Below is my re-cap of the Fest events, save for the cast reunion. That part will take longer because it's more detailed.
The weather in New Jersey was absolutely gorgeous: lots of sunshine and temperatures in the high 80s all weekend long. On all but one of my five trips East, the weather has always been overcast, gloomy, humid, and usually rainy, so this was a delightful surprise. I understand that I just missed thundershowers on Thursday night. I didn't venture out of the hotel except to hike up the highway with Pansity in search of food on Friday afternoon, but it would have been a perfect time to be out and about. I had a lovely time at the Festival catching up with old friends and meeting board cousins Miranda and barnanasjr for the first time.
Most of the programming during the Fest consisted of videos from the vault or from fans (including two Cheep Productions videos and two of DLA75's music videos). I missed the events on Friday night because I went to the airport to meet a friend. I'd love to hear from anybody who was in attendance what was said during the two panels.
On Saturday morning, the Fest opened with a screening of Cheep Productions' "Save Our Cemetery," co-starring Sharon Smythe. The people all around me seemed to love Daryl Schaeffer's imitations of Barnabas and Julia. Kate Jackson's appearance on the final episode of "Password" came next. The first live event of the day was a reprise of Frank Borzellieri's presentation on time travel. Frank used the same structure and slides as last year, introducing new jokes and repartee with the audience. This year, there was time for fans to ask questions at the end of the talk. One man asked whether the discrepancy between the original history that Barnabas first told Julia (that Josette came from France to marry his middle-aged uncle Jeremiah) and the events we actually saw transpire in 1795 could have been due to the creation of a parallel timeline. "I think the real answer is that the writers changed course on that one," Frank explained. Another fan asked for clarification on how the concept of parallel time is connected to the notion of traveling back and forth in time. "Parallel time is an explanation for how to solve the grandfather paradox of traveling to the past. If you go back in time and kill your grandfather, you wouldn't exist to be able to travel backward. But suppose your actions created a separate timeline, one where you had never been born, as well as the one where you still existed." One of the other points mentioned in the presentation against the likelihood of time travel is that nobody has ever met a traveler from the future. "What about UFOs?" one gentleman countered. "What if they're time travelers from the future?" "It's possible," Frank remarked. Frank also addressed the issue of whether a catastrophe was necessary to create a parallel timeline; theoretically, a parallel universe could be created each time we make a choice, with the alternative choice occurring in the other world.
I did not stay to watch the entire charity auction, although I was present when the big ticket item, Jonathan Frid's original contract for
House of Dark Shadows, was sold for $600.00. There was a pretty fierce duel for it between two particular audience members. I heard that the final bidder never did show up to claim the item. Does anyone know if this is true? Did the runner-up finally get the prize instead?
Jeff Thompson took the stage next to discuss his book
The Telvision Horrors of Dan Curtis. Jeff explained that the book had grown out of an invitation to contribute an article about Dan Curtis to one of the entertainment magazines (I can't recall which) upon the director's passing. At the time, Thompson was also preparing his doctoral dissertation in the field of media studies, and decided to write his thesis about the work of Dan Curtis. The book is based on this thesis. He's currently working on a new book about Curtis's mystery movies. I was a bit disappointed that Jeff didn't talk more specifically about Curtis's work or the ideas discussed in his book (I guess he wants everybody to buy and read it). The majority of his presentation consisted of rapidly-edited clips from various Curtis productions (
Dracula,
Scream of the Wolf,
Dead of Night,
The Picture of Dorian Gray,
The Night Stalker,
Trilogy of Terror, the two DS movies). At first, there were technical difficulties with getting the video to play, so Jeff took some questions from the audience. One fan wanted to know what input (if any) Curtis had in the new "Night Stalker" show that aired on ABC a couple of years ago. Jeff said that Curtis has a producer's credit but not much influence over the show at all. Someone else wanted to know what Curtis's last production had been before he died. "That would have been the pilot for the new WB 'Dark Shadows' TV series, which was not picked up," Jeff explained. The pilot had been screened Friday night and would be again on Sunday. He also shared an anecdote from one of Dan Curtis's interviews (I believe this is an extra on the DVD of the
Night Stalker movie) wherein Dan complained about how the television business had changed over the years. "In the old days, all he had to do was go into the studio and say, 'I've got a great idea for a TV movie!' and he would get a green light to make the movie. Later, making movies became more about who you knew in the business. Movies had to be about relevant issues rather than pure entertainment value." Thompson also corrected himself about something he had put in his book; he'd claimed that
The Great Ice Rip-Off, which featured Grayson Hall, had never been released on video or DVD. "In fact, it was released on VHS, but only in Canada." As proof, he held up the casette box. Business was very good to Jeff at the Fest; he warned us that he had already sold out of all but three copies of his book and advised anyone who wanted the book to hurry to the dealer's room once his talk was finished. I did manage to get a copy, and I look forward to reading and reviewing it soon.
