2003 Festival Report

  I'm afraid this report will be considerably shorter than in previous years for several reasons.  First of all, we were treated to far more video screenings than Q&A sessions.  I believe the actors were sequestered in rehearsals for "Return to Collinwood" throughout most of the weekend.  Second, I was out of the main ballroom while I rehearsed with the Collinsport Players for Saturday's House of Dark Shadows skit    and so I missed a couple of events during those times.  However, I'm confident that more people will pop up with their reports and fill in the gaps or correct whatever misinformation I may inadvertently spread.
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Friday, August 29, 2003
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Friday was an exciting day for me.  While my roommate victoriawinters walked across the Brooklyn Bridge and into Little Italy with our mutual friend Tina, I spent the afternoon lounging in the hotel's upstairs lobby and greeting all of my dear DS friends as they arrived to check in.  I hadn't seen some of these people in over a year so it was quite the 'family reunion'.  Though registration wasn't scheduled to begin until 4:00 pm, people began queuing up shortly before 3:00 and soon, a serpentine line curved through the hallway, tripling on itself and spilling into the main lobby (these lines would present a problem throughout the weekend.  Since the Brooklyn Marriott's lobby is rather small, the overflowing crowd filled it quickly and more than once, security had to redistribute fans in order to avoid a fire hazard.)  By around 3:30, several fans were sitting on the floor, camping out.  The line finally began to move at around 4:15.  This year, none of the badges had names written on them in advance, which saved time for the Fest volunteers who would normally have to label the badges and then search out the correct ones for each fan; unfortunately, it was problematic for people like me because some fans (unlike me) never bothered to fill in their names themselves.  This made it a bit awkward to seek the real names of my online friends, or talk to people in line when I didn't know whom I was addressing.  Since the first event wasn't scheduled until 6:00, I left to eat dinner.  While calling my friends on my cell phone in the lobby, surprise guest Terrayne Crawford walked by and asked to take a look at my Fest program.  Ordinarily, she would be overseas doing ministry work, but due to recent political upheavals, Crawford was unable to go to Morocco and came to Brooklyn instead.   She's a very pleasant person, kind to the fans, and so it was a delight to have her with us.

I missed the opening ceremonies because I was impulse buying in the dealers' rooms.  However, I made it back just in time to watch an original episode from the 1897 storyline.  Episode#873 featured Count Petofi briefly traveling to 1969 in Quentin's body, only to be jerked back to the past when Beth discovers his portrait is missing.  After first accusing Pansy Faye of the theft, Count Quentin threatens Barnabas, but discovers his hand no longer has power.  The real Quentin uses Petofi's hand to make Kitty realize that she is actually Josette.  The episode was interspersed with original commercials advertising everything from sewing machines, to Chef Boyardee spaghetti, and peanut butter.  A favorite ad for cologne featured Jerry Lacy as Humphrey Bogart and Marie Wallace as a femme fatale.

After the DS episode, we viewed a touching tribute video for the late Dennis Patrick.  It opened with a lovely musical photo montage of Patrick set to "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling" and segued into an interview from his Dallas days broken up by clips from his numerous TV appearances .  As Patrick expounded on his TV appearances, his unusual training at the hands of stage legends, and the joys of playing a charming villain, we watched his scenes from Lost in Space, The Rockford Files, Kojak, Joe, several live programs, and naturally, Dark Shadows.  Delightful outtakes from the MPI "Behind the Scenes" video showed Dennis laughing over working with John Karlen and quoting naughty limericks about Lela Swift and David Thayer Hersey.  "Nobody's going to see this, right?" he double-checked before reciting his infamous poetry.  "It's off the record?  Good."  The video closed with another touching photo montage, this time to the tune of "Danny Boy".  Next, Terrayne Crawford, Lara Parker, Kathryn Leigh Scott, Marie Wallace, and Diana Millay took the stage and were invited to reminisce about Dennis.  Lara mentioned that one of her mentors was Barbara Cason, Dennis's wife, and so she got to know him that way.  Dennis was also praised for his humor.  The ladies were invited to share their memories of Dennis's funniest moments, but at this point, John Karlen waltzed onstage.  "They told me to be here at 8:00," he announced, "and here I am."  (Indeed, the original scheduled that was mailed to Festgoers lists an 7:30 panel of John Karlen, Diana Millay, Kathryn Leigh Scott, and Roger Davis, but this was changed to a ladies-only Q&A in the official program.)  Anyhow, Karlen was invited to sit down and to share his recollections of working with Dennis.  "Dennis Patrick is dead, gone.  Dust!  He was Irish, you know.  At an Irish funeral, you would pick up the corpse and dance with it.  We would all be dancing with him now."  I admit I was a bit surprised by this rather morbid answer and wondered whether it was difficult for him to talk about his good friend and if the flippant response was meant to cover this.  I've since learned that Mr. Karlen wasn't feeling well during the weekend; perhaps this was a factor.  Next, several clips of Dennis's scenes as Paul Stoddard and Jason McGuire aired.  During the scenes between Willie and Jason, Karlen comically pantomimed the activities being discussed.  For instance, when Jason remarked that Willie left town without money, he turned his pockets inside out.  When Burke wondered whether Willie had hit his head during a bar fight, he rubbed his forehead as though nursing a wound.

