Scrambled Actors

Isn't there a story that Joel Crothers wanted to play Quentin?  Let's have him do that.

...which leaves David Selby up for grabs.

David Selby up for grabs. Now there's an image that would make more than a few cousins think some impure thoughts.

But I digress. Selby is such a personable actor that he can bring humane qualities to despicable characters. I would love to see what he could do as Morgan Collins. Next recast is Keith Prentice.

Keith Prentice is sort of short, so let's slap Maggie's blond wig on him and have him play Alexander in the Leviathan storyline.

Now, whom else could we have David Jay play?

With his diction, David Jay could do wonders with Adam's monosyllabic early dialogue, and I think that green would be a good color for him.  (And then there's the arresting combination of facial scars and a snaggletooth...).

Batting next:  Robert Rodan.

I know this is going back a bit but I've been busy and I'm just catching up:

Are we sure that James Storm has the right "attributes" for Forbes?    And -

Keith Prentice is sort of short, so let's slap Maggie's blond wig on him and have him play Alexander in the Leviathan storyline.

 - that's terrible and hysterically funny at the same time. 

Well, that would be a "watching project" all its own. 

Back to the business at hand, I want to cast Robert Rodan as the 1795 Reverend Trask.  There would be plenty of opportunities for some serious scenery chewing.

Next up: Jerry Lacy.

One of the things I love about Jerry Lacy is his capacity for amazing stillness, which we see when a certain dark-haired witch has a Lacy character under her spell.  So I looked around for a character who could use that stillness, and thought about Carolyn at certain times, but somehow that didn't interest me much.  Then I thought about 1970 parallel time Roxanne, and about how even after she started to move around, she seemed very passive, and the thought of Jerry Lacy showing that passivity did interest me.

And, of course, who could resist the thought of Barnabas locked in an embrace with Mr. Lacy?

So I choose 1970 PT Roxanne, leaving Donna Wandrey free to try another character.

After seeing Donna as the nasty housekeeper in Return to Collinwood, I think she would a great job as a villain. So let's put a dark wig on her and have her play Cassandra Collins.

Next up is Lara Parker.

I'd like to see Lara Parker playing Beth, because I never quite believed that Beth felt any physical desire for Quentin, and I'm sure that Lara Parker would have no trouble with that angle.

Whom could Terry Crawford play?

Terry Crawford has a sort of a patrician, aristocratic quality. So I'm going to take it in a completely different direction and cast her as Carl Collins.

Okay, Karlen fans, you're up.

I'd love to see how John Karlen would have played Barnabas.

And now we can give Jonathan Frid an alternative role.

There's no one on DS more identified with a character than Jonathan Frid. He seemed to really enjoy playing the evil Barnabas during the Leviathan storyline, so I'd like to take it a step further and cast him as Nicholas Blair.

Next recast is Humbert Allen Astredo.

In my heart of hearts, I feel sure that HAA would make a perfect Millicent Collins.  I want to hear him try to giggle modestly.

If I understand the rules correctly, I believe that leaves N Barrett free for recasting.

Nancy was one of the most versatile performers on Dark Shadows. I can't think of a single character, male or female, that she wouldn't have been able to play. I would like to recast her as Abigail Collins. Her interpretation would probably be somewhat different than Clarice Blackburn but no doubt just as memorable.

Now it's time to recast Clarice.

I think NB as Abigail would probably the same as Charity Trask, though.   Do we need to keep track of all the actor musical-chairs movements that came before for this, or just recast from the real, original castings, like NB as Carolyn?

If I'm doing it right, Clarice as Julia might be interesting.