On Friday, the long line in the main hallway of the Festival area was for Lara Parker, who sold photos and books (one also on audio). Across from her was the PomPress table where KLS, as friendly as ever to fans, eventually appeared. The registration table in the next room actually had no line when I arrived, though that wasn't the case when it first opened a few hours earlier. Yet another room to the right of the registration area was for MPI (who had a limited number of the Bloopers & Treasures DVDs, plus DS clocks, tote bags, shirts, pens, boxer shorts, etc.). The tables opposite MPI had several photos for sale, also Marcy Robin selling ShadowGram and Kathy Resch with her various books, and behind the latter stood the Barnabas portrait.
(http://www.dsboards.com/images/portrait.jpg)
Behind the registration area was the entrance to the Ballroom. I didn't attend any events in the ballroom Friday evening, sorry!, but I'm guessing that ProfStokes will be able to talk about them in her much-anticipated writeup.
On Saturday, also in the main hallway were Big Finish Productions with their first 2 audio CDs, author RJ Jamison selling her Grayson Hall biography, Betsy Durkin, who had photos and her book, tables with memorabilia, and the Central Florida Fan Club's table. Jay Nass was selling his photos in an adjoining hallway. In the next room, to the left of the registration area, Chris Pennock was selling comics, Jerry Lacy's table offered photos, and Marie Wallace, Diana Millay and Donna McKechnie were selling and signing their books. The longest lines were for Lara Parker and KLS, though several of the actors were immediately accessible.
I thought the Vicki painting would bring in more than $700 at auction. One of our Forum cousins, btw, bought the first foundation brick from Spratt House, and paid much less for it than the one that sold the following day.
In the ballroom on Saturday afternoon, the three handsome representatives from Big Finish Productions took the stage to speak about DS Reborn and play a trailer that gives me goose bumps every time I hear it. During the Q&A, they explained that CD sales will dictate whether the series will continue.
David Selby read a funny and touching passage from his book "A Better Place," but first he spoke about losing his father a week before, who used to ask him, "Don't you think you should come home?" His father had a difficult time after his wife passed away, and every day since David left home, he would ask that same question, and, "Is it safe out there?" He called his father after 9/11; he didn't understand what had happened, but he never stopped asking him, "Don't you think you should come home?" It was a lovely tribute, but I honestly don't know how he held it together so well as he spoke about his loss.
Donna McKechnie was introduced and we were treated to video of her dancing on Hullaballoo and her singing "Do I Hear a Waltz?," then Grayson's voiceover for #933--lovers Quentin and Amanda wish to be together in the land of the living, but they may not touch, though the tape was stopped, leaving us with a cliffhanger. She then spoke about her career and how, she said, "life happened"-- with a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis came the news that she would never walk again. At the time, she was thinking of herself and how she longed to return to the stage. When she finally gained the courage to talk about her condition, it was via a NY Times article. Though nervous that the stigma may have ended her career ("It's all perception"), it felt important to her to get the story out. But she did not anticipate that she'd receive hundreds of letters as a result. She then discussed her doctor, who provided her with a food list for his prescribed cleansing diet. Getting the word out about RA has become her mission. She explained that her character was killed off, not at Dan Curtis' whim, but because she had to go into rehearsals for "Company."
She was appearing in "Promises, Promises" and had just been dumped by Ken Howard, an Adonis whom she was in love with, when she auditioned for the part of Amanda Harris. With her heart broken, she went to her appointment with Curtis. The hairpieces she wore on the show weighed 25 pounds (or maybe it was 20, which is what's in the book, she said) and were attached with long hairpins. When she told people about her final DS scene, no one believed her until eventually she met someone who was on the set and told her, "I remember how they left you." We then saw Amanda's final scene amid a cascade of peat moss and Styrofoam rocks, some the size of boulders. In the rehearsal, btw, she said she was given a plastic bag to protect her face, but was surprised that the final take done in costume and wig consisted of a stagehand dumping 10 times more peat moss than before, and with nothing to protect her face. During the Q&A, she spoke of working on Hullaballoo with the Rolling Stones, Eric Burdon and the Animals, (she was an animal head on a plaque on the wall, but her head unintentionally bounced with the music), Chubby Checker, and Freddie and the Dreamers. About Michael Bennett, she said she met him as a young dancer on the show, and everyone knew he would do something big; every dancer followed him around. She announced two upcoming book signings, and when asked said she has developed a sensitivity to persons with disabilities. This has absolutely changed her life, she said. "To learn compassion was a difficult muscle for me."
