My Overview of the 2007 DS Event in Tarrtyown

I suppose you would call it a FridFest.

No matter what anyone called it, I can tell you it was some event.

Jonathan arrived on Friday afternoon along with his webmaster, Mark, who drove them down from Canada.  Despite his back being sore from the 7 hour journey, JF was full of beans. 

When JF went to register at the main desk, he was told that his mother had called and left a number for him to return the call.  Of course Mrs. Frid has been dead for twenty years and it was a ruse some fan was using to get JF to call him or her.  It was amusing to say the least.

We went into the main ballroom where he would be appearing on Saturday and did a long technical rehearsal.  By the time we got out of there, the registration had opened and fans were lined up along the corridor and around the next corner and the next corner after that into the lobby.  As JF emerged from the ballroom and walked along the corridor, fans started applauding and cheering, some shouting "We love you!" and "Thanks for coming!"  That continued each time we turned the corner and started walking down another corridor.  I have never seen anything that before at a Fest.  JF was a little taken back but pleased at the reception, even touched I think.


JF got together with Marie Wallace, Lara Parker and KLS later that evening for about 90 minutes in a private setting to touch base.  They all seemed to enjoy that time together to smooze.  KLS jumped onto JF's lap when she came into the room. Yes, he was sitting down at the time.


About 11 p.m. JF went to bed.  He was tired and a little sore from the journey down.


Saturday morning JF headed for the empty ballroom to do another tech rehearsal.  In the halls around the ballroom fans were gathered, talking and buying things from the few merchandise tables there.  Again, the fans applauded and cheered as he made his way through the throng and into the ballroom.  The same thing happened again when he left the tech rehearsal to have lunch.


At 1 p.m., JF was formally introduced and the packed ballroom erupted. It was amazing.  JF had his Barnabas can with him, pretended to be hobbling as he got up on stage and then danced across the stage twirling the can with one hand. It was hilarous and the fans loved it.  He watched and commented on several scenes from DS that he selected beforehand and he did so with wry humor.



After the DS scene commentaries were over, JF went to lunch and then took a brief nap before his readings/performance at 4 p.m. where, once again, he was greeted with great excitment from the audience.  It was standing room only once again.  JF did readings, played some clips from readings done years ago from the new DVD produced and released for the weekend.   After the performance, Jonathan participated in a Q&A.  Naturally there were questions about the upcoming planned project by Johnny Depp; JF admitted he didn't really know who Johnny Depp was. The audience laughed.  He talked about how awful most television is and Americanized Canadian news and television had become.  He said he watched very little TV.

At the end of the Q&A, JF was surprised by guest actor Larry Storch, with whom he co-starred in the Broadway tour of "Arsenic and Old Lace."  They spent some time hugging and chatting, Storch told the audience a story before leaving with JF to chat briefly.  JF went back to his room for awhile and then had dinner before heading to the banquet hall.  Again, as JF passed through the corridors, fans applauded him.

At the banquet, JF started signing photos almost immediately.  As fans dined, one table at a time was called up to have their photos personalized.  These photos were distributed to all fans when they registered.  After about three hours of doing this, JF took a break as there was a video tribute to him that Jim Pierson put together.  It was quite nice.  After the documentary was over, Marie Wallace, Lara Parker and KLS got up on stage and each spoke about JF's contribution to Dark shadows, their own performance and the obvious electricity his attendance this year generated throughout the audience.  JF was flattered, of course, but a little embarrassed because in spite of his having a healthy ego like anyone else, he's a modest person.  I think this is party of why I like him so much: he's a grounded individual and even though he was brought up in a well-off and prominent household with servants, he isn't a snob.  His great wry humor was in evidence most of the weekend.  When fans didn't move fast enough in the autograph line, JF threatened to tickle some of them if they didn't get a move on.  He was in a good mood, appreciative of everyone's kindness towards him.  At 11 p.m., JF ran out of gas.  He was exhausted.  He asked that he be permitted to sign the remaining autographs (personalizing the already signed photo fans were given when they registered) early Sunday morning before he returned to Canada.

On Sunday morning, JF personalized the remaining pictures belonging to fans who didn't get up to him the previous night.

He did have the usual issues of some people not leaving him alone but overall, fans were gentle and appreciative of his efforts.  Most of us have or had parents or other loved ones of JF's age and we know how tired they can get from a lot of effort.

JF truly enjoyed the event and being with the fans.  He was most appreciate of their support and kindness throughout the weekend.

Nancy

Thank You Very Much for posting this.  I hope the drive back was OK,   JF  did someting, that  most people wouldn't do at his age.   Just show how young at heart he is.   Will love to see  what he does on the Website.  I know it was  a ruse (sp) the note about his mother,  I hope he just shook  his head, I don't know why people do this.

Thanks for all  your effort to make this happen.  Take Care.

Jonathan's webmaster, Mark, drove JF down from Canada, had the room next to his, and drove JF back so JF had someone on hand at all times if he needed anything.

Jonathan's nephew also came down and was on hand for most of the weekend. He was a great help.