By this time, a number of fans had lined up at the microphone with their questions.  The first woman commented that while Lara and Kathryn had played bitter enemies on the show, they seemed to get along well in real life.  "Are you friends, or do you argue?"  "Yes," Lara answered.  "We are friends in real life, but we do argue.  If we go to see a movie, I'll love it and she'll hate it.  We're at different ends of the political spectrum.  I'm a liberal democrat and she's republican.  Well, actually, you're more in the middle now, aren't you, Kathryn?  You used to be a republican but then you shifted. (Emcee Richard Halpern joked, "So you're voting for Arnold, Kathryn?")  For example, I think the recall is a circus but she thinks it's democracy in action.  So we disagree, but, yes, we're friends."  "You mean you used to be before this," kidded the woman who had asked the question upon catching a glimpse of Kathryn's startled face throughout Lara's explanation.  A man next stepped up to thank all of the stars for their work on the show and their continued attendance at Festivals.  He has long been in ill health (cancer maybe?) but having the Festivals to look forward to and the stars to speak to kept him motivated to stay healthy.  In particular, he cited the generosity of Louis Edmonds and requested that the audience give a standing ovation in his memory, which was done.  Another man wanted to know if Kathryn remembered the riddle that Sarah had recited to Maggie in order to help her escape from Barnabas.  "Do *you* remember it?"  Richard Halpern challeneged.  Indeed, the fan did: 'One, two, away they flew.  Three, four, near the door.  Five, six, count the bricks.  Seven, eight, the clue is great/grate.  Nine, ten, home again!'  "I remember the line, 'Somebody's been tampering with the bleeder valve in Roger's master brake cylinder,'" Kathryn laughed.  A woman wondered if Lara would feature the 1692 Salem witch trials in her upcoming novel, but Lara was coy about sharing details.  Someone asked whether anyone kept in touch with Jonathan Frid.  "I just got a letter from him," Diana shared.  "He's in Canada, living the life of a country squire.  He asked me, 'Do you still have your apartment in NY?  Let me know if you ever intend to sell it.  That's the one thing that might get me to come back.'"  One enterprising woman requested a hug from John Karlen and he invited her onstage to collect it.  Erfette from the Sci-Fi board asked the actors if any of them ever visited the various fan sites and message boards to read what people had to say about their characters.  None of them did.  Another fan asked whether Kathryn had enjoyed her appearance on Start Trek: The Next Generation.  She had.  One woman had a technical question: how did cameramen who taped kinescopes keep the film from recording a black band due to time lapse photography and proximity to the screen?  Nobody in the panel, which by now included James Storm, knew the answer.  Caroleena from the Sci-Fi board stepped up shortly afterward.  "I know Joe Haskell was taken away to Windcliff, but what happened to Joel Crothers in reality?  Why did he leave the show?"  Kathryn answered this: "He moved on to other things.  He found another job on Secret Storm."  Diana Millay also recalled working with him on this soap.  Finally, a female fan confronted Lara about whether Nicholas Blair was her lover or her brother.  "Both!" Ms. Parker declared.  (Ah, those Collins incestors...)

Following the short Q&A session, Roger Davis took the stage.  However, by this time, I was to meet with the Collinsport Players for our first rehearsal and so I have no idea what happened in the ballroom for the rest of the night.  I first went across the lobby to the lounge/bar where I met my fellow actors.  One by one, everyone assembled, and then we set off in search of a place to practice.  First, we considered rehearsing the play in the hallway since we couldn't immediately locate a spare ballroom.  This wasn't really an appropriate spot, however, and we found ourselves moving on to the kitchen, which was a teensy bit cramped.  Eventually, we settled in Siberia--actually Salon I, a remote room with a powerful air conditioner far in the back, through several sets of doors and just off the kitchen.  I made a special note of how to get to Salon I, since we would be rehearsing in this room again the following morning.**  The rehearsals were tremendous fun!  My fellow castmates are a highly talented bunch, and I caught myself cracking up over their gestures and ad libs, many of which were later added to the script.  We ran through the play twice before dispersing for the night.  I made my way to the bar to join my friends, who had called to inquire where I was after the evening Festivities had ended.  When the bar closed, we gathered to watch videos of past events in the room of some of our friends.  I didn't get back to my own room until after 1:30 a.m.  It was a full day, just the way I like them.