At last, it was time for Jonathan Frid. He began by introducing two former studio kids, ladies who became his friends during the time DS was on the air and have remained in touch with him all these years. Unfortunately, I don't remember the ladies' names. Hopefully they'll be named in ShadowGram, or somebody who took notes can pitch in. The first woman who spoke described her first visit to the studio. "I was lucky to have parents who allowed me to take two trains and a subway by myself to the studio. The first time I went, I had no idea who I would see. We waited until taping ended, and then Joel Crothers came out dressed as Nathan Forbes, followed by Jonathan Frid in 1795 Barnabas's costume. They were very nice to us, and after that, I went to the studo every day after school. During the summer and school breaks, I'd be there all day." Here, Jonathan showed his mischievous side. "Usually it was hard to get out through the front door because the fans were outside mobbing it. They'd throw themselves right against the glass (he mimicked crazed kids). So we would try to sneak out the back way. But one day, I decided to turn the tables on them, so when they jumped at the glass, I lunged forward at them. Everyone scattered...right into the street. Fortunately, no one was hurt." The other lady discussed a fan mail party where fans helped Frid repond to all of his letters. "The party started in the studio and then spilled over into the Hotel Edison in Times Square (I thought that was a neat tidbit; I have some DS friends who often stay at that hotel during their trips into NYC, but I never knew it had a DS connection before). There were boxes and boxes of mail piled up to the ceiling. I remember Jonathan yelled at us because we kept trying to read the letters. He said, 'Put that back!'" Jonathan recollected the first time he ever received fan mail. "Dan Curtis came over to me with a tray that had some envelopes on it. I thought, 'Here it comes! I'm getting my pink slip.' I asked, 'What are these?' and he said, 'They're letters. For you. You've got fan mail.' And I was so astonished by that." The women ended their time onstage by presenting Frid with a pair of shorts trimmed with bells, with his name embroidered on them. This was a replica of a gift they had given him once before; the shorts had been immortalized in a magazine photo where they were displayed on the wall in the background. "Well, bless your heart!" Frid praised as he accepted the gift. "Now what am I going to do with these?" (I wonder how much they would draw in an auction.
)
This year, Frid assumed the role of Quentin by getting fans to take part in "The Game." Fans were invited to vote on their favorite Barnabas scene on Frid's website. Frid explained that he would be screening the top ten vote-getters for us at the Fest. He warned us that the clips were not going to be aired in the order of popularity, but that the order would be announced afterward. He also said that if the Game proved popular enough, it might become a regular feature at future Festivals. (That would seem to indicate that he plans to keep attending Fests, though he gave no hint as to whether he would be present in Burbank next year). We've already talked about what clips were shown, and I've already mentioned my own surprise at what was selected. It really was eye-opening to see what appealed the voting audience. The only thing that would have made the presentation more enoyable for me would be if Frid had commented about the scenes as they were played (e.g. talk about whether he remembered filming it, what he personally liked about each clip).