(next: Cast Reunion)
Yay, ProfStokes! I'm looking forward to reading your report as soon as I get this posted.
KLS' segment followed Jerry Lacy's. As ProfStokes mentioned elsewhere, she said she has her own theme, a bobblehead, her picture is on the music box, and next year she will be an action figure. She acknowledged the "new people" in the audience. And she again mentioned her recent appearance on Huff and spoke about the company she began (Pomegranate Press), but she has stopped publishing and is "just writing now." With a nod to Jessica Fletcher, she had given thought to what it's like to be an actress with a 40 year career and decided to make it all part of her book. She also works with the homeless one day a week, which she finds most important.
About her novel, MURDER IN PRIME TIME, she said, "Please let me know what you think." Feedback is welcome via her website or through the P.O. Box on the back of the books. She also asked for suggestions for her nezt book. Lara Parker had done this in the past, so she asked fans to "do the same for me."
Everyone on the previous day's panel, except John Karlen, has written books, and they're not all just about Dark Shadows. When she first started on DS, she was advised to not give up her bunny job yet because you never know how long a job will last. She introduced guests in the audience, at least one of whom she had worked with at the New York club. She spoke about the success of "The Bunny Years" and next, she introduced her husband, Jeff Miller.
When asked a question about working with [her Police Squad co-star] Leslie Nielson, she said he was actually married to a former bunny at the New York Playboy Club where she had worked. "It's a small world." He has an amazing sense of humor, and would walk around with a whoopee cushion that he once used it on the head of Paramount Studios. She thinks he's very funny. And it was one of her favorite roles. She was told to read for it as if she were a young Gene Tierney, and got it. Her hair was very dark but she was cast as the big blonde. The character wore braces, so she put silver on foil on her front teeth and tied it with dental floss. It was hard to talk, "but it worked for Sally."
She explained that the original music box vanished. It was cut crystal inside a filigreed container. It really was a music box. The [MPI] replica is very similar.
She was asked about playing Catherine in The Great Gatsby. She said that Mia Farrow, Karen Black, and Scott Wilson still are close friends. It was her first movie and was filmed in England.
The same month that she attended Dan Curtis' funeral and memorial, actors from DS gathered in the studio to record for Big Finish Productions. "It was the end, it was the beginning."
A fan said he would ask a question she'd never been asked before, and inquired about the car in which Maggie made her last appearance on the show. She said it was part of the magic of TV, and was only half a car. Everything was dark around it because it was supposed to be the dead of night. Fans were used to make her hair blow. It was done in a little corner of the studio, and the car consisted of only two front seats and a windscreen.
She greeted a fan in the audience that she had conversed with earlier. She said the reason we were there after 40 years was that "you supported us." Fans kept the ratings up, and the show was seen later in reruns and on VHS, then DVD. "It gives me energy" she said about talking about the show. She thanked another fan for the lovely note she received, and said so many in the audience had dropped by her table, and mentioned another fan who sent something. "You're Ray," she said to one man in the audience¢â‚¬¦ "We do start to remember names."
Explaining the reason her character was sent off to a mental institution, she said she worked 6 months without a contract. She wanted to go to Paris and was told she was nuts. Her career, after all, was just getting started. She was warned she would never work again, that she shouldn't leave New York, but she insisted. Dan Curtis told her, "I'm telling you, Katie, you're crazy." So he sent her to an insane asylum. It was "his little inside joke."
When asked if Barnabas and Josette might have been reunited had she remained, she said Maggie was such a victim; so many things happened to her. Perhaps by the end of the whole series she would have been seen as terribly resourceful, standing on her own two feet--being brave.