Saturday, August 30, 2003
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Saturday opened with a traditional fan panel hosted by Marcy Robin during which time, fans are invited to ask 'Where are they now?' questions about the actors, address plot inconsistencies, or inquire about the future of the show and what plans Dan Curtis may have for DS.  It was here that Marcy announced there *will* be a 2-day event in the summer of 2004.  I wasn't in the room at the time, but victoriawinters swears she has Marcy on tape claiming the event will take place in CA (despite recent information on the net indicating the venue will be in Tarrytown.  We'll have to see what happens next.)  After Marcy spoke, we were treated to a screening of Guy Haines's fan videos.  I wasn't able to stay to see all of them since I had to split for a dress rehearsal at 11:30.  We were on the third floor in the Fulton Ferry conference room since our other rehearsal room had been absorbed into parallel time.**  The new room was smaller than Salon I, but we made the, best of it, took our places and spread our props on the tables: a giant strand of plastic Fisher Price beads to represent Naomi Collins's necklace, a plastic crossbow and arrow, a flashlight, a tennis ball, etc.  Unfortunately, we were missing a Barnabas cane.  I had seen one in the dealers' room the previous night, but when a couple of the players went downstair to ask to borrow it, they found it had already been sold.  We were able to make do without it though and as far as I know, no one complained.   Richard Halpern (Julia) held up a paper bag.  "We don't have a mask, so this is what Barnabas gets to wear when he ages.  What do you think?"  He put the blank paper bag over his head and began to stumble around.  So that no one would have to be attacked by the Unknown Vampire, innovative Stuart quickly sketched a realistically grotesque, aged face with a couple of markers and even tore ears from the sides to give the makeshift 'mask'  more dimension.  The end result was quite convincing, but in the meantime, people got a lot of laughs trying it on and bantering back and forth: "Julia, I knew you were an old bag."  "Dan Curtis, you cheapskate!" (This one actually made it into the play.)  We were only able to rehearse once all the way through before going downstairs.  During the last 20 minutes of David Selby's film The Flatboatman, I milled around at either corner of the stage, seeing where we would place our props and where Eileen Lynch-Farrar (Carolyn) and I would be changing our costumes (in the kitchen.  Fortunately, I was wearing a bathing suit under my costume so nobody would get a free show.)  Once the Selby film ended, I expected that we would go onstage, but instead a video of Jonathan Frid interviews began to play.  "Why are they playing a video?" I asked my fellow players.  "I thought we were supposed to be onstage at 1:00."  Kathryn Leigh Scott was supposed to narrate our skit and 1:00 was her designated free time.  If the event ran late, we wouldn't be able to have her participate.  I was told it was common for the skits to be delayed and eventually the video, which was in reality only about 10-15 minutes long, ended and the lights went up.  It was showtime!

Kathryn Leigh Scott gamely read her self-referential lines, poking gentle fun at her Pomegranate Press sales and career as an author and publisher.  Peter Macchia had Barnabas's voice inflections down precisely, right to the last drawn out syllable.  Eileen Lynch Farrar sang a hilarious parody of the Crystals' "Then He Kissed Me" (in our skit, "Then He Bit Me") backed by Jay Keaveny (Roger) and Richard Halpern (Julia).  Halpern drew enormous laughs from the audience with his portrayal of the investigative, jealous Julia.  Jonathan Harrison, a man over six feet tall who portrayed little David, devised an ingenious way to play the part by strapping sneakers on his knees and crawling on his knees over the floor.  Stuart Manning played a popular Willie, adopting a bit of Karlen's accent for the role.  Walter Down represented Jeff Clark, a noble hero right up to the bitter end.  Overall, the show was quite a success!  The audience loved it, applauding and laughing all the way.  There were one or two bloopers--at one point, I lost one of my shoes and had to quickly turn and step back into it while trying not to miss my line--but the players were highly professional and covered up the rare dropped line or missed cue quite smoothly.  I was concerned that I might not be facing the audience as often as I should or that I might not be projecting my voice as loudly as I ought, but my fellow cast members seemed pleased with my work.  Even Kathryn Leigh Scott tapped me on the back as she was passing through the lobby and told me that I did a good job. After the show, we took pictures in the lobby and a number of fans complimented us, saying that this was the funniest show they'd seen in years.  One man asked if we were going to play it again later in the weekend.  A couple of our actors had previous engagements though, so Saturday afternoon was the only opportunity for a Collinsport Players show.  I understand that next year is the 20th anniversary of the Collinsport Players' founding, so I'm sure there will be something grand to commemorate that.  I hope I get to be involved again because I had a marvelous time.  I'd first seen the Players perform at Festival 2000 and I laughed myself silly.  I had told my mother, "I wish I could do that.  I'd love to be in one of these plays!"  Three years later, I had achieved that wish. 

