Thanks for clarifying things, MB, though it does not make how thngs were handled this year any better for the other stars that wanted to attend.
I know for a fact that all the actors are welcome at any DS event. Nothing is stopping actor from attending. If an actor wants to attend on his or her own, so attend. The issue is whether or not Jim is paying to fly that person in. He isn't paying anyone to fly in except for Jonathan Frid who is driving down from Canada. Jeez, the one day events in the past have never been so complicated as what this event is being made out to be. The event was extended to be basically a day and a half and those events never have featured actors being flown in from the other coast to attend so why would this event be any different? There is only so much time in a day and a half. This is the 40th anniversary of barnabas' introduction and it makes perfect sensed to have Frid at the event. Actually, it's easier for him to get to the event than the actors who live in California.
The ironic thing is that I bet Jonathan would have LOVED to have seen John Karlen again, no secret has been made over the years that JF and JK were quite close friends, as were JF and Louis Edmonds...
Jonathan's main focus on this event is getting used to the type of event it is. He is less concerned about who he will see again and who he will not. He has not been to anything like this since 1993 and now in his 80s, doesn't have the stamina he did back then. He needs to get used to the kind of fanfare even a day and a half event will have. If it is a positive experience for him, maybe he will consider a full-fledge festival on the east coast where there are more actors in attendance.
Another interesting thing is no matter how the August weekend is billed, it is still under the auspices of the DS Festival.
DS Festival is an entity - a brand name if you will and fans will recognize it. The festival has sponsored many day events in New York over the past few decades so this is nothing new.
The more streamlined weekend is fine for me, I was never that big on the costume gala, though I am sorry there will be no fan dealer tables, you can get some interesing fanzines, photos and many other things from those...
If I recall, most of these abbreviated DS events have not ever featured a costume contest and the dealer tables were pretty limited to festival and actor stuff for sale so, again, how things are being organized isn't any different than it has been for years.
I am of course one of those who said they really did not want to go to a Fest again unless Jonathan was there, but that is because seeing him and Lara at the 1993 Fest made everything else pale in comparison to me--I am very excited at this fan weekend, and do hope I will be able to go, but I am sad at how some of the other stars were excluded, makes one sorry that there really is not a Festival Commitee made up of a number of people any more, but then, trying to put on these events has to be a task that only a minority of people would have the stamina to do...
I keep hearing stars were "excluded." Who?
Nancy