DARK SHADOWS FORUMS
Members' Mausoleum => Calendar Events / Announcements Archive => Calendar Events / Announcements '24 I => Calendar Events / Announcements '16 II => Topic started by: Uncle Roger on June 28, 2016, 12:43:39 AM
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I'm back home after three days in Tarrytown. The 50th anniversary convention was the best one in some time. After braving the best and humidity in the unaircondituoned stable at Lyndhurst, anything indoors was certainly a step up. No, it wasn't perfect. The hotel was really too small for such an event, as numerous people were turned away. The air conditioning was odd. Cold in some places, almost nonexistent in others. It was virtually impossible to get a WiFi signal on the property which meant no posting anything until I got home.
It was an interesting mix of fans. Lots of us veterans but quite a few newbies. One extremely articulate young man came in from Australia after discovering DS through the audiodramas. Another couple came from England; the wife was astonished to see Matthew Waterhouse there as a guest. Matthew appeared on Doctor Who and is featured in several projects from Big Finish. The woman used to be his baby sitter.
Friday night brought John Karlen back to the Festival after a long absence. He was as feisty as ever. I don't know what the status of his health issues. He was accompanied by a health aide and was in a wheelchair. But he stayed signing autographs until well after 11 o'clock.
Nancy Barrett was also in attendance. I remember her being somewhat skittish at earlier events but she really came out of her shell. She mixed freely with fans the entire weekend and seemed to really enjoy herself. More on Nancy on Saturday. A lot more.
I was in the dealer's room on Saturday afternoon when a very lovely and well dressed woman approached me and introduced herself. It was none other than our very own Midnite! I don't know how many of you have had the pleasure of meeting any of the moderators face to face. It was a surprising but very cool experience.
Saturday evening brought the return of two festival mainstays that had missing for much too long: the costume gala and the skits. Our very own Prof. Stokes did two outstanding filk songs. One to the tune of Summer of '69, the other to Up Around the Bend. The capper came went Kathryn Leigh Scott and Lara Parker came out costumed as Josette and Angelique. The ladies looked particularly gorgeous.
Next up was the Collinsport Players doing a revival of a skit that I had co written several years ago. The skit leads up to the events leading up to Vicki's time travel back to 1795. A surprise addition to the cast was Nancy Barrett, who reprised her characterization of Carolyn as Barnabas' slave. Nancy really gave her all and seemed to be enjoying herself as much as the audience. I cannot begin to express how thrilled and proud that I was to hear her perform dialogue that I had written.
Sunday was the luncheon. In previous years, the food served at the banquet was less than palatable. Not so this time! A decent sized chicken breast with a light sauce, accompanied by mashed sweet potatoes and broccoli. Was it the best meal that I ever had? No. But by festival standards, it was off the charts.
The goodie bags this year were substantially better than previous years. We each got three fairly substantial items. One was a paperback of the Dark Shadows story digest originally published by Gold Key. It is what is, quality wise. But it also contained some rare DS pictures that I had never seen before. The second was a DVD doublepack of The Haunting of Collingwood and The Vampire Curse. The final item was the hardcover of Produced and Directed by Dan Curtis. Lots of DS pictures in both.
David Selby and Nancy Barrett reprised I Wanta Dance with You. James Storm played a couple of original numbers.
They also screened their short films by Ansel Faraj. The first featured John Karlen's return to acting after many years. He plays a character looking for a job as a handyman to a vampire, played by Christopher Pennock. John need a reference so they put in a call to KLS, whose ring tone is Josette's theme. They are interrupted by Lara Parker as a vampire slayer. Lara is quickly dispatched by a cheesy shadow effect.
Much lighter in tone is a reunion of Angelique and Josette who meet after Barnabas has passed away. The ladies are at first competitive but ultimately emerge as friends with a new understanding. It was very sweet.
The last was loosely based on Toby Dammit/Never Bet the Devil Your Head. Pennock and Parker are joined by Jerry Lacy and Lisa Richards.