To be continued...

ProfStokes

**THE ADVENTURE OF SALON I--This is a funny anecdote.  On Saturday morning when we went to make sure that Salon I would be open in time for our rehearsal, not only did we find the doors locked but we could hear voices coming from inside. It was Marcy Robin answering fans' questions.  We realized that the Festival was just on the other side of the doors, but how could this be?  The night before, we had been in an entirely separate room located pretty far from the Fest, but now that appeared to have vanished, much like David and Hallie's playroom.  We were in the right place; this *was* Salon I.  We soon realized that the Festival ballroom actually spanned Salons A--I and on Friday night, the last several rooms had been partitioned off because the crowd wasn't as large.  Because Saturday was a peak day, these partitions had since been taken down and Salon I was reabsorbed into the main ballroom.  Once the mystery was solved, we made arrangements to meet and rehearse elsewhere.


Below is a photo from Saturday's rehearsal.

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Prof.  .nice summary .. you know Karlen said the same thing last year about Grayson when someone asked (it wasn't me . .i only got gumpton this year). . "Grayson, what can you say, she's gone, in her grave turning to dust. . ."  Probably not the way any of us are buried anymore. . .encased in steel and cement. .

ProfStokes,

I enjoyed your writeup immensely, as always!  Lara's story was a hoot and perhaps a special treat for Californians.

And thank you for identifying all the Collinsport Players.  They do a terrific job every year and deserve to be acknowledged by name.

Nice write up.

I see Diana Millay still has a vivid imagination.

Nancy

Midnite, one of the Collinsport Players - Peter Macchia - has been very successful in New York doing cabaret work as an actor and a playwright.  About a year and a half ago, he wrote and starred in a production that wound up playing for over a year down in Greenwich Village and has moved uptown for limited engagements.  Now he is involved in several other productions that are getting acclaim in the trades just as his first production had.  Peter started being in the Players when he was about twelve years ago.  He's a very talented guy.

Nancy

ProfStokes,

And thank you for identifying all the Collinsport Players.  They do a terrific job every year and deserve to be acknowledged by name.

Cool.  Thanks, Nancy!

Wow, Prof.Stokes!  What a wonderful report!!!  (I hope you are taking up Journalism in school because you would made a fine writer!!!)
  I enjoyed reading every word of it too.  The only regret I have is that I unfortunatley missed your skit on Saturday afternoon because at that time I was waiting in a very long line to see David Selby.  Had I known you were going to be in this I would have waited for David's other autograph sessions.   Hopefully, I'll get to see it on tape somehow.

   It was such a pleasure getting to meet you in person and you're a very lovely and sweet young lady that Im sure your parents are very proud of!
   Thank you for taking the time to give us this wonderful Festival report.  Im looking forward to the rest!

Cassandra

I'm kickin' this to the top to alert everyone that ProfStokes added an image to her review.

That "old Barnabas" look was hysterical!  What a brainstorm!