After the screening, Jonathan took a number of questions from the audience. I was actually surprised by the numebr of people who were allowed to go up to the microphone. I recall that last year, only a handful of fans were able to get their comments in. Most people wanted to thank Jonathan for coming to the Festival and to tell him how much they enjoyed his work on the show. One very excited lady asked Jonathan to wave hello to her mother in the audience. "It's a dream come true for her to see you!" Another gentleman asked if he could present Jonathan with a portrait of him that he had painted. Once more, Frid was very touched. "Bless your heart!" he thanked the man. Frid was asked what part of Canada he was from. "Ontario," he replied. "Living in Canada isn't really all that different from living in the United States, though I do prefer it. I'm a bit of a royalist at heart and also...I think it's better to able to just sit back and observe what happens in America without the pressure to be loyal all the time." One man asked Jonathan what advice he would give about acting. He seemed flustered by the scope of the question, and advised the man to get to really know the characters he was playing first. Another man asked Jonathan if he'd ever made any recordings for the blind and also if he could share memories of working with Jean Stapleton in "Arsenic and Old Lace." He only answered the first question. "I know I must have worked for the blind because I can rememebr doing so. You have to be very careful when you talk to them; they're very sensitive to what you say. They have very sensitive hearing." A lady asked Jonathan if actors, in general, like it when fans come backstage to see them after a performance. He revealed that he actually didn't like it all of the time. "Sometimes you're tired and you just want to get out of there and go home." Another fan asked Frid to recite a bit of Shakespeare for us, but while Frid was trying to decide between a line from
Hamlet or
Richard III, Jim Pierson admonished us that it wasn't fair to ask Jonathan to perform for us. "He'll be on-stage tomorrow doing dramatic readings."
[Cast reunion details pending]
The Collinsport Players' "Bewitched" skit was adorable. The premise was that Angelique was being summoned to the witches' council to be stripped of her powers becasue of her incompetence in witchcraft ("You can't even keep a flame lit long enough to finish casting yoru spell!") and her love for a (gasp!) human. Along the way, Angelique is counseled by Endora, Uncle Arthur, and various other recurring characters. I didn't watch the show often enough as a child to be able to remember Aunt Clara, Uncle Arthur, or Dr. Bombay, but the characterizations that I saw on-stage were amusing. Lara Parker was spot-on, knowing all of her lines and cues, and seemed to be having a blast with her part.
The gala may have run long (about half-way through the performances, a rush of late-comers appeared, doubling the number of entrants) but the performances were well worth the time, IMO. One of the highlights of the night was a performance by Angelique and the Supremes (played by Cassandra, her daughter, and Mary) of "Stop in the Name of Lust!" We were also treated to an ambitious musical retelling of Jason Maguire and Liz Stoddard's aborted wedding; this performance featured Bobubas, EvanHanley, josette_by_candlelight, nightshadows342, and her mother and sister. The same group had earlier presented a drawing room skit where Vicki, Carolyn, Elizabeth, and Mrs. Johnson muse about Cousin Barnabas's eccentricities and strange resemblance to his portrait (which was painted by Mama nightshadows342). Charles_Ellis was present as Charnak the Magnificent, reciting the punchlines of jokes and then opening a sealed envelope to determine what the question was ("Twilight, True Blood, and The Vampire Diaries: What are three shows that rip off Dark Shadows?") CrazyJenny brought her baby daughter onstage dressed as Little Sarah (the costume was the same one Jenny herself wore when she was little). There was another young girl dressed as Sarah later in the program. She and her father got the audience to sing one verse of "London Bridge." borgosi dressed in an elegant costume and came on-stage with his video camera to ask the Fest guests to join him in singing "Happy Birthday" to his niece, a major DS/vampires fan. I thought that was a great moment, and a very creative idea. Peter Mac closed the show by singing "What Happened to My Part?" in character as Lara Parker lamenting that Angelique was dead and her role on DS was abruptly finished.
