I was quite disappointed in the event. I understand the organizers cannot be held responsible for the actors not appearing, since they are subject to prior commitment, but as Joe pointed out, so much else was falsely advertised.
This morning I went back and re-read the announcement on collinwood.net and on the postcard sent by ShadowGram: the collinwood.net announcement plainly states "composer Robert Cobert will be conducting the first-ever concert of his infamous Dark Shadows soundtrack music" while the postcard is more coy, referring to a "live music performance conducted by Robert Cobert". I don't consider accompaniment by a synthesizer and keyboard to be a "live music performance," let alone a "concert," and if the pre-recorded music was conducted by Cobert, we weren't told about it. He sat in the audience during the entire show and did no apparent conducting whatsoever. The sound quality of the music was pretty bad too; it sounded screechy, and after the first, watery, broken song, the recording had to be started over (with only slight improvements). I don't know where the videos came from, if these are the "DS music videos" released by MPI or if they were newly developed for the event. Some of them were fun, like the "Back at the Blue Whale" and "I Wanna Dance with You" montages, but others were questionable (scenes of the cemetery and mausoleum set to "No. 1 at the Blue Whale"?). I knew no videotaping was allowed, but I smuggled a tape recorder into my purse and left it running throughout the musical segment (I haven't yet checked the playback quality.) However, Selby's dramatic recitation (beside a gramophone) was one of the high points of the night. He looked stunning in his Quentin sideburns, and the fact that he emerged from backstage in a cloud of mist enhanced the eerie, romantic effect. Last night was also Cobert's birthday, and Jim Pierson surprised (and embarassed him) by making Cobert stand up while we all sang "Happy Birthday" to him. In honor of Cobert's birthday, we were all given a complimentary CD of Cobert's big band, jazz, and disco compositions.
The Barnabas costume contest didn't turn out as I'd thought it would either. The winner was chosen through a less-than-precise method: the five entrants lined up and whoever received the most applause won--not the DS: The Beginning DVDs as mentioned in the original collinwood.net announcement, but a copy of "Trilogy of Terror," DS Collection 26, a
DS:the First Year book, and some other vampire movie I'd never heard of (
Orgy of Blood?) (The SG postcard simply says to enter to contest "for a prize," so I guess that covers this.) Wally Wingert (?) won the contest with an impressive present-day Barnabas costume and a snippet of the monologue about Josette's death.
The event was beset by traditional delays: it started late and ran later (the autographs didn't even begin until after 11:00, the stated end-time). What bothered me more though was the physical organization. It was impossible to see the handprints in cement ceremony unless you were at the very front of the line like Midnite, or unless you ran up and squeezed through the crowd. The line of people waiting to get in wrapped all the way around the building and around the block. You wouldn't even know the ceremony was going on unless someone came to the back and told you. I was at the Night of DS event in 2001, and as I recall, there were two lines on either side of the door so that all attendees could gather around and observe the ceremony.
I was also disappointed with the program itself. It consisted largely of videos rather than the actors speaking. But instead of the "rare footage" that we had been promised, they were things that are either commercially available or that we've seen time and again like the blooper tape (half an hour could have been shaved off if they hadn't played the entire thing) or the trailers for the DS movies. The Dan Curtis tribute was the same video that played at the Brooklyn Fest (which was itself an edited version of the tape that played at the MT&R salute to Curtis in 2004). For me it was repetitive, but of course I realize that this was a treat for people who didn't attend the Fest or the earlier event.
I did enjoy listening to Karen Black. She talked poignantly about her last meeting with Dan Curtis, who by then could not talk because of his brain tumor. Still, he managed to communicate by stroking her hair (extensions), squeezing her hand, and grumbling when she teased him. She also talked about "Trilogy of Terror"--the making of it and its impact on her life. Apparently, the special effects team was inexperienced (and a bit clueless) so she and Dan had to figure out for them how to pull off certain tricks (e.g. how to make blood appear on Karen's finger after the doll stabbed her, how to film the doll running wihtout it crashing into the camera or losing its limbs). She mentioned how everybody recognizes her as the Zuni doll woman and often imitates the doll. She gave three different amusing impersonations based on her own catergorizations: the "EEE EEE EEE!"s, the "AY AY AY!"s and the "YAYAYA!"s.
A charity auction was also held at which Ben Cross's Barnabas cane commanded $1,250. Other items were a bound copy of both "Night Stalker" movie scripts signed by Richard Matheson, an Adam & Eve kinescope, and an award given to Bob Cobert certifying that "Quentin's Theme" was a #1 hit.
It's always a pleasure to meet up with DS friends, and I enjoyed seeing many whom I haven't talked to since August or even since the last Festival! And as I mentioned above, there were several high points, but on the whole, I don't think the Halloween celebration was all that it was cracked up to be. I sincerely wonder about some of the changes (did MPI think the original contest prize was too expensive? Was there no room in the theater for an orchestra for Cobert?) I was looking forward to much more and feel let down.
![[hall2_sad]](http://www.dsboards.com/SMF/Smileys/classic/hall2_sad.gif "Sad")
ProfStokes