Saturday, August 30, 2003 (Continued)
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After taking photos and visiting with friends, I slipped back into the ballroom toward the end of James Storm's Country Western concert. The next event was a Behind the Scenes panel, which was actually very intriguing. Two of the show's cameramen, Stuart Goodman and John Woods, participated in a Q&A session, sharing the unusual perspective of DS backstage. The pair talked about working in the cramped studio with the unwieldy cameras. "When you hear all the clanking and clattering going on in the background," joked John, "that was us crashing into each other." They also discussed putting vaseline on the edges of the camera lens to give the picture a blurry, dreamlike quality. The pair also swapped some gossip about the actors. One day, Thayer David fell asleep on the set (according to them, he had been drunk.) Another time, Mitchell Ryan came to work drunk and burst out laughing while saying his lines. It became infectious, and soon everyone in the studio was laughing so hard that they had to stop taping for the day. John shared his favorite funny moment from the show. "We had a stuntwoman who was supposed to fall from the top of the stairs and roll all the way down. (She was a stand in for Cavada Humphrey, who played Mme. Findley during Quentin's haunting of Collinwood.) It was a pretty dramatic fall, and she was too scared to do it so we got Alex, the wolfman, stuck him in a dress and slapped a wig on his head. It was the most hilarious thing!" He burst into chuckles at the memory. "Alex wasn't the best person to play a woman," Stuart explained. "I mean, he was short and his build was small, but he was a real grrrrr! (here, Stuart flexed his muscles) kind of guy." Next we had a short Q&A session, during which time the Great Kinescope Controversy began. The woman who had asked the previous day about why there was no black band in the kinescopes repeated her question for the cameramen, who would be most likely to know. "We never had kinescopes," they claimed. "Some of the other studios made them, but we never did." The woman expressed disbelief and several people in the audience whispered too. After all, some DS episodes survive only in kinescope form; where did they come from if there were no kinescopes? Later in the session, someone else addressed this issue. "You must have had kinescopes because some of the DS episodes were lost and all we have left are the black and white kinescopes." The panelists didn't seem to understand the point she was trying to make though. "At the end of the day, any kinescopes would be destroyed," Stuart explained. "The studios didn't save them. Nobody ever expected to be rerunning soaps 30 years in the future. A few of the soaps in NY made kinescopes, but they didn't save them." At last, a third person stepped up toward the end of the Q&A session and actually quoted the pages and page numbers from KLS's almanac that mentioned kinescopes and the surviving kinescope prints. Finally, the cameramen compromised. "What that book calls 'kinescopes' wasn't really kinescoping. Some people in the industry use terms differently. Dark Shadows never made actual kinescopes, but we did another type of taping." In between kinescope questions, one member of the audience asked Stuart if he was working on any other projects for A&E. "Not at the moment." Someone else mentioned just having recently seen the cameramen listed in the closing credits. "At what point in the show was that done? I don't remember seeing them before." "We never got credits," Stuart Goodman objected. "Well, only at Christmas. Then Dan gave us credit." Another fan commented on the current trend in film and television to use overblown computerized special effects. "Do you think that the people of your generation were more imaginative and used greater creativity with their effects?" "Wow, that's a tough question," John remarked. "When we did the show, it was so long ago. It was right at the beginning of the special effects era and we were on the cutting edge...I suppose it was more creative."

The Behind the Scenes panel was running about 15 minutes overtime when Roger Davis took the stage. After talking for about ten minutes, asking the usual questions about who had been present on Friday night and how many fans were attending for the first time, he opened the stage to his co-stars. First, Richard Halpern asked the stars what was new in their lives. James Storm has gone back to surfing and is helping Chris Pennock with his production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Pennock was very excited about the play; evidently, he'd been trying to get permission to do the show for a while, but was unsuccessful. Another actor in the LA area had secured the rights, and it wasn't until the 'George' in that production had to drop out that Pennock finally got his chance to take on the part. He enthusiastically invited everyone in the audience to come and see the show. Diana Millay has written a new book called The Power of Halloween. Marie Wallace discussed her role in cancer charities. Kathryn Leigh Scott told us that she had just sold the Charlie's Angels Casebook to be made into another TV special. David Selby quietly spoke about how glad he was to be back in New York after the World Trade Center tragedy of two years ago. He requested five seconds of silence from the audience to remember the victims. Terrayne Crawford again mentioned her ministry, as well as a recent brief appearance in General Hospital. Donna Wandrey has made a couple of commercials that should air soon. Lastly, Roger Davis talked about the movie that he is making with Tom Cruise. "The Los Angeles journalist who wrote a story about our production described me as 'mild-mannered producer Roger Davis'. The crew asked me, 'What were you on when he interviewed you that day that would make him think you were 'mild-mannered?'" At this point, the introductions were over, so Kathryn stood up and addressed the audience on a very important topic. "As you know, there's been a lot of talk that this is the final Festival. Please know that none of us had any part in that decision. We were just as surprised as you are about the news. We're all interested in continuing the conventions and we'd love to come back next year, but that all depends on Jim Pierson. He's in charge of organizing the Festivals. Where is Jim? Let's see him. You know none of this would be possible without him. He is the driving force behind the Festivals. Let's have a standing ovation for Jim!" Kathryn cajoled Pierson onstage and persuaded him to sit down with the actors, where she promptly put him on the spot. "Now, Jim, how can fans contact you to let you know that they support another Festival?" He shifted in his chair, gazing down at the stage. "Well, you can e-mail Ann Wilson from the Festival website." "No, Jim," KLS cut him off, "how can they contact *you*?" "I've got his cell phone number," Roger Davis volunteered. "Auction it!" shouted someone in the audience. "She'll pass the e-mail on to me," Pierson assured. After guaranteeing that there will indeed be another event next year, Jim Pierson wasted no time in scurrying offstage