The day ended with KLS auctioning off some of her memorabilia to benefit research into the disease that took her husband. Among the items that she sold were her copy of her final DS script and a couple of Maggie Evans falls.
I probably have overlooked a few things but if you were there, feel free to add your own scrapbook memories.
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Thanks, Unc!
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It sounds really wonderful. That's awesome that Nancy had such a great time and that John Karlen was able to participate so much.
Thanks for the write-up, Uncle Roger. I've met Midnite several times and she's a lovely, gracious lady.
G.
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I've met Midnite several times and she's a lovely, gracious lady.
But MB and dom are terrible bastards and you should hope you never encounter them in public...
Right, dom?! [b003]
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Too late. I've already met dom. So I just have one very mysterious benefactor to go.
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To meet the Mysterious One is a privilege vouchsafed to few (paraphrasing a line from one of my all time favorite films, HORROR HOTEL from 1960).
G.
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Too late. I've already met dom.
You think you met dom in 2013 - but do you have incontrovertible proof it was really him?!
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Unless it was the pod dom. [ghost_wink]
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Did he/it try to ply you with pignoli cookies?!
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I took him to lunch at the Jekyll and Hyde pub in NYC where we spent time discussing DS (of course) and our respective goddesses: Nancy Sinatra and the Supremes. I don't think anyone has ever used the pignoli approach. First time for everything though. [ghost_wink] [ghost_wink]
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Interesting. Well, no pignoli cookies tells me everything.
I enjoy the Jekyll and Hyde pub, too. Though I haven't been there since '04...
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Which one were you in? The original one in the Village? Or the new one in Times Square?
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During the Fests we always made a point of going to the one in the Village.
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The one on 44th Street is newer and a lot bigger, with several floors of weirdness and bizarre audioanimatronics. Not exactly the best food in NYC but it definitely has ambience to spare. Probably not as enticing as pignoli cookies but it would be a fun afternoon
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the venue was nicer than it's been in some past years but one big gripe i had was with the positioning of the MPI tables...
rather than being set up separately or in the main dealers' room as in the past they were inexplicably positioned in the middle of the autograph lines...
so if one wanted to make a simple purchase they had to get in a line of hundreds while they waited for autographs and often spent several minutes chatting with the actor and checking out their offerings. i actually "ducked in" during a break in the line and made a quick purchase and left before the person behind me moved forward.
it was beyond weird. even the MPI team were frustrated by the inefficiency. [ghost_tongue]
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Inefficiency? at a Shadows event?
I simply refuse to believe it! (I'm sure either Barnabas or Julia said that line more than once)
G
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Inefficiency? at a Shadows event?
So hard to imagine, right? [ghost_wink]
Although, maybe the person who set it up that way, perhaps quite wrongly, thought that MPI would get more exposure if people who wanted autographs had to pass by their tables in order to get them? Granted, the ones who didn't want autographs would be inconvenienced. But maybe they figured more people would have wanted autographs and, therefore, would more than outnumber the ones who didn't, so better to have the bigger flow pass by MPI? Who knows? Ours is not to fathom the ways in which the Fests work - only to deal with those ways when presented with the situations. (And then, of course, to bitch about them online...)
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Technically, there was no real dealer's room. Celebrities, MPI, fan dealers and the like were all lined up against the interior corridor walls. It was very difficult to sometimes get to the particular table that you wanted. My friend Helen got very limited traffic because she was at the very end of the corridor.
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So, you allege to meeting our Miss Midnite.
Butt, do you have incontrovertible proof?
Because I have photo/hard copy of:
John Karlen's butt
John Karlen's butt
John Karlen's butt
Sorry guys, don't think I'm going to tire of saying this anytime soon.
[ghost_tongue2]
Patti
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Technically, there was no real dealer's room. Celebrities, MPI, fan dealers and the like were all lined up against the interior corridor walls. It was very difficult to sometimes get to the particular table that you wanted. My friend Helen got very limited traffic because she was at the very end of the corridor.
there was that room to the left that served as more of a dealers' room. i moved in and out freely all day. one was not trapped in the line situation as with the celebrity and MPI setups.
