Cassandra and others, I'm glad you enjoyed my commentary on the Festival; I could literally write pages and pages more, but I think I'm going to have to limit myself to a brief wrapup now ...
First, to respond to Carol's question - yes, your question is crystal clear, and it's a good one. Speaking for myself, I really do not find any "overlap" between the reality of seeing or meeting the actors and watching the characters on the show. This may partly be due to the fact that this is 30 years later, and most of the actors have changed so much in appearance. Still, Lara Parker is probably the most unchanged of any of the DS performers, and when I watch the show, I do NOT see OR think of Lara Parker, a real woman who lives in Southern California. I see only Angelique, a witch. And the same is true for all of the other actors, too. I do not think of the real-life actors behind the roles when I'm viewing the show. I think this speaks well both for the overall quality of the acting, but even more I think it's because DS is truly another world - fantastic, escapist, what have you - that I immediately enter the moment I tune in to the show.
Speaking of escape, fantasy - perhaps one of the best things about the Festival for any avid viewer is that the Festival allows you to become almost completely immersed in the world of Dark Shadows for an entire weekend. Nearly any time of day or late into the night and early morning hours, you need only step into the convention hall to enter the world of DS. Even if there's nothing else going on, a video of the show or one of the DS movies will be showing. It's a wonderful escape for a few days from the real world.
Ms Criseyde identified the mystery food item at the banquet as cornbread. That was my first thought upon tasting it, too, but this was unlike any cornbread I've ever eaten, and I'm crazy about cornbread! So, I'm not entirely convinced about that ... Oh, and MsCriseyde, after looking at the photos on Bobubas's site, I realize that I saw you among others at various times during the festival. I'm sorry we didn't actually meet. Actually, you did look familiar, so if we met in NY last year, and I've forgotten, my apologies (as I had to do last weekend with Teresa, who said we met in NY, but the details were very hazy for me ... )
Prof Stokes says she did
not see the Roger Davis real estate video ... dear, if you were at the banquet, you saw it, believe me! Perhaps you've had all memory of it erased from your mind ...
Another note about the banquet: I was truly pleased with the "free gift" of the magnet reproducing Barnabas' portrait from the Great House. The black background is the perfect setting and it now graces my refrigerator, alongside "Wizard of Oz" and "Gone With the Wind" magnets.
Speaking of merchandise, I really, really wish now that I had bought one of those miniature Josette's music boxes back when MPI offered them. I spoke with an MPI rep at the festival and she said they would not be offered again. I have the feeling that they didn't sell too well, which is understandable given the price.
I was rather taken with a poster I saw at the festival that was a portrait of Quentin by Jim Graziano, which was only $10, but I had no way of transporting it (they had no mailing tubes). It would have been fun to have framed at home. It didn't sound like these were available by mail.
The rest of this will just be random things tossed out.
Jeanne Avery: I hadn't realized until reading the program that she is Jeanne Avery the astrologer. She truly has a toehold in -- or should I say "grip" on that market (wink to midnite). Quote: David "
never wanted to be a normal kid."
KLS: Interesting to hear in the Q&A about her experience working with George C. Scott. Couldn't have been too pleasant from the way she described him trying to throw off her concentration. I was a bit surprised by KLS's repeating the anecdote about how they decided to make David Ford's character go blind because he couldn't remember his lines. This after how many months or years on the show? I confess I am a
bit skeptical of her story, entertaining though it was. What would the point have been in doing this since his character was about to be killed off anyway?
An aside regarding this Q&A event with all of the DS actors/guests: this was billed simply as "DS Cast Reunion" in the printed materials, which I assumed meant that the actors would be off in a private room somehwere sipping wine and catching up amongst themselves. It was only by accident that I
didn't miss this event, but only because I was already seated in the convention room.
The Display Room: A little publicized and not explained aspect of the festival. It wasn't mentioned in the printed program, and I only heard about it when Jim Pierson annoucned at one point
where it was but didn't say
what it was. I wasn't the only one in the dark about this, as several people I talked to hadn't heard anything about it. When I tried to access the room during posted hours, the door was locked. Fortunately it was open the next day that I tried. There were some interesting displayed photos, such as of the actual Old House, that were interesting to see.
Joan Bennett: I hadn't known that she attended her last couple of festivals in a wheelchair. Wow, she must have had good feelings about the show and the fans.
David Selby: I was unaware that he either has a Ph.D., or came close to completing one, in philosophy. Very impressive. Also that he hung out with Robert Lowell and Anne Sexton - two great American poets. That must have been a trip, considering their talent, Sexton's beauty, and their highly volatile emotional conditions.
Alexandra Moltke: I missed most of the recent video interview with her that was presented, but noted that she spoke highly of Joan Bennett as well as Thayer David. She said that David was a recovering alcoholic and that as far as she knew he never slipped, which I was heartened to hear. She also acknowledged that he had a dark side, but she obviously cared a great deal for him. Someone mentioned to me that the only major actor on the show that Ms. Moltke-Isles didn't mention was Grayson Hall, but I don't know whether anything should be read into this since she was asked about each of the individual actors by an off-screen interviewer.
Finally, a note on the hotel: the rooms were beautiful, decorated in a tropical style, with colorful paintings, gilt-framed mirrors, and excellent lighting. I couldn't believe how spacious and comfortable mine was, much more luxurious than the WTC Marriott's rooms (and without those annoying adjoining doors on each side that you could hear everything through). Nothing could beat the WTC's staff for cordiality, however. My view from the Anaheim Marriott's Oasis Tower overlooked the fountain and flowers at the front entrance and the palm-lined boulevard, and I could watch the arrivals and departures of all the guests.
These few days in California were a brief paradise.