After that, the Q&A session began in earnest, interrupted only by the arrivals of John Karlen and Lisa Richards, who had just stepped off the train. (Lara Parker was absent, for she was taking her daughter to Pennsylvania to register for college.) The first person to take the microphone began his question with a disclaimer. "I would never advocate violence against children. I'm not a violent person, but when you were working with those kids, did you ever want to just..." He mimicked a slap. "When we first started Dark Shadows in 1966, do you know who among us had the most acting experience besides Joan Bennett?" Kathryn questioned. "It was David Henesy. He had been on Broadway for a couple of years when he just decided to audition for Dark Shadows." Reflecting on the child actors, Kathryn said ruefully, "They were so good. It seemed that they just had to blink and they would know their lines." The gentleman asked if anybody had heard from any of the younger cast members. "Sharon Smyth (Sarah) used to come to these events. And David Henesy e-mailed me not too long ago." (The interview is in the DS Memories book.) Someone asked David Selby who was his favorite leading lady, but after taking a quick look up and down the stage, he declined to answer. A fan asked Marie Wallace if playing Jenny Collins had made her more sympathetic to the plight of the mentally ill. "Well, I was already a little bit crazy, so it wasn't much of a stretch to understand was she was going through," Marie kidded. Terry spoke up and shared that the storyline between Jenny and Beth had inspired her to study psychology and thus made her more understanding of the insane. Another man had a question for Roger Davis. He pulled out a reference guide: "Did you know that, according to this book, Roger Davis acted in a number of silent movies and died in 1980 of cancer ?" Roger chuckled. "Did I really? Well, I feel pretty good for someone who's dead." He then went on to relate a funny story about his experiences at the hotel. "Did you all know there's another Roger Davis here this weekend? Is Roger Davis here? Raise your hand." A young man in the audience signalled. "When I tried to get my hotel room on Friday, the front desk told me that Roger Davis had already checked in. I kept telling them that *I* was Roger Davis but they kept telling me that I would have to pay for my room. Finally, I go to my room, get into bed and say, 'Wait a minute, there's someone else in here'--it's the other Roger Davis." I assume that the confusion was eventually resolved. Someone wanted to know where John Karlen went when he wasn't on DS. "I went West," he explained, sharing that he was able to pursue stage and TV roles outside of DS because he didn't actually have a contract with Dan Curtis. "We just shook hands and he passed me a twenty every so often." He then asked if anybody was familiar with his film Daughters of Darkness. "That movie had about 20 different titles. I think in one country it was called Ruby Red Lips or something. Does anybody know any others?" Nobody volunteered any information. Another fan asked about a play in which both Lisa Richards and John Karlen had acted together: Marat de Sade. They remembered the production vividly. "I played Charlotte Corday and John was Marat," Lisa explained. "He was supposed to stay in the bathtub but he would break out and start running around onstage. In fact, you got carried away and broke somebody's arm once. Do you remember that, John?" He remembered the incident and the name of the unfortunate guard who had tried to restrain him. "He was just a little guy and the nicest person there. It was an accident." "Yes, I remember you felt so bad," Lisa murmured sympathetically. "I think he was afraid of you after that." "I also played a guard in Marat de Sade," Chris Pennock shared, "and in one of the first shows, I somehow dislocated my shoulder. They had to take me to the hospital in an ambulance." "That's funny," Roger joked, "because *I* was in Marat de Sade right around the same time and shortly after, *Jim* was in Marat de Sade..." It would appear that Marat de Sade is the DS actors' play of choice. A man asked David Selby if Lincoln and James might become expanded into a screenplay. "That is going through quite a few re-writes at this point," David explained. One other fan wanted to know from the actors, "Did you ever do something really out of the ordinary when auditioning if there was a role that you really wanted?" "You really want every role that you audition for," Marie explained. "I don't remember auditioning," David Selby said. "I just rememebr picking up golf balls in Dan's office." Terry repeated her story about her tearful, hysteric first audition for DS while Kathryn told the story of how she had been cast as Josette. (She'd volunteered to stand in for the dummy that Bob Costello was originally going to use as the Ghost of Josette in 1966.) "Sure, I went to extremes to get a role," Chris Pennock laughed. "At the time, gurus were very popular and everybody was going to see them for advice. I was getting ready to audition for a play and I *really* wanted the part, so I went to a popular guru in New York. He gave me a mantra: Om mani shivaya. I kept repeating it to myself all during the drive to the audition: Om mani shivaya, Om mani shivaya. Backstage: Om mani shivaya, Om mani shivaya, Om mani shivaya. I said it so often that eventually I became one with the words! Om mani shivaya! It all made sense and I just kept saying it until finally one of the producers said, 'Uh, sir, it's your turn.' 'Oh, right, right!' So I gave them my best performance, I mean I really became the character, and I was good. The only problem was I had recited the wrong lines. But they were impressed with me anyway so they did cast me. Those gurus! They really work." The actresses were questioned about the elaborate hairstyles they had to wear when the series went back in time. "We had to go in at least two hours early to have our hair and wigs styled," Kathryn remembered. "My hair at the time was very long, all the way to my waist," Terry recalled, "and even then, I had still more hair with the added wigs." "I was very happy with what my stylist was able to do, considering that my hair was very short at the time" Donna Wandrey said. Julia99 asked for the cast to share any memories of Grayson Hall. "Her cooking!" Johnny blurted out. Terry Crawford repeated an anecdote that she had previously shared at the Halloweenathon about how she had taught Grayson to cry. "I learned method acting. You try to match your emotion to the scene. So in the show, Beth might be crying because Quentin left her for Angelique, but in reality I might be crying because I'm remembering a favorite pet that died. Grayson was surprised that I could cry real tears and so I explained to her how I did it. A few months later, we filmed another episode together and she came running over to me. 'Did you see it? Did you see? I cried a real tear!' She was like an excited child; it was so much fun to see how pleased she was." The last woman approached the microphone. "This might be an appropriate final question: did you know that Dark Shadows was going to end, or were you surprised? What were your reactions when you found out?" Kathryn went first. "I was shocked. I was living in Europe at the time. It was just after finishing House of Dark Shadows and I picked up a magazine one day only to see that Dark Shadows was going off the air. I felt so disappointed. I had always believed that Maggie would come home from Windcliff one day and now it would never happen." David Selby claimed he didn't remember anything about that time (probably because he was in the hospital with appendicitis during the show's last days.) "I was in the dressing room when I found out," James Storm explained. "They had brought me back as Gerard in another time, but I wasn't on for very long." "I experienced heart palpitations--in fact, I'm still having them," Chris joked. "It was a scary thing to hear. I'd just gotten married and now I was going to be out of a job." He did find work on another soap opera after DS, fortunately.

