I was surprised that the scene in which Barnabas tells Angelique (after Josette is a no-show at their wedding) that he still loves Josette, whatever she has done, was not among the Top Ten. It's not a particular favorite of mine, but I thought it was for some other people. And while I love the scene in episode 290 in which Julia confronts Barnabas, which was voted #1, it really was Grayson Hall's big scene, not Jonathan Frid’s.
Kathryn Leigh Scott told two stories at the Fest that I especially enjoyed. I believe both were at the general cast Q&A. One was in response to the question: “Do you remember anything about the short-term actors like Harvey Keitel and Marsha Mason?” Everybody looked pretty blank, until KLS remembered something: not long before coming to Dark Shadows, she worked in summer stock. I think she said it was in Virginia. She was a very junior member of the company, so she had some non-acting duties, including telling the more senior actors when it was time for them to go on. She knocked on the door of one, Peter ______ (she couldn't remember his surname) and said, “Peter, it's time” (or whatever one says). Peter said: “Call me Mr. _______!” Later, when she was on Dark Shadows, he turned up in a non-speaking gravedigging part. But (said KLS) he was very nice.
The other story Kathryn Leigh Scott told must have been in response to a request for memories of Grayson Hall. She said that the Halls had two birds, finches, named Lord and Lady Finch. (Their dog was named Thing. I wonder if Matthew Hall ever thanks his lucky stars that he wasn't simply named “Baby Boy”.) Once when the Halls went away for the weekend, KLS offered to take care of the birds. Alas, over the weekend Lady Finch died. Of course KLS felt terrible. She called Bob Costello to ask what she should do. My answer would have been, “Get another female finch and hope they don't notice the difference,” but Costello was more creative. He suggested that KLS buy a whole bunch of finches and tell the Halls that Lady Finch had died in childbirth. For some reason KLS didn't adopt Costello's suggestion but instead told Grayson the awful truth. Grayson gave a long, drawn-out “O-o-oh” - and said not another word about it.
They showed the 2004 pilot twice. Lots of youth and blondness and sexual activity. I liked the Victoria Winters, which is a sure sign that they were on the wrong track.
I particularly enjoyed Jonathan Frid’s reading of The Third Level by Jack Finney. I had read the story a couple of times before and liked it. Frid read it very naturally, and it seemed as though it had actually happened to himself.
There were, if I remember correctly, three showings of non-Dark Shadows shows featuring Dark Shadows people. We saw the final Password show, with Kate Jackson and her Rookies co-star Sam Melville. Gosh, I hadn't known how glitzy Password got. Also, we saw a Love, American Style episode briefly featuring Joan Bennett. She had one good line – or else it was a not-so-good line made memorable by her delivery: “He pinched me!” And finally, we saw an episode of The Governor and JJ, in which Bennett played a whorehouse madam. Golly, you'd think they'd give her something to work with, but she was the nicest, most wholesome whorehouse madam imaginable.
I left the hotel around 7am Monday morning. As I walked out the door, rolling my big black backpack and toting a canvas bag loaded with the good stuff that I had bought, I saw John Karlen sitting on a bench talking to somebody. I called out to him, “Thank you, Mr. Karlen!” He threw me a kiss and said, “Bye, sweetheart!” It was a nice way to end the Fest.
