Dark Shadows Festival 2002 Reports

Hi Everyone,

Here's what I have to report about the Dark Shadows Festival 2002, held at the Anaheim Marriott in Anaheim, CA. I really liked the location, very nice place! I didn't go to Disneyland on Friday, I went out to the swimming pool and spent a relaxing time over there. It was a fun weekend, nice seeing the Dark Shadows stars, and my friends again, plus meeting new people. I met Minja, Julia99, Teresa, Midnite, Henry, and others who I can't remember their names, sorry! ProfStokes was the first person I met up with, and later on, Bobubas. Good to see you again! I bought some neat stuff from the dealers' room. I'm wearing a t-shirt I bought. I talked with Jay Nass who sells Dark Shadows Photos. He was one of those lucky fans who went to the studio while Dark Shadows was being filmed, and took lots of great photos, and got autographs, including Craig Slocum's. I have photos that I bought from him. He told me about the times he saw Craig at the studio. I enjoyed hearing about it. At the Festival, I was lucky to get autographs and pics taken with all the Dark Shadows stars in attendance. I don't have my pics yet, but will update my Cheryl's Dark Shadows Website soon, and you all can see them there, hopefully the pics will turn out good! Some of the stars who were scheduled to attend, were unable to be there. Lara Parker's son got married on the weekend, so she of course was at the wedding instead. It was announced that Diana Millay couldn't attend because of weather conditions in New York. Her plane was struck by lightning while still on the ground (luckily), so that fouled up her travel plans, glad she is okay! It was nice to see Kathryn Leigh Scott, Marie Wallace, Roger Davis, David Selby, John Karlen, Christopher Pennock, and Dennis Patrick again, and also meeting Robert Rodan for the first time. I am not good at remembering things in detail, so I will just share what I liked most. Friday 6/28 - My Favorite DS Bloopers with Kathryn Leigh Scott, The Best Of Willie Loomis with John Karlen, Sat. 6/29 - Remembering Louis Edmonds, Guests: Roger Davis, Jeanne Avery, David Selby, DS Cast Reunion, Sun. 6/30 - DS Fan Videos (these were hilarious!), DS 35th Anniversary Tribute video with Dan Curtis & Cast, DS Video Vault (I provided a video of a film of Craig Slocum's called, "Is This Love?" (1957) he was 17 years old), Guests: Robert Rodan, Chris Pennock, Marie Wallace, Dennis Patrick, DS Dramatic Showcase with John Karlen and Kathryn Leigh Scott. I lucked out in the autograph sessions, I got em all and didn't have to wait in long lines, can't wait to see and share the pics! The Banquet With The Stars on Sunday evening was a delicious dinner, door prizes, videos, and a nice farewell. There was no star at my table, but I sat with ProfStokes, which was nice. Midnite was at the table behind us. On Sunday morning, Richard Halpern of the Collinsport Players was on stage and asked the fans who were wearing special t- shirts to go up so everyone could see them. I wore Craig Slocum t-shirts all weekend, special shirts that I had made for the Festival, so I went up and showed off the one I was wearing of Craig as Harry Johnson. I don't remember what Richard Halpern said other than something about Craig Slocum as Harry Johnson. I was laughing so hard. I never thought I would ever go on stage! Midnite snapped a picture of it. That was my moment of fame with Craig Slocum at the Dark Shadows Festival. He lives on in memory! It was a fun weekend but went by so quick as always. I plan on and hope to make it to New York next year, and I hope that those of you who didn't get to go can make it there next year as well. I had a great time. I'm looking forward to reading others reports too and seeing their pics!  

Hello,
I finally made it home from California. Minja and I stayed an extra day and hung out at the hotel. Monday evening we had a farewell cocktail and Dawn and her daughter joined us. It was nice.
I had a terrific time at the fest. Not one specific thing that I can mention ( except John Karlan joining me at my table while I ate breakfast ). That was fun.
Prof Stokes was fab in the costume gala and brought down the house with her song. I was so proud of her.  
Friday night was spent at the piano ( Ben in charge of that) having a great time with quite a few from the board.
I did a little volunteering again this year and enjoyed that. It is a great way to meet people. Cheryl bought a calender while I was working.
I got to chat with Vlad more this year and he is a great person. ( Vlad, I hope your throat feels better)
Our own Midnight was there and she is just as lovely and kind as I thought she would be. Of course Minja warned me that I would love her.
I met so many people this year and although I am kind of sad it's over , I am looking forward to meeting up again next year and chatting more on this board.
It was a wonderful weekend for me. Everyone was just fantastic. Hope you all got home ok.
Teresa

Well, once again, I have proven myself totally incompetent with a camera, which is why I rely on Sheenasma for the bulk of the personal appearance photos on my Selby site. However, I do have one cast photo that didn't come out like a total steaming piece of crap.