When the Q&A session finally ended and the ballroom cleared out, (everybody who wasn't trying for autographs had to filter out only one set of doors--the rear doors) Tina, victoriawinters, and I went back upstairs to eat dinner in our rooms (a nearby diner delievered to the hotel) before the costume gala, and to give victoriawinters a chance to put on her stage make-up.

This year's costume gala was one of the largest in years, with 32 participants! They were a very talented bunch this year too, offering several clever song parodies and humorous sketches. We met in the Fulton Ferry ballroom around 8:00 to receive our order assignments and then go downstairs to the convention room. It took three packed elevators to get everyone on the ground, and then we were instructed to line up in the kitchen of all places. Last year, we had been able to stand against the wall so we could still watch the action on stage. It was harder to see and hear this year unless you got out of line and crept up to the stage, which I eventually did (after all, we all had a number going into line and nobody was going to steal my place.) Among the acts were several costumed Kittys, Magdas, Julias, and Angeliques (ranging from 1795 to 1970 PT) a Pansy Faye, a Daphne Harridge, and a young Barnabas who recited "When I am Dead, My Dearest". As a victim in thrall to the vampire Barnabas, victoriawinters danced and sang to Evanescence's "Haunted". David Block repeated the dual monologue between Daniel and Gabriel that he had performed in 2001. One man dressed up in elaborate creature make-up to demonstrate what Mary Shelley may have had in mind for her creation. (When I asked, he said it took two and a half hours to apply!) One young girl recited a cynical but funny monologue as Carolyn Stoddard. Eileen Lynch-Farrar (Carolyn in our skit) sang two songs: one as Carolyn, ("Leader of the Pack" about Buzz Hackett) and the other a "Baby Face" parody about Barnabas as sung by Julia Hoffman. The audience loved her and joined in singing the chorus. VAM performed a song and dance in her elaborate Count Petofi costume. (A version of George Thurgood's "Bad to the Bone") Also, one man sang a capella as John Yeager, (to the tune of REM's "The Apologist") and David Short continued last year's brilliant "We Didn't Start the Fire" parody, picking up right where he left off in early 1968 and moving to the start of the Leviathan sequence. ("At this point, the ratings dip--Dan Curtis abandons ship!") I also performed "Ode to Collinsport", set to the tune of the Beatles' "Octopus's Garden". During the performance, I was concerned that I might not have been holding the microphone properly or singing loudly enough, but the audience was laughing and clapping along so they must have been able to hear enough of the words. I was especially thrilled that some people even howled along with the lyric, "When you hear all the dogs howling, you know a vampire must be prowling." I was a bit disappointed with the lighting this year. The overhead lights in the ballroom had been turned off and bright stage lights blinded me from either end. I squinted a lot and wasn't able to make eye contact with the audience. Last year in Anaheim, the ballroom lights had remained on and I was able to pick out my friends' faces in the crowd, which made me feel a bit more comfortable about performing. (I do know that Diana Millay was in the front row of the audience this year.)