Sunday, August 16
******************
Sunday was mostly a video day again, especially since Donna Wandrey had to drop out of the Fest because of an illness. Events had to be rescheduled to compensate for her panel. The presentation by Big Finish productions was bumped back from noon to 2:00, so there were no live events in the morning. I did come in for the tail-end of the auction. More papers of Jonathan Frid's were sold off, including the rental agreement for the apartment he occupied in New York during his time on DS. "You're very lucky that Jonathan has kept all of these,"Jim Pierson admonished. "Most people would just throw them out." The bidding wasn't as high as for his contract the previous day; I don't even rememebr what the final price was. They also auctioned a copy of KLS's
My Scrapbook Memories of Dark Shadows. That one tempted me since it's the only Pomegranate Press book that I don't have; it went for $40.
The postponed Big Finish presentation began after the auction, with Stuart and Jason representing the company. Jason opened by asking for a show of hands of how many people have listened to the audio dramas and how many have not. Quite a number of Big Finish fans were in attendance. When the mike was opened for questions, more than one person mentioned how much they enjoyed old-time radio broadcasts and how they appreciated the DS audio dramas for following in that tradition. We were told that the next series of dramas, which will pick up from "The Rage Beneath," is due to be recorded in December. This next set of dramas will be an exciting 4-part epic story. Someone asked how long it takes to record one of the dramas (about a day). One gentleman inquired whether Big Finish planned to include any other cast members from either the original series or the 1991 remake in the dramas. "We would love to include as many people from the Dark Shadows family as we can," Stuart assured him. 'We've been wanting to get Marie Wallace involved for a long time, but it was difficult to find a place for her (seeing as all of her characters died on the show)." He explained that the company is only licensed to release dramas based on the original series, but he did say that Lysette Anthony, who has done work for Big Finish's "Dr. Who" series of dramas, has been approached for DS. He also pointed out that Alec Newman, who would have been Barnabas for the WB, has lent his voice to "Clothes of Sand" and "The Ghost Watcher." Another fan wondered if there were any plans to record Lara Parker's other novels (
Salem Branch and the book she's now writing) as audio books. "We were just discussing that with Lara earlier, actually," Stuart admitted. "The difficulty is that
Angelique's Descent was already out of print when we recorded it while
The Salem Branch is still owned by Tor Books (which is also considering a reprint of AD, apparently)." Somebody else wanted to know about the possibility of hiring Robert Cobert to write new musc for the audio dramas. "He's in his eighties and he's retired, so it's not a very realistic option."
At this point, Lara Parker joined the gentlemen on-stage. She repeated some of the points she'd brought up the previous day. One fascinating bit of news was that her friend Debbie Smith has written an audio drama that will include "a real knock-down, drag-out catfight between Angelique and Josette. It's about time sweet little Josette got back at Angelique for everything she did to her." Someone asked Lara if there would be a catfight between Angelique and Victoria Winters too. "There's not as much reason for one. Angelique didn't do much to Vicki." (Framing her for witchcraft in 1795 doesn't count?) She also praised Stuart for condensing her 500+ page
Angelique's Descent so that it fit onto two CDs. "It was a tremendous feat!" Lara also admitted to having some trouble trying to do voices for her characters during her reading. "Whenever I attempted a Carribbean accent for my character Thierry, it came out sounding like an Irish accent."
After Lara, Jerry Lacy took the stage. He was asked if it was easy for him to get back into character as Trask for the audio dramas. "Not really," Jerry confessed. "It took me a couple of tries to get the voice right. I kept referring to a fan who was there, who would let me know when I was on the right track." A young boy asked Jerry for a Bogart impression, and he obliged ("It's nice to see ya again, kid.") Finally, Jerry read a brief introduction for "Kingdom of the Dead," complete with eerie background music and sound effects. It was quite affecting. The tale is about a race of superhuman beings once entrusted with ruling the Earth before man ascended and banished them to another realm. But the ancient creatures lust for vengeance...
