Fest Report / was Re: Time to "sign in".

That's really too bad about Donna.  Hope she feels better soon.

I would love to see shots of Bewitched Shadows!  Sounds fab.

G.

I would love to see shots of Bewitched Shadows!  Sounds fab.

Me too. It made think what if Nicolel Kidman were dropped into the world of Dark Shadows. Her remake of Bewitched was okay, but she was very cute in it. No chance I think of her being in the Depp movie though.  

Well, a couple of my friends and I thought "Bewitched Shadows" was pretty lame, especially since it was written by a professional performer, but I did enjoy seeing Lara in the skit.

I loved Jonathan showing the winning scenes from the "Game" too, and was delighted that he included Angelique's death scene in 1840 (so poignant), and the curse scene, but the pro-Julia Barnabas fans won out in the number of scenes that got top places for the game, where those fans see chemistry between Barnabas and Julia is beyond me.

The highlight for me was that Jonathan did join the cast reunion this year, Lara was late coming on stage and she came up to Jonathan and gave him a warm hug--before they brought a chair up for Lara Jonathan said to Lara , well, sit on my lap, which I loved, and then after she got a chair, he asked her about her new mountain home, so that chemistry and camaraderie is still there, though I had not seen it so much in evidence since the 1993 con, when they did that great panel together.

Jonathan's readings Sunday were good, too, he did the Third Level by Jack Finney which almost has the feel of that famous Twilight Zone episode of "Willouby"...

Miranda,

Nice to hear something more positive on the fest!!  It must have been amazing to see Lara and Jonathan together  --- oh I love that episode of Twlight Zone!

Hello, I wanted to add my feelings about the DS Festival. I have been to many, and I try to always have a good time. I was rather dissapointed in the fact that it was in Newark. I would have loved for it to been in Tarrytown. Any, I went on Saturday, and as always, it was wonderful to see many of my friends that I have known for many years.I got a chance to say hello to Lara, whom is my favorite since my days as one of the studio kids.It was great to see Jonathan also. I was also one of the kids whom helped with fan mail the summer in 1970. The 2 women that Jonathan introduced, I knew back than in the summer of 1970. They were totally correct in saying that there were tons on mail, not only For Jonathan,and he deserved all that fan mail.  But so mucg also for the rest of the cast also. I enjoyed the scenes the fans voted for as the 10 best. But where were any scenes of Jonathan and Kathryn Leigh Scott?No scenes of Barnabas and Josette? No way. Jonathan had really good rapport with not only Lara Parker, and Grayson Hall, but also with Kathryn.That was sort of a bummer.I thought the hotel was fine, the service at the restuarant was slow, but the food was good.I wish I had made plans to be there all weekend.But that was my fault. I didn't really notice if there were many Johnny Depp fans there. Overall, I enjoyed myself alot, and am planning to be in beatuiful downtown Burbank next July. By to all.

I don't know where my manners have been- a big thanks to the folks who have given their reports about the fest!  I really oughta make it back to one one of these years!

Cathy

I lived in New York all my life and reside only 20 minutes from the hotel and even I got lost!!! I was so sure of where the hotel was based on a mapquest search and did not think that I needed to use my GPS. Well I spent an additional half hour circling New Jersey's version of the Bermuda Triangle to arrive at the hotel. After this hotel I immediately look forward to next year's Fest. I enjoyed my stay there mostly because of all the friends I encountered. The big negative was the hotel's restaurant's lack of service. I think they had two waiters for the sold out restaurant especially at dinner/supper time. It was horrendous. You had to wait a great deal of time to order your food, then to wait for the food, and even longer to receive the check. The waiters simply disappeared for long periods of time. The bathrooms were really tiny and had zero counter space-at least in the room I was in and from what I heard from other fans. Can I say that I thought the Fest was much more organized and were almost on schedule with most of its events. Even the autograph lines appeared to be organized. Re: the banquet-What a tremendous difference in the quality of the food served from last year's fiasco. The chicken was delicious and the cake too. I was so pleasantly surprised. Was that difficult? The sound system in the auditorium was excellent-not too many malfunctioning delays. I had a great time although I hope never to return to that hotel.

Everyone safely home, yet? Com'n dish-dish, fill us all in on the details! 

This year's Fest came off really well, and I think that not having the big grueling autograph sessions made a significant difference.  As things have evolved to where many of the actors have their own dealers tables, it has given fans a chance for that one-on-one time over the course of the weekend.

The hotel was badly understaffed, though what staff it had, could not have been nicer.  But that with the isolated location made it a place I hope we don't go back to again.  Lara Parker's crack about how hard it was to get into Manhattan from there was the absolute truth.  No quick easy way.  (The hotel should have had a flyer about the best ways, since most people want to go into the city at least once.)

The group Q&A was one of the best in years, with fresh questions, and the actors not getting bored.  I actually heard things I hadn't before, and a couple of them seemed to be in better spirits than they were last year.

As for Depp fans, I never heard a word about that.  Everyone seemed to be there for the original show.  I never heard or heard about a single complaint, which is unusual.  And certainly there's no way to force Depp to give information to announce if there isn't any. 

I'm a little tired of the skits, though.  They all end with Peter putting on his show.  Seeing Lara be Angelique was the best of that.  Oh, and the costume gala was HUGE.  So many entrants, and so many doing whole songs.  It ran too long.  I think they should re-institute the 2-minute time limit.

In any case, it was a great Fest, and getting together with friends from around the country is the main reason I still go.  And seeing people have a good time is rewarding.

And I heard that "Bewitched Shadows" was an absolute delight, with Peter Mac playing Endora opposite Lara Parker's Angelique.  I would kill to see John Schaefer's Uncle Arthur; maybe next year!!

You are Correct it was a delight! John was funny as ever and Peter was flawless. Sshhhh rummor has it it will play west coast with a little re-Vamping, But you didn't hear that from me. 
LdyAnne

A bit More about "Bewitched Shadows"

The skit ended with Lara Parker as Angelique and Peter as Endora singing together, Peter was not doing any kind of a one man show. Lara has been fan of Peter’s performing and writing for the last several years, including starring his sold out AID'S benefit adaptation of Dickens' Christmas Carol "Mrs. Scrooge".  Ms. Parker is not one to lend her name to anything she feel's is not worth while or stage worthy. After seeing Peter in several Concerts, Lara mentioned that she was determined to sing on the stage with him.  Both crooned the tune "Two Lost Souls" from the Broadway show and film “Damn Yankees” which was significant to Lara as Damn Yankees was the first Broadway show she ever saw.  The players received a standing ovation from many audience members and were bombarded by fest attendee's from Saturday night through the end of the weekend of how much they enjoyed the show with many inquiring as to whether or not an encore presentation might be possible on Sunday afternoon. Festival Chairman, Jim Pierson who watched the show did request that the players revive "Bewitched Shadows" in Burbank perhaps with additional music.
Peter is a talented writer and performer I am so glad to get a  chance to see it again.

LdyAnne

Article on the Fest.

http://www.examiner.com/x-9764-Horror-Happenings-Examiner~y2009m8d19-Johnny-Depp-as-Barnabas-Collins-will-he-be-accepted-by-the-DS-fans

Nice article. Thanks for posting the link, jimbo. 

Jonathan had it up on his website months before the fest for people to write in and say what their personal favorite scenes were.   The results of that "game" is what the fans saw at the fest 

Nancy

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.