout the panel that they had a certain interpretation of the film, yet they encouraged everyone to find their own meaning. As the panel concluded, attendees were left pondering even more mysteries from Lynch’s masterpiece.
Thank you to Friends & Co. Ice Cream for hosting the panel and to Jeff Warren for providing audio equipment. Additional thanks to John, Josh, Richard and Rebekah who shared incredible stories and insights. I also thank Jessica Self and team from the North Bend Downtown Foundation and Mary Hütter for creating spots during the Real Twin Peaks for these insightful panels.