Next, we saw screen tests for the '91 series. Michael and Hunter Tylo tested for the parts of Roger/Barnabas and Vicki. Michael Nader also tested (who knew?!), but we saw why Joanna Going and Ben Cross got the parts. In one scene, an A&W root beer can stood in for the music box. In addition, we saw Barbara Blackburn test opposite Joanna Going, then Joseph Gordon-Levitt (though when I saw "J.G. Lovett" written to introduce his test, I didn't know who it was going to be, duh.).
The cast presentation of the first and last DS eps was great fun. In most cases, the roles were recast. For ep 1:
Lara Parker: Vicki
John Karlen: Burke
Marie Wallace: Liz
KLS: Maggie
David Selby: Roger
Nancy Barrett: Sandy
Donna Wandrey: Mrs. Hopewell, Mrs. Mitchell
Chris Pennock: Wilbur Strake
Jerry Lacy: Mr. Wells
Richie Halpern: Conductor
For ep #1245:
Lara Parker: Catherine
Jerry Lacy: Bramwell
John Karlen: Kendrick
Marie Wallace: Flora
Nancy Barrett: Melanie
David Selby: Brutus, Ben
Chris Pennock: Morgan
Donna Wandrey: Julia
Jim Pierson: 2nd Coachman
PLEASE let me know if I got any of those wrong!
Marie Wallace was a standout as Liz, and I was thrilled to see Donna Wandrey in one of Grayson's roles. John Karlen underplayed his first role, but I thought it suited the cocky Burke. Chris Pennock, on the other hand, was over the top throughout (which goes to show you how well thought-out the casting was). The audience seemed to very much enjoy Kendrick and Melanie's smooch. (Maggie's "J-E-R-K" was another audience favorite.) Though it was a reading, there was obviously a little action on the stage, particularly during Morgan's final scene, but the actors could still be heard even when they left their microphones. Finally, as I mentioned before, the last line of dialogue was this time spoken by Bramwell.
And again I ran off (this time to a restaurant in Greenwich Village), so I can't write about the banquet. But I'll look forward to written reports about it.
On Monday, John_in_SC and I took a very early train to Rhode Island and made our way to a certain house by the sea. The good news is that restoration has just begun on the solarium, the room at the lower far right of the back of the house. You can just see a ladder propped against the side of it. It was raining steadily when this photo was taken:
(http://www.dsboards.com/images/Seaview_1.jpg)
The bad news is that the house is still in desperate need of other repairs: <sigh>
(http://www.dsboards.com/images/Seaview_2.jpg)
We spent most of the day in Newport, and a surprise DS connection came up-- the mansion we chose to tour before catching our train back to NYC (not realizing we had already photographed the back of it after reaching one end of the Cliff Walk) is named Rosecliff, which was once a cottage on that property with the same name before the Oelrich family tore it down to build the present summer home. It was in the hands of 3 families, all of whom had members who suffered terrible fates (as did the architect, who was murdered), and when the last owner was killed while en route after having just purchased the house, the mansion was donated to the Preservation Society. The house was extensively used in the filming of "The Great Gatsby" (as Gatsby's home excluding the pool scene) which KLS discusses above.
Thanks for reading!
Angelique Wins, I tried PMing you... Are you going to tell us more about your skit "A Pirate's Maine Treasure"? :D
Dear Midnite, I would be delighted [angl2]
To tell of my tale of love requited
And un, of course, if you know the tale
Of our Collinsport women and their missing males.
I've been away, and thanks for asking
(We'll pause now while the author is basking
In mem'ries of comments good and pleasureful)
About my play of the pirate's treasureful.
In Collinsport, we did begin
Adamsgirl and Angelique Wins
We found Josh Collins still not wed
And Naomi would wait on her heart, she said.
Then on the sea our Naomi
Did hold at bay with zucchini-play
A pirate bold and Josh-in-the-hold
Jewels, gold, wealth untold,
Love at first sight, a future bright
"Ah sweet mystery of love"
Did end the play I've mentioned above
And at the end our tribute song
¢â‚¬ËœBout our DS, still going strong
Now 40 years--how quick they flew--
To our DS we're ever true!
Thus my synopsis truly ends
Thanks, Adamsgirl!
Love, Angelique Wins!
[angl]