DARK SHADOWS FORUMS
Members' Mausoleum => Calendar Events / Announcements '24 I => Topic started by: Mysterious Benefactor on May 11, 2019, 11:34:50 PM
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SPOTLIGHT: STEVE SCHNEIDER’S NEW PLAY “BLACK WOOD” WAS INSPIRED BY “DARK SHADOWS” (https://www.wmfe.org/spotlight-scott-schneiders-new-play-black-wood-is-an-homage-to-dark-shadows/108769)
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Hey MB, glad you found this. Was going to post some info on the play but you beat me to it. It's at the Orlando Fringe Festival starting next week and I will be attending their shows on the 18th and 25th with some of our club members. Not sure exactly what to expect....lol but I will post a report on it.
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Well, one thing we know thanks to the article is that in part it will contain a send-up of Frid struggling with his lines as Barnabas. [ghost_wink]
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I recently listened again to one of Jonathan's 1983 Manhattan Shadows appearances where he reminisced, none too fondly, about how the first year on DS was "absolute hell" for him because of all the lines.
I think it was finally revealed after his death that he lived with a learning disability.
G.
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Review: ‘Black Wood’ - 2019 Orlando Fringe (https://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/arts-and-theater/orlando-fringe/os-et-black-wood-orlando-fringe-comedy-20190514-a4djnlbzi5a2tlogqpin2direy-story.html)
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Orlando’s annual Fringe binge: May 15 - ‘Black Wood’ (https://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/arts-and-theater/os-et-orlando-fringe-wednesday-may15-20190515-zyipkhtc4rczfkhh2tau73dvma-story.html)
This is actually the same review as above, just on a different copy on the same site, which is odd. But the reason I'm sharing it is because, unlike the above version, it features a photo of the cast in character...
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Fringe 2019 Review: 'Black Wood' (https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2019/05/15/fringe-2019-review-black-wood)
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Saw Blackwood yesterday and found it enjoyable. I think the Sentinel review covered everything and I can't add much more.
The show opened with the video promo above and took place first in script rehearsal then in a primitive live episode with each character doing a short monologue about themselves between scenes. For me, my biggest concern was how the parody would be played out. I've been a Dark Shadows club president since 1992 and there is a lot of love there but I also find humor in the show (especially all the time I spend in the games section.) So for me, as long as the play wasn't a snarky or mean spirited parody or portrayed fans of the show in a bad light, which it didn't , I was fine with it. Besides being a DS takeoff, the play gave a fond look back at the sixties with a few running gags about Reagan and the name Blackwood. After the show, we got to do a meet and greet with Steve and the actors who were all very nice and appreciative of our attending and support. A nice afternoon.
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Black Wood did win Best Original Script from the fringe festival critics choice awards.
[clap]
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Here are the winners of the 2019 Orlando Fringe Festival Critics Choice Awards (https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2019/05/29/here-are-the-winners-of-the-2019-orlando-fringe-festival-critics-choice-awards)
BEST ORIGINAL SCRIPT
Black Wood
Orlando writer-producer Steve Schneider (Escape From Baldwin Park, Ominous George) delivered a love letter to Dark Shadows, packed with snappy punchlines that provide a reminder of live television’s bad old days, before binge-watching bulldozed our ability to appreciate sweet anticipation.