From left to right: David Selby, Marie Wallace, Jeanne Avery (David Henesy's mother), Kathryn Leigh Scott, Roger Davis, Chris Pennock, and John Karlen.

This photo is also on my David Selby site, and I'll be uploading more Selby photos as they become available.  

Hello,

I had a terrific time at the fest. Not one specific thing that I can mention ( except John Karlan joining me at my table while I ate breakfast ). That was fun.

JK sat with you at breakfast!! OMG!  How wonderful, Teresa! You are one lucky girl. Tell us more.

Anxious to read more reports.

I also have to say a I had a fabulous time and enjoyed meeting all of you.  I especially enjoyed all the Grayson moments. .there were considerably more than in the past i undersand and the amount of applause she received not just from me and my kind but all the Fest goers was great!  . . .I did miss Prof Stokes video but am working my way to a copy. . .

Midnite, again. .thank you for this blessed place. . .

p.s. i just got the 120 second thing again!  ha ha!

Thanks for the reports and photos, more please!

( Vlad, I hope your throat feels better)

sounds like a story in itself!

cheers,
Ringo the Jealous

....and don't you ladies feel a little silly with this 'David Selby Crush' thing..... I mean, Jeeeez, obsessing over a soap opera actor...come on now....


MORE PHOTOS OF TLATKLS PLEASE!!!!!

 

sounds like a story in itself!  

 
Poor Vlad came down with a sore throat and I had an ear ache so we were comparing our ailments.  I had a pic of KLS taken so when I get it back I'll post it. For your sake, I hope someone got a picture of her Sunday night. She did look quite lovely in her black cocktail dress. And David looks great in whatever he wears

Prof Stokes was fab in the costume gala and brought down the house with her song. I was so proud of her

ProfStokes brought the house down the next morning with her music video too. A collage of Barnabas and Julia scenes to the tune of "I'll Stand By You."  A lady of many talents is our own Profstokes. 

And speaking of talents, Ben plays a mean piano. 

Bette

Thank you all for the reports!  Everything sounded great.  Glad you all had such a nice time.

Welcome back Cheryl!  Thanks for posting the nice report on the fest.  I know how happy you must have been to get one of Craig Slocum's autograph! And how lucky you were to go up on stage wearing your Craig Slocom tee shirt! Perhaps that was Craig's way of saying thank you for all you have done in his memory!


Thanks also to everyone's wonderful reports on the fest. I sure wish I could have been there myself. After hearing everyone's reports I'll definetely have to get there next year when the festival is held here in N.Y.  

FRIDAY - The last rush hour of the week was more horrendous than usual, so I wasn't present when the festivities got underway, but seeing that the first few events listed in the program had been rescheduled and/or cancelled didn't inspire my confidence in the organization of the rest of the weekend.

I was anxious to see the Sci-Luv documentary and disappointed at its goofiness.  Fans brought their collectibles for appraisal by an "expert", and the host was to have provided comic relief, which would've been fine had he been funny.  KLS was the special guest, though Frid's hair was appraised at a bit less than what she hoped it would someday bring in for charity.  A handful of fans were interviewed-- one that emulates Angelique in her practice of black magic and another that was turned on by the prospect of her lover sporting fangs.  I did laugh along with the fan whose mother named him Barnabas Collins, but three cheers for whomever made the decision to NOT air this thing on TV.

In KLS' bloopers segment, she read several amusing fan letters.  I wonder if they'll end up in a book someday.  Lara Parker, as you already read, was a no-show that night as she was busy with some last minute sewing for the weekend wedding.  Diana Millay's plane was struck by lightning while on the ground in New York and she chose to not make other arrangements.

Several of us met up with Julia99 in the hotel restaurant and we had a blast talking with her.  We adored your friend Scott too, btw!