Next, Brian Kellow, author of
The Bennetts: an Acting Family returned to the Fest to talk about Joan Bennett's life history. He discussed her family's pedigree, beginning with famed stage actor Richard Bennett, and moving on to her sisters, Constance Bennett, the first big family movie star, and Barbara Bennett, a talented dancer and the mother of Morton Downey Jr. (apparently Joan was embarrassed by her nephew and tried to hide the fact that she was related to him. Kellow relatedthat when he brought it up during his interview with Joan, she sharply replied, "Must we talk about
him?" putting an end to the topic.) Joan grew up feeling very insecure. She married young to a millionaire, but the marriage broke up because of her husband's alcoholism. Joan finally turned to her father for help in getting a job. He got her a small role in one of his plays and drilled her endlessly each day on improving her acting technique. Sure enough, Joan received rave reviews for her small part. She performed in a series of movies, but her career didn't really take off until she dyed her hair brunette for a part in
Trade Winds. From then on, her popularity soared and she was featured in several films noir, the best of which were directed by Fritz Lang. Kellow touched briefly on the major scandal in Joan's life; her husband, Walter Wanger, caught her sitting in a car with her agent, with whom Joan had been having an affair, and he shot his rival in the groin. DS was really Joan's big comeback after that. Initially, she hated being on the show because of the grueling shooting schedule and the fact that she had trouble learning new lines each day. But eventually, Joan began to enjoy her work on the series and developed a maternal bond with her fellow cast members. Kellow emphasized how motherly Joan was and stated that she was always protective of her own children and shielded the from the media. She mothered other Hollywood childern too, including Loretta Young's daughter. He recounted comments Joan Bennett had made about a visit to Joan Crawford's house. At the end of the dinner party, Joan C. insisted that all her guests come and watch her children say their nightly prayers. Joan B. remarked, "That was the strangest thing I've ever seen. Why would anybody do something like that?"
The opportunity for questions came up. A couple of fans praised Kellow's delivery style during his presentation. One person said he should have been a professor. Charles Ellis asked if Kellow thought that the reason why Joan was never nominated for an Oscar despite her many wonderful performances was because her husband, Walter Wanger, was head of the Academy. "No, I think it was more because she wasn't contracted to a major studio, so the funding and publicity weren't there." Another fan wanted to know what it was like to be a biographer. "How do you go about getting interviews with these people and their family and friends? Do you just call up out of the blue and say, 'Hi, I'm writing book about you'?" "You need a lot ot luck," Kellow admitted, "first in tracking them down and then in hoping that they'll speak to you." Kellow was asked to weigh in on whether it was true that Joan Bennett would have had the role of Scarlett O'Hara in
Gone with the Wind "if Larry Olivier hadn't shown up with Vivien at the last minute." "That's how Joan always told the story," Kellow admitted, "but in truth, she was a longshot for the role. In fact, until Vivien Leigh tried out, Paulette Goddard was the front-runner. When Joan was invited to come in for the screen test, she was reluctant to do so because she didn't see the point. If you've seen her screen test, you know that she did a good job, but she just wasn't the right sort of person for the role. Of course, we can say that with hindsight now knowing what Vivien Leigh did with the role." He explained that he had wanted to show Joan's screen test at the Fest but could not because of copyright laws and prohibitions against public display of the material for financial gain.
