Not being sure exactly how far Lyndhurst is from the hotel, I drove over on Saturday, and then I left my sweater in my car because I was sure I wouldn't need it on such a day. How wrong I was! It was cold in that tent. But the experience was worth the cold.
I never would have recognized Sharon Smyth, but when she was asked if she wanted to sit or to stand, she said, "I don't know," and the intonation was very much Sarah. As Sharon talked, I kept thinking of something MB said a couple of years ago:
Sarah was played by Sharon Smyth (who I actually miss at the Fests - but I digress...).
Yeah, Sharon's fun. Somebody asked her to sing London Bridge Is Falling Down, and she had us all sing it with her. I thought: "Only at a Dark Shadows Fest could there be a group singalong of London Bridge."
Jerry Lacy was asked to say something as Trask. He started with something that was, as I remember it, fairly generic, but then he thought a bit and said: "I have the witch! I have the witch!" and said that as he dragged Alexandra Moltke away after saying that (in episode 400 - I just looked it up) he stepped on his cloak and (according to him) you can see him and Moltke descending out of the scene rather than just exiting stage whatever.
Kathryn Leigh Scott mentioned in passing that she's had a hip replacement. Wow, modern medicine is something! I never would have guessed. But knowing what KLS is like, I figure she was no sluggard when it came to the post-op therapy.
The short play with Nancy Barrett and Jerry Lacy was great. I feel privileged to have seen it.
I'm always surprised by how much fun the charity auctions are. Also how hopeless. Every time I think, "Hmm...I wouldn't mind having that; I might even bid $50!" you can bet the bidding will go into the hundreds. The most interesting item, I thought, was sold at the banquet on Sunday: a visit to the tower at Lyndhurst, where, as Jim Pierson explained, visitors aren't usually allowed to go because there's no emergency exit. It went for $200 to a woman from San Francisco.
The lobby at the Doubletree hotel is huge, with lots of very comfortable chairs and sofas. I spent a lot of time in the chairs and sofas on Sunday looking at people waiting in lines - lines for the banquet (I myself just went in the end and was very satisfied with a table at the back of the beyond) and lines for autographs. It must have been a little strange for any non-Dark Shadows guests arriving. There was a wedding or two there that weekend, and a Green-Bryant family reunion, with family members wearing Green-Bryant Family Reunion T-shirts. No Collins Family Reunion T-shirts, though.
I was surprised that Jim Pierson said they were considering a Dark Shadows Fest cruise, since we discussed the idea here on these boards a few years ago and the reasons not to do it seemed compelling. Here's part of what borgosi was told when he looked into it:
I don't know how the actors would feel about being on a boat with fans. You can't sign up under an assumed name like you can at a hotel. There are legal manifests and with terrorism as it is those list are scrutinized. You have more freedom in a hotel to escape people but even on the biggest ship there isn't any place you can really "hide". Don't misunderstand, the actors do socialize. I have spent many an evening over drinks in the lounge with them, but there comes a time when they do need time to themselves or for private conversations and many fans don't understand.
But as I said at the time, a Dark Shadows cruise sounds like fun, with or without the stars.