SATURDAY - The Louis Edmonds tribute video is absolutely amazing.  I left the ballroom when Roger Davis took the mike and returned when he was finished, heheh.  Jeanne Avery's presentation was interesting, and that was followed by the first of 2 charity auctions.  Items in this one included an autographed script, one of Michael Stroka's shirts, a graveyard prop from the '91 series, a packet put together by Dean Wilson from Frid's Crawfordsville show, and a photo of Frid and Moltke signed by her.  Darren's presentation of trailers and clips was awesome, and I'm grateful to the powers that be for not rushing him cuz his material is always fascinating.  David Selby introduced "The Griffin and the Minor Canon" and everything about the video is delightful.  He lit up when he spoke about it, and I can't recall ever seeing him smile so broadly and so often.  This was the only day he attended, so I'm happy Minja and others got to meet him in the autograph line and for my friends who snagged some special time with him that evening.

The Dealer's Room was once again both fun and dangerous on the pocket book.  I had to stop by Malia's table to chat for a bit, and I was sorry to learn from Kathy Resch that the debuts of the Leviathan Concordance and newest TWODS were delayed due to printer problems.  And has anyone heard any more from the editors of the DS locations book?

The costume gala was extra special because of ProfStokes' performance of her Dream Curse song that was posted a short while back.  All the entrants were wonderful, and the audience showed great taste in their enthusiastic response to her song.  What a shame that VAM didn't participate this year.

Several of us gathered in a huge lobby in the convention area for a party, where any fans that wandered over were welcome and friends flowed in and out until late.  Many thanks to everyone that came... I hope you all enjoyed yourselves... and to Bobubas for, er, borrowing the tables and chairs, to Sid (God bless him!) for his help at the party's end, and most of all to Ben for entertaining us with his amazing piano playing.  (Ack, Gerard, would you believe there were 2 pianos side by side?  It would have been ideal for that duet, dude!)  Should I also thank Hertz for the use of their counter, hee hee, which was ideal for setting up a bar, and to the cleaning staff of the Marriott?

SUNDAY - Okay, this was the first year I'm aware of in which Saturday and Sunday events weren't scheduled to begin until 11 a.m., which I must say I really liked cuz it allowed time to get downstairs and to breakfast before things got underway, yet you'd think they could actually start at 11, but noooo.  Fans were left standing outside the doors until they were eventually opened.  <Sigh>

First on the schedule was fan videos, and I was ever so delighted that ProfStokes' was first.  Okay, we know she can write and sing, but edit videos too?  The Pretenders lyrics ("I'll Stand By You") were painstakingly matched to B & J scenes.  My personal favorite was the line "Won't let nobody hurt you" as Julia beats on Adam as he's strangling Barnabas, LOL!

Richie Halpern, who doubled as both emcee and later played Julia in the 3rd daily skit ("Thrilling, Chilling Sounds of the Old House" and "The Haunted Mansion of DS"), brought a couple of fans on stage to show off their t-shirts.  Craig_Slocum mentioned that she was one of them (the pic turned out great, Cheryl!) and I wish I'd photographed the other-- hers had a great picture of Karlen from (I think) the cast photo shoot on the staircase, with a caption under it that said, "Got Willie?"

I saw Donna McKechnie's video and okay, it wasn't my cup of tea so I'll reserve judgment.  I wasn't in the convention area the rest of the afternoon, but I returned for the banquet.  Once again there was a line for the exchange of tickets and another to enter the ballroom.  My table rocked; Julia fans know how to have a good time!  Marie Wallace was very gracious, as always, as she visited the different tables.

Following dinner, Roger Davis showed a video covering his latest real estate project.  I felt like I was trapped in telemarketing hell.  After a touching tribute to the WTC offered by Jim Pierson <sniff>, the Sciography documentary, originally scheduled to be shown the previous evening, aired.  Let me begin by bringing up what was good about it-- Michael Miozza's Seaview segment was fantastic, as was Christine Domaniecki's interview-- she's very pretty, and discussed winning a role on DS, an experience she said led to the happiest day of her life, and Darren's restoration piece was also very well done.  I was disappointed, however, that many other fans interviewed, including RobinV and Henry, were not shown at all.  That having been said, the rest of the documentary was crap as it soon became apparent that the producers had set out to portray the show in a sensationalistic light-- they offered gossip that was paired with clips and stills and snide comments and snippets of interviews that were sometimes taken out of context, all in an attempt to give more validity to what what was still just gossip, and as far as I'm concerned this tact only served to illuminate the questionable motives of the documentary makers.  Following the airing, KLS and Marie Wallace took the mike to refute what was said and explain that they, along with John Karlen, had withdrawn their cooperation during the making of the documentary.  Especially considering the large contingency of Fest newbies that were present, I'd call the decision to air the video in its entirety to be really horrid.