Kellow ended his presentation by bringing Kathryn Leigh Scott on-stage to share her memories of Joan. They talked about Joan's "second career." "She thought she could have been an AD (assistant director?) because she was such a facilitator," Kathryn explained. "She was always bringing everyone together." She recalled a visit that Fritz Lang had made to the studio when the crew was trying to figure out a lighting problem for an upcoming scene. "He watched for a minute and finally suggested, 'Put a light on top of the camera.' I watched him place the light there myself. Joan had that light from then on." She also re-told a couple of favorite anecdotes about filming
House of DS. There was a plumbing problem at Lyndhurst, and the plumber who came to fix it recognized Joan. "I had the make-up table next to hers. I saw him do a double take and he asked her, 'Aren't you Joan Bennett?' She said, 'I used to be.'" KLS also mentioned that the cast was picked up on their first day of shooting by limos. "We were so excited because we thought we were finally big stars, getting to ride in a limo. Well, those limos were only hired for the funeral scene, and when shooting was done, they left. We had to ride back in a rattle-trap station wagon, sitting on each other's laps." Kathryn had another purpose in joining Brian Kellow; he was the editor for her article "Fatal Attraction: The Star and the Stalker," which recently appeared in
Opera magazine. "My working title for this was 'In Search of Nell.' Nell Theobald spent the last years of her life stalking the great Swedish opera singer Birgitte Nilsson. My inspiration for this article came when I opened up the
New York Times one day and saw a story about her. I went to high school with this girl. We were Playboy bunnies together. I'd lost track of her after that. As I read the article, I kept thinking, 'That's not all there is to her.' I wanted to write a fuller picture of what Nell was like." Referring back to the difficulties in tracking down a subject's friends and relatives, Kathryn acknowledged a debt of gratitude to Charles Ellis, who was able to direct her to most of the people she needed to see through his workplace. "He just happened to answer the phone when I called up to ask for information and he recognized Maggie Evans's voice!" Kellow had copies of Kathryn's article at his dealers' table (I understand that he sold out of books too over the weekend). I recall that it's also available online; it sure sounds like an intriguing read.
I didn't stay for Jonathan Frid's dramatic readings, instead taking the opportunity to wander through the dealer's room one last time and spend a few minutes socializing with friends. The readings ended on time, leading to a mad scramble to get ready and lined up for the banquet. By 6:00, a long line was wrapped from the ballroom doors down the hall to the elevators (the banquet began at 7:00; Lara Parker walked by and seemed amazed by all of the people who were already queued up). Because there was an overflow of people wanting to attend the dinner, there were two classes of attendees; those with a dark green ticket would actually get to sit inside the ballroom, but the people with a light green ticket would be seated just outside in the corridor in front of the dealer's room. The overflow crowd was brought inside for the video screenings and door prize give-away though.
This year's banquet was a tremendous improvement over last year's! In fact, the food was some of the best I can remember having at any DS banquet. At every place setting was a glass of iced tea in addition to a glass of water (we've never been given beverages before; usually anyone who wants a cocktail or something stronger than H2O has to go out to the bar to buy it). The main course this year was chicken instead of lasagna; it was not rubbery, and it was covered in some kind of sauce (not teriyaki, but tasty just the same). The meat was served with crisp green beans and mashed potatoes. For dessert, we were given a piece of chocolate cake with a strawberry on top instead of the customary cheesecake or fruit tart. I was thrilled with the selection; because of my dairy allergies, I've never been able to eat the mostly cream-based desserts of the past. This was the first time I was actually able to have the dessert, and it hit the spot. Lara and Marie conducted the raffle and a number of people that I knew won door prizes. Lara Parker's table was also called, and the winning seat number turned out to be her own! However, she gave her prize to another man, Jimmy, who was having a birthday. Everybody at the banquet serenaded him with the birthday song. In another first, my table was actually called during the raffle; it was the first time in my seven years of coming to banquets that that's happened! We were the last ones to be named. Mary won a DS T-shirt from MPI. The odd thing was that I'd had a feeling all along that one of us would get a door prize that night, though my seatmate Sandra didn't believe it. Our video presentation consisted of a couple of public television commercials by Kathryn Leigh Scott and David Selby (who howled like a werewolf during his segment), followed by a film of Lara Parker's tour of Salem. The evening concluded with two music videos set to novelty songs about DS: "Barnabas Collins, Love Bandit" and "Barnabas" (sung as "Barrrney-Buss" in the chorus). The company at my table--including Pansity, darkshadowsrick, Cassandra, QuentinsGal, jimbo, EvanHanley, Mary, and josette_by_candle_light--was great fun and really livened up the night. It was a lovely end to a lovely weekend and I hope to see everyone again next year.
ProfStokes