The fan pretending to be JF's mother - well, that's par for the course unfortunately.  Pretending to be a relative is the number one ruse fans will use to trick JF into contacting them.

nancy

Thank You Very Much for posting this.  I hope the drive back was OK,   JF  did someting, that  most people wouldn't do at his age.   Just show how young at heart he is.   Will love to see  what he does on the Website.  I know it was  a ruse (sp) the note about his mother,  I hope he just shook  his head, I don't know why people do this.

Thanks for all  your effort to make this happen.  Take Care.

Thanks for such an intimate account.  It's amazing that he enjoys such stamina at such an age!  I guess it is the product of all that healthy living.

You and the others who worked on this event deserve a big round of applause of your own!

Best, Steve

Please send Jonathan my thanks for the performance and the autograph, and I hope he will be able to do an appearance now and then.

Thanks for the recap.  Jonathan and the other cast members are real troupers!!  I'm glad they did get a little bit of private time, too.

Cathy

The thing that touched me the most over the day and a half of this event was the sweetness of the audience.  When JF was starting to wear down Saturday night, I told him that I believed fans would understand if he had to quit.  Obviously, everyone including me wanted to see fans get a moment to shake hands with him and get a personalized autograph, but when it was clear JF was exhausted by 11 p.m., he was assured the fans would not think less of him if he had to quit.   I believed that.

Nancy

I was only at the Fest for a few hours this year, and had to leave after a very short time in the hall watching the clips and hearing Mr. Frids commentary.  I thought he looked and sounded remarkably well, and his comments were wonderfully amusing.  I can swear to the fact that there was not an inch of room to be had......I was up against a wall near the entrance....there was no going any further into the room.

I don't know if the fire codes were broken or not - that ballroom capacity was supposedly 1,000 but I think there were more than that in the ballroom.   I looked out from the back door and saw standing room only and precious little isle or side isle room to be had. Not a safe situation.  I told Jonathan not to think about trying to move past the stage as it was a sea of people.  I've never felt the kind of feeling that was emanating from that room of people - it was amazing.  Knocked some of cynicism right out of me, in fact.

nancy

I was only at the Fest for a few hours this year, and had to leave after a very short time in the hall watching the clips and hearing Mr. Frids commentary.  I thought he looked and sounded remarkably well, and his comments were wonderfully amusing.  I can swear to the fact that there was not an inch of room to be had......I was up against a wall near the entrance....there was no going any further into the room.

It was a phenomenal experience, and I'm so grateful to you, Nancy, for all your hard work in making this happen. I was delighted that the fans were well-behaved for the most part and respected Mr. Frid. It's something I won't forget.

As far as Frid goes, I just found him to be a remarkable, amazing man. What a talent and how lucky we were to be able to meet him! I was never fortunate enough to attend a fest he went to, so this was a special treat for me. I know some have met him at other fests, but being one who didn't, let's just say, WOW!!!

When JF went to register at the main desk, he was told that his mother had called and left a number for him to return the call.  Of course Mrs. Frid has been dead for twenty years and it was a ruse some fan was using to get JF to call him or her.  It was amusing to say the least.

How bizarre. And how could anyone possibly think they could get away with something like that?  :-   I mean, even factoring out the fact that Frid's mom passed away many years ago, if the person left a number to call, Frid would have instantly recognized it as a number his mother wouldn't be likely to be reached at, so why would he even call it? And if they didn't leave a number, well, Frid would have called the number that he knew she could be reached at, so they most definitely wouldn't have received a call from him. In fact, if it was me, I would have called the number I knew my mom could be reached at either way and would have completely ignored any number that might have been left in the message unless I couldn't reach her any other way.

Although, there's also the alternative that the person who left the message knew full well that Frid's mom had passed (after all, that would be 99.99% likely given Frid's own age), they never expected a call back, and they simply did the whole thing as a cruel joke. People are strange - and twisted... 

I heard several people who said they had attempted to find his room, phone his room and etc etc.
It was quite an experience. I felt teary eyed when he came out. That kind of lump in your throat feeling.

LOL, I love it. As if precautions are never taken because there are a few who will always try to cross the line.  The irony is it is this type of person who would be most upset if he/she ever succeeded in tracking JF down when he didn't want to be tracked down.  Their reception would be down right ugly.

Nancy

I heard several people who said they had attempted to find his room, phone his room and etc etc.
It was quite an experience. I felt teary eyed when he came out. That kind of lump in your throat feeling.

Thanks for the report Nancy. I was glad that most fans were appreciative and forgiving when JF was tired and wanted to take a break. Not everyone was, but then, that would be expecting a miracle.

Kerz - You have no idea how sorry I am that I missed meeting Mr. Frid. For the second time! (sentence fragment)
I'm so pleased to hear that Mr. Frid had a good experience with his adoring fans, and I am also pleased that I read that DS is one of the strongest shows in television history to date.
As far as the mysterious phone call from "his mother", I would have to agree that there are always "kooks" out there that may try to "cross the line". Although why anyone would try such a nasty stunt is beyond me. Perhaps that may be a reason that Mr. Frid hasn't attended more fests. I don't blame him.
Please post pictures as you have them, girlie.

JTW