I'd guesstimate the weekend attendance at about 1200 fans.  It was the smallest Fest I've been to but definitely the most intimate and least stressful.  The stars were sparse in comparison to past Fests, and though I didn't stand in any autograph lines I also didn't hear the usual complaints about interminable lines.  Oh, and what a fabulous group of volunteers there was this year!  I tip my hat to all of you!!

The weather this weekend started out iffy but by Sunday it was sunny and warm.  The hotel was only a short shuttle ride from Downtown Disney, Disneyland, and California Adventure.  It was a pleasure seeing old friends again and I enjoyed meeting the new people too.  Castlebee, you were sorely missed!!!  I enjoyed the other reports and look forward to reading more of them, so I'll shut up now to give someone else a chance.

Ugh. I thought everyone had been spared since it didn't show saturday.

It's awful on every level.

I hate my segment- I look like an obsessed boob. The rest is so crass and appalling, it almost seems like a parody...

Hey, at least I was able to get them to pay to make intermediate preservation transfers of that R-rated NODS material. So we end up with some preserved material that we didn't have to spend a dime for and they end up with an unairable piece of junk.

Divine justice.

I'm glad I was able to sell them on the cut NODS segment idea- at least some good came of the whole mess.

Thanks to all of you who posted fest reports.  

Midnite, sounds like that Sciography, or whatever it mrophed into, was something I'd prefer to be left out of, so I'm glad I was absent.  My love for DS came through in every reply, and if it was presented as you say, thank God I was left on the cutting room floor!

The festival coordinators still sound uncoordinated, LOL.  Some things never change.

ProfStokes was a big hit, deservedly so.  I wish I'd gotten to hear her sing.

I'm looking forward to the fest in New York next year.  


Love, Robin

Hi All,

These fest reports are wonderful and very comprehensive. I had a great time at Disneyland on Friday. I managed to ride Space Mountain twice in a 30 minutes span, and, as usual, it really rocked.

Friday night, Jonathan Harrison, who was heading up the Collinsport player skits approached me and asked if I would be interested in playing a role in the skit that was going to take place in about 5 minutes. I jokingly replied sure, as I was certain he was kidding, but alas, he was not.   I then told him that if he got desperate that I would fill in, and he informed me he was past desperate, so I assumed the role of Dan Curtis that Steve Potts would have played had that L.A. traffic Midnite mentioned above not hindered is arriving on time. Thank god for cue cards.

Favorite parts of the weekend for me included the skit between KLS and John Karlen, as well as listening to Jean Avery speak about how David Henesy got involved in acting. Other highlights already mentioned include Prof.Stokes song during the costume gala, and the cast reunion Saturday night. The piano party was a BLAST! I met so many people from this board, who until then, were just screen names to me. I especially enjoyed using the knee of.......... as a chair. (ya had to be there) Anyway, many thanks to Midnite for hosting it, and to the super talented Ben for tickling the ivories and providing us with entertainment.  

In answer to Midnite's question about the DS Locations book; I spoke with one of the co-authors on the phone over the weekend, and she informed me that the hold up had involved securing a few photos, and that the book should be printed and ready for sale by late October.

With the help of MsCriseyde, I hope to have photos from the weekend up on my DS Events site sometime early next week.  

Robin,and anyone else who is interested,  you can still hear the very talented Prof.Stokes sing, as well as view the other highlights of the weekend. My friend Rich Blanco videotaped the costume gala and has over 8 hours of festival footage he is making available for sale. He can be contacted at: DRKSONE@aol.com

                                            Bob

Ugh. I thought everyone had been spared since it didn't show saturday.

It's awful on every level.

I hate my segment- I look like an obsessed boob. The rest is so crass and appalling, it almost seems like a parody...                  

Well Darren,
Your presentation was great. I missed it last year so made sure to see it at this one. We all realize you are not an obsessed boob but a dedicated fan and film historian. Keep up the good work.
Teresa