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The Festival's infamous "line fetish" continues.
It sounds as if they allowed fan dealers and at least some other vendors this year. I remember reading at the last T-town event only MPI was allowed (if I'm recalling that correctly).
BTW there was a post on FaceBeast a day or two ago about a 2017 DS cruise. I imagine the details will be in the next Shadowgram post.
G.
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Inefficiency? at a Shadows event?
Ours is not to fathom the ways in which the Fests work - only to deal with those ways when presented with the situations. (And then, of course, to bitch about them online...)
I generally have no problem with that last part. [ghost_grin] If I could have changed anything, it would have been the line situation - individual (or somewhat separated) lines for each celeb would have been nice so you could pick and choose. I have autographs of several from the past so, being able to skip past some could have cut waiting time down for everyone. Also, agree that it would be wonderful to have had a room or area dedicated to dealers/merchandise. The best set up along these lines that I ever witnessed was at the 2001 NYC fest. Huge selection of merchandise too. Overall though, I had a great time. I stood in one long line on Saturday and was pretty much exhausted after that - though, had it not been so tiring it was kind of entertaining watching people trying to cut in line like 6th graders in a school lunch line - talk about a blast from the past! Still didn't get an autograph from Nancy Barrett which I regret. Also sorry I didn't get a chance to speak to John Karlen but, I was very happy to see him there! Got to say hi to Prof. Stokes and Midnite which was great. MB, however, still remains a mystery to me after all these years. [ghost_wink]
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Yeah, there was a representative from the cruise line there at least part of the weekend. This one sails out of Boston and sails around Maine and Nova Scotia. Lara and Kathryn are along for the ride. The price is astronomical. The inside cabins start at $1126, with suites costing over $3000. I realize that I am preaching to the choir here but this is far, far beyond the budget of most DS fans.
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I have no idea what the typical cruise costs, so can't compare.
There was widespread speculation that this year's Festival would be the end of the road for that type of event. I wonder whether a formal announcement regarding this will be made, or if the Festival committee will simply let it drop.
It sounds as if all in all, it was a very nice weekend for everyone, so it is good that it is going out on a high note, if this is indeed the grand finale. Too bad people were turned away because the venue couldn't accommodate larger numbers.
G.
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Boston - Great. Prices - Not so great.
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Past experience has shown that these are basic cruises, with the addition of some DS elements. DS fans would not be the only passengers; there aren't enough fans to make it DS exclusive. The same cruise is probably available at a much cheaper price, without the Dark Shadows trappings.
As far as the end of the Festivals, TPTB (the Pierson that be) was noncommittal but KLS said that they would continue.
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And if KLS says they will continue, she basically overrules anything Pierson might say. We definitely learned that in the past whenever Pierson has hedged and hawed...
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Indeed. There was definitely some serious hemming and hawing when she pinned him down at what was allegedly the last festival. 2004, if I remember correctly.
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Did KLS turn, tilt her head up at a sharp angle, and inform the querulous lackey, "*I* am the Mistress of Collinwood! NEVAH forget that!"
That's how Joan would have handled it.
Great story!
G.
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Gothick, as I recall, she cheerfully (probably through gritted teeth) admonished him in front of the auditorium until he changed his mind. KLS really missed her true calling. She would have made an excellent attorney.
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Yeah, there was a representative from the cruise line there at least part of the weekend. This one sails out of Boston and sails around Maine and Nova Scotia. Lara and Kathryn are along for the ride. The price is astronomical. The inside cabins start at $1126, with suites costing over $3000. I realize that I am preaching to the choir here but this is far, far beyond the budget of most DS fans.
