Which episodes stand out as having used the most cast members?

We know that the Barnabas, Willlie and Maggie episodes during the captivity storyline used the least amount but what episodes had more than the usual amount of cast members in them?

It seems to me that the maximum number was 7.  I think there were 7 in the last episode - Joan Bennett, Louis Edmonds, Nancy Barrett, John Karlen, Jonathan Frid, Grayson Hall, and Lara Parker - plus Gordon Russell as the footman.

I'm trying to remember who was in the episode in 1795 in which Jeremiah and Josette came home.  Jeremiah, Josette, Joshua, Barnabas, Angelique, Riggs - anybody else?  Andre?

And who was in the episode in 1969 in which present-day Collinwood is evacuated?  Roger and Quentin for sure, but who else?

How many people were in the episode involving the costume party in 1970 parallel time?  I was impressed with how few people were used for a major party - but how many were there?

episode 1 had thirteen people plus train passengers and blue whale customers.

i think liz and jason's aborted wedding episode had nine...

liz,jason,carolyn,vicki,roger,burke,joe,reverend brand and the blue whale bartender.

there was also an episode at the end of the eve storyline/start of the chris jennings storyline that has alot.if i recall adam,eve,angelique,jeff,vicki,julia,joe,chris jennings and a nurse all appeared in this episode.i could be wrong or maybe i'm forgetting someone but i remember being struck by how many characters were in this episode.

There were two episodes involving "trials" in which several ghosts were summoned to act as a "jury", one in 1968 and one in 1897 I think. Each of these episodes included at least 7 or 8 people.

Also the very last episode before 1841PT took over included a bunch of people -- Judge, Gerard, Quentin, Julia, Barnabas, Angelique, Trask, Joan Bennett (Flora and Elizabeth), Daphne, Desmond, Leticia, Prof Stokes, Judah's head and at least 1 or 2 extras taking on roles at Quentin's execution. By the way I'm counting the opening recap as part of the episode, as this is when the whole scene at the execution chamber takes place, I think.

Thayer David was also in the last episode of the series.

I also recall that one of the episodes in 1968 (the Eve/Vampilique period) had a huge number of regulars.  That was the occasion of the famous series of publicity photos where the entire 1968 cast gathered on the main staircase of the Collinwood Foyer (sometimes called the "Great Hall").

G.

speaking of that 1968 photo does anyone know why joan bennett,alexandra moltke,joel crothers,roger davis and david henesy were not included in it?

they were all prominently featured during that period.

If I'm remembering correctly, the photo shoot for the photos taken on the stairs was done sometime in late-October/early-to-mid November. By that time Alexandra Moltke was on her way out the door (and Vicki was about to be recast). Perhaps TPTB had already planned that Joel Crothers would be leaving. Roger Davis was definitely being written out soon thereafter. And David Henesy had yet to come back to begin the Quentin's Ghost storyline. But as to why Joan Bennett wasn't in the photo, I don't know - or why Humbert Astredo, Lara Parker and Robert Rodan were included because they were also soon to written out.    It may just have been a case that most of the missing actors simply weren't available that day...

As a bit of trivia, the first time a version of the '68 cast on the stairs photo was circulated was as the back cover of the official DS Vampire Club brochure that fans received when they wrote fan letters to the show. I remember that practically minutes after a girl in my 7th grade class brought her copy in to show everyone, almost the entire class was writing fan letters so that we could get our own copies and to buy the various packages the club was offering. 

I wonder whatever happened to Lori Levesque? It would be wild if I ever came across her in fandom one day...

That's cute!  I like that!  In fact, I found that when reading all that MB, I had an urge to join the Vampire Club.

Offhand, I'd have guessed it had to be in 1897 sometime that the most actors were there.  It just seems so crowded, in a good way.

Perhaps the photo was taken while Joan was on vacation and Liz was at wyncliff

Joan had already begun taping Liz' escape from Windcliff on August 22nd and she didn't tape Liz slipping into a coma until December 19th. 

The staircase photos (there were several of them, of course--I think a couple are still unpublished) were probably done as part of the Viewmaster people photographing for the DS Viewmaster set (check Wikipedia's entry on Viewmaster if you don't know about this--it was a big fad in the Sixties and early Seventies).  I would guess that there was very little planning for the staircase photos and it may have happened just because so many cast members happened to be on hand that day.

If it was a day when Joan, Joel, Roger, Clarice et al just happened not to be on hand (I would guess that it was done after the day's taping when some more actors had arrived for the late afternoon read-through of the next day's shoot) then that would account for why they are not in the photos--not because they were deliberately excluded.

G.

I remember wondering when I first started watching the series years ago why so few characters appeared in certain episodes. I know intially their limit was 5 characters per episode, and that was something to try to stick to as the series went on, though the writers often deviated from the rule. It's amazing to me that they managed to create such compelling stories, especially during the pre-Barnabas days, with 3 or 4 characters and 2-3 sets for each episode.

In a semi-unrelated statement, this could also be the basis for an argument to have a DS-based Broadway or Off-Broadway play put into production, because if you do look at the early episodes, most of the action takes place at Collinwood, in three rooms or so.

Back in '88 NYC's Dance Theater Workshop mounted an Off-Broadway production of DS based on the 1795 storyline. And, of course, there was DC's ill-fated attempt to turn DS into a musical.