Twin Peaks: Conversation with the Stars brings David Lynch alums to Kauffman
Photo by Ben Jackson
“Have a party.”
ABC newspaper ad, 1991.
That’s the iconic line from David Lynch. In March of 1991, the ABC network was running ads for their new supernatural mystery program, Twin Peaks. The print ads featured a quote from the show’s creator, stating merely: “Have a party.”
It’s difficult to imagine a modern marketing setup that prominently promotes a new show with a quote from its showrunner, much less referencing the showrunner as if that’s a person the average American household should be familiar with. Maybe Shonda Rhimes and Taylor Sheridan could pull it off? Maybe.
Peaks is the kind of show that one could describe as “They don’t make them like that anymore!” Except they do, because even if you’ve never watched an episode, you already know its DNA from cultural osmosis. Six shows a year on Netflix (and two on every other platform) stick their toes into the world of backwoods folklore, small-town charm/harm, and attempt to blend their own knock-off of the horror, comedy, tragedy, and love etched into every frame of Lynch’s television masterpiece.
I bring up the quote, from the print ad, because Twin Peaks is a heavy story. The tragedy, the trauma, the phantasmagoria, the sex—all of this sticks with you, like a haunting. It is, even for the biggest fan, sometimes easy to focus on the Difficult Art side of the show, and forget that what elevates the entire endeavor is the collaborative joy. Having a party. Commonality, community, and the bizarre nature of the bonds we share—driving both the good and the evil in the world.
In that spirit, it was easy for us at The Pitch to get over-excited for the upcoming show at the Kauffman: Twin Peaks: Conversation with the Stars. This Sunday, a grab bag of cast members will reunite for an evening of storytelling, reminiscing, and (yes) partying. 35 years after the original run of the show (which was followed by a film and then The Return third season in 2017) members of the Twin Peaks family are sitting down to dive back in on the legacy of the show and the man behind it.
Included on the KC date line-up are actors Ray Wise (Leland Palmer), Michael Horse (Deputy Tommy ‘Hawk’ Hill), Harry Goaz (Deputy Andy Brennan), and the executive producer of The Return, Sabrina S. Sutherland.
Ahead of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts celebration on Friday [November 15, 2026. Tickets are available here.] we sat down with Ben Jackson—the event organizer and producer who started touring this Twin Peaks roadshow—to discuss what it’s like to tour America with Ray Wise, and how an Australian superfan took a fake Pacific Northwest town and made it a real international tour.
The Pitch: How did this tour come together?
Ben Jackson: We originally did a cast tour in 2018, through Australia, back when season three had just premiered on Showtime. We dipped our toes in with the concept at that point. It went well, and we had a 2020 tour set up across the world—then the pandemic ransacked that. Last year, we got back in touch with Showtime (which is now part of Paramount/CBS) and got 20 shows together. 2025 was great, and so has this year. It has been great for fans rediscovering the show, but also a period of a lot of younger viewers finding it for the first time.
Photo by Ben Jackson
It hadn’t occurred to me until you brought up the media convergence thing, but did Showtime merging into several other (ongoing) entertainment companies throw any wrench into your plans?
No, they’ve been great to work with, and obviously the franchise is staying in the same place, so we get to work with some of the same people, even if the name changes. We’re looking at some other cult TV and movies that might be a good fit for touring, and bringing this model to those.
Any hints about what you have in the works?
Oh, I can’t.
I had to try. So how did you get this lineup of actors settled? Who was the first to sign on, and where did you go from there?
When the shows were in New Zealand, we had Dana Ashbrook, Michael Horse, Sabrina Sutherland, Al Strobel, who sadly passed away a couple of years ago—The One-Armed Man, that was him. Since moving the shows to the U.S., Ray Wise has become the center of the project. He just loves being on stage and interacting with fans—a born showman. Sheryl Lee jumps in and out of shows on the tour; she adores it, too. We keep in touch and see who else is available at different points. So many are doing a shoot for TV or film and can’t do a full run of shows, so someone else rotates in.
What is the structure of the evening and the conversation?
We have a 30-minute montage of stills from the show that runs as people walk in, and it’s a really fun way to set the tone for the night—especially with the full soundtrack. Then we have Josh Eisenstadt, who is our moderator and a Lynch aficionado, who does an hour and a half of Q&A with the cast. There’s a chunk at the end for audience questions, and then we have a video tribute to David Lynch. This film was put together by Sabrina Sutherland and Josh. It’s really moving and highlights Lynch’s style, his personality, his hilarity behind the camera, but also his warmth. He was such an original and had such a brilliant approach to filmmaking. For VIP ticket holders, there’s an autograph/meet-and-greet after all that.
Photo by Ben Jackson
Have you personally been on the whole tour, or did you mostly get this set up?
Oh, I’m on it day and night.
Well, I’m jealous. Um… what’s the worst question you’ve heard from an audience member? So far?
Someone wants to ask when we’ll get to see more Twin Peaks.
Right. Ugh.
The answer to that is usually pretty strict. Most audience questions are good. Our fans know what they’re doing, you know? They love the show. They love David Lynch. They get it. Maybe there was a question or two about the actors and their personal lives, or… nudity on screen? Those don’t land.
In 2013, I stumbled into a USC series of Twin Peaks Q&As, back when I’d first become obsessed with the show. Catherine Coulson was still alive, and there were so many cast members and production people involved—it remains like a Top 10 lifetime experience for me. So when I saw that you were taking this show on the road, I couldn’t believe that other people would have the chance to experience this. Did you have an experience of anything similar—a convention or event that made you think, “We have to take this on the road?”
I was watching season three, just like everyone else in 2017, and I was in my apartment back in Melbourne thinking about how great it would be to hear from the folks making this. I just… wanted that in-person opportunity, because the show was so singular, and everyone’s choices are so singular. You know there have to be great stories to be told. A light went off in my brain, and I thought an Australian Q&A event might be possible. So I reached out to Sabrina Sutherland and asked if she thought there was any potential of making that happen. Three weeks later, I was on a plane to Los Angeles to meet with her and discuss the details. She took it to David Lynch, and David Lynch thought it was a great idea. Then I was at CBS in New York City finalizing the details—it just came together so fast.
We were lucky that David Lynch was still alive and was so into the idea. He couldn’t make it to the Australia tour, but he Zoomed in live—every night of the shows—from his home in LA. He took audience questions and had a lot of fun doing so. He was excited that the U.S. tour was coming together and he planned on Zooming in for every night of those shows as well, onto the big screen, and interacting with the audience. Then we lost him, and it was such a tragedy.
That’s heartbreaking. But also wonderful to hear that Lynch was a fan of this project, and that he wanted to participate so much that he overcame time zone changes and such to make time for all of these.
It was a ringing endorsement to have him participate. He loved that Twin Peaks was still being talked about so many years after it first premiered, and that it mattered to people all over the globe. As for his digital appearances, yeah, that was just really humbling.
What’s it like to be on tour with the cast right now?
We’re all just hanging out constantly. We have a group chat and we’ll ask “Who wants breakfast?” or “Who wants to go for a walk?” We’ll meet and carry on. There’s drinks and laughs and stories—it’s just a ball. Ray loves going through airports and being recognized every five seconds.
I’m glad to hear Ray Wise loves being Ray Wise.
Never worry about that.
Twin Peaks: Conversation with the Stars comes to the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts celebration on Friday, November 15, 2026. Tickets are available here.
Photo by Ben Jackson