Those prices for a New England/Maritime cruise are ridiculous. What cruise line are they using? Royal Gold One Percent Class Line (RGOPCL)? I've seen New-England/Maritime cruises sailing out of NYC for a week with specials where staterooms start in the hundreds-of-dollars on the ultra-luxurious ocean liner Queen Mary 2. Seems that TPTB lacks a person who can find a good deal. Either that, or somebody's getting a kick-back (hate to say it).
Gerard
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Gerard, I don't know if I would exactly call it a kickback but one of the reasons for the high price tag is to pay the cost of the cruise for KLS and Lara (and most likely TPTB). Last year, a few of the more enterprising fans booked a cruise on the same ship, without the DS add-ons, at a substantially reduced price. After the ship left port, they were invited to join the DS festivities at no charge because their numbers were so low.
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How interesting, Uncle Roger! It seems TPTB don't know diddly about using a cruise that would not only make money for both a DS venue, but for the cruise line itself. I helped organize a few cruises as a fund-raiser for whatever. What's needed is volume. The more people that participate, the more money is made. The way to do that is negotiate with the cruise line and then establish a lower price for those participating. That will encourage more people to book and fill empty berths. An unused bed or cabin brings in nothing for the line; the ones that are filled at almost half-cost of the normal charge brings in moola. Groups use this method all the time. Are there kickbacks? Why, of course. I and a friend who helped organize these fundraising always got our cabin for free. Granted, it would one of the smallest inside ones, courtesy the cruise line, but so what? Two of us got a free cruise, hundreds booked at a reduced rate, the cruise line made lots of money and donated a portion of it back to whatever organization for which we organized the cruise. The DS PTB don't know about this? Enough money would be made to pay for the celebs without gouging the fans.
Gerard
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Gerard, the Festival should hire you to organize that cruise! In addition to your salary and a free stateroom, you could tell them they need to give you a DVD of the 2004 pilot as part of the deal.
G.
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I like your idea Gerard. They really should consult with you!
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Just got home and still decompressing after visiting Salem and Newport after the fest.Going thru all the paperwork I brought back, the cruise flyer says it is on Royal Caribbean's Serenade of the Seas. Dates Oct 1-8 2017 with departure and return to Boston and stops in Halifax, Saint John, Portland and Bar Harbor Maine. Details at:
www.vbdusa.com/darkshadowscruise2017
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Sounds like the Fest was a blast! Wish I could have made it, but when I received my SASE back in the mail it said there was no more space for the Saturday festivities (see attached).
I've had the pleasure of meeting Midnite and she is a true delight! :)
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Thanks, Gothic and CastleBee! I can't understand why TPTB don't know about using cruises to raise money to not only pay for expenses, but even making a few $$$. It's done all the time. Even if no money is raised, negotiating for a "theme" at reduced rates would bring participates for a few dozen to several hundreds, bringing $$$ to the cruise line. They always like that. The price for the cruise, to pay the way for the stars (who certainly won't be accommodated in the cheapest, inside staterooms) is simply outrageous. And I won't comment on what I think of RCCL's ships. It wouldn't be prudent to use language like that here.
Gerard
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And if KLS says they will continue, she basically overrules anything Pierson might say. We definitely learned that in the past whenever Pierson has hedged and hawed...
Perhaps we should change her epithet from TLATKLS to She Who Must Be Obeyed. [ghost_wink]
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As an addendum to my original post, I have since learned that former child actor Stefan Arngrim was at the Festival. Stefan is best remembered as Barry Lockridge from Land of the Giants and is the brother of Allison Arngrim, best known from Little House on the Prairie. He is somewhat of a DS fan and came with his girlfriend who has been attending festivals for some time.
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Was there a tribute to Humbert Allen Astredo?
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Humbert was mentioned in a video tribute to the DS personnel who had passed away. The video was shown during the luncheon. As far as a tribute to him specifically, I didn't see one, though it's certainly possible that I was somewhere else when they did.
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There was no separate tribute, which I thought was unusual as other prominent cast members (Louis Edmonds, Dennis Patrick) have been so honored in the past.
ProfStokes