It's nice to see you, jimbo, and Happy New Year to you, too!
The 40th anniversary gathering was dismal in terms of numbers. Very dismal. The fest had to have lost money on that deal.
Weren't there more guests than fans? Oops, just kidding, but I was surprised that an anniversary/NYC Fest attracted only 1200 attendees, especially considering the size of the guest list, which even included some first-timers (Donna McKechnie, Betsy Durkin). Wasn't there something like 17 actors/VIPs on the guest list? Most of them were selling items, and the charity did very well thanks to the auctions (in particular, the Barnabas portrait), but I do wonder how well the Festival did once all its debts were paid.
I wonder if many of the fans who chose not to go were holding out for a bigger guest star, such as Frid or Moltke.