Toward the end, we were treated to some hilarious skits. Bobubas provided cue cards, narration, and sound effects for a brother and sister team who were re-enacting the scene where Barnabas shoots Angelique (with a spray gun--you see, the real thing was confiscated at JFK Airport) and in return, the witch inflicts on him a curse that will last "through time travel, through parallel time. Anyone who loves you will die, and if anyone loves you after they're dead, they'll die again!" I found it charming that several people made the issue of the "Final Festival" the focus of their skit. Providing his own sound effects, Nicholas Blair announced, "I hear this is a 'Farewell' Festival; I will not permit that! This is *your* Festival! Legions of the damned, I salute you! We will rise again--next year!" At this point, Marcy hastened to step in and assure him that the Fests really were continuing. In the final skit, two gypsies walk into a bar. Magda asks Sandor, "What's with the loud shirt?" "Wardrobe department screwed up again," he laments. "Now I look like hippie instead of gypsy!" Upon looking into her crystal ball, Magda discovers doom for the Festival. To remedy this, she and Sandor set a gypsy curse: "Whoever tries to end the Festivals, when they turn on their radios, they'll hear only Britney Spears music!" After the last performer had stepped down, everyone crammed back on the stage for a final bow--and a surprise for Marcy. When Ms. Robin had finished thanking all of the volunteers who helped with the gala, several of the gala participants declared, "Let's hear it for Marcy!" Everyone in the ballroom started to chant, "Marcy! Marcy!" and one person even presented her with flowers. As one of the original founders of the Festival, she surely deserves the credit for 20 years of hard work.

After the gala, I met up with some friends for group photos and more private video screenings. It was another late night, ending shortly before 2 am, but again, it was a ton of fun.

Sunday, August 31, 2003
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Sunday morning, I went downstairs a little before 10:00 since, according to the original schedule, that was the time when events were supposed to begin. I was hoping that the advertised morning screening of fan videos would include the ones that I had submitted earlier in the month ("Kung Fu Fighting", "Rich Girl", and "Every Breath You Take"--Friends of mine later told me that my videos had been played the night before just prior to the costume gala, so I was still upstairs at the time and missed them. : /) Unfortunately, the schedule printed in the program proved correct and the doors didn't open until 11:00. By that time, I'd had plenty of opportunities to bond with the people standing around me in line. The first event of the morning was a screening of The Secrets of Stella Crozier, a teleplay featuring Diana Millay and written by Sam Hall. Since I had seen this already in 2001, I went into the hall to visit with friends who were moving back and forth through the lobby and the dealer rooms. We actually spent about 3 hours just standing around, taking pictures and getting to know one another better. At about 1:30, RobinV and I strolled down to the Wendy's at the corner to pick up lunch, and then walked back to the hotel. We had a lovely chat in the meantime and I was privileged to sit next to her through the DS charity auction, the Q&A with Terrayne Crawford, and the reading by Diana Millay. Putting Terry and Diana onstage was a last minute change to the program. Originally, a video of Donna McKechnie and an interview with make-up artist Dick Smith were supposed to air, but instead we were treated to real live people.

Diana came onstage to read a true ghost story that had happened to her at Lyndhurst during the filming of Night of DS. Her story appears in Craig Hamrick's latest book. Diana related how she had gone back to the mansion to retrieve a script that she had forgotten, only to be stranded there by a severe rainstorm. The night watchman, an unusually sober figure, had prevented her from going to the parking lot. 'Go back to the house, milady,' he repeatedly told her. So Diana spent the night in the tower room, listening to strange noises all the while. In the morning, she learned that the house had no night watchman. "But if he was actually a prowler or a vagrant, why didn't he attack me or try to steal my purse?" she wondered. "And what about the flooding from the storm?" Had the 'nightwatchman' actually been a ghost? Could Diana somehow have slipped into another time dimension during the night and then fortunately slipped back?

Terrayne Crawford came onstage next and spoke ardently about her ministry, the World Foundation for Children, which aids young people who live in high risk areas of the world and also sponsors budding journalists by taking them out into the field where they can meet those in need. "Kids always ask us, why do you care?" Terry related tearfully. "Why do you come here? Why do you want to help? These are very special people. They realize that they don't have to keep living the way they are. They want to make a difference in the world and we want to help them do that." When asked how fans could support the charity, Terry explained that the organization's website was still in development. However, interested contributors can write to worldfoundationforchildren@yahoo.com. Next followed a brief Q&A session. A fan praised Terry, saying how well she looked. "Thank you. When you tell us how we look just the same as when we were on the show and how much you enjoyed watching Dark Shadows, it really makes us feel so good. It's wonderful to see all of you here!" she gushed. Terry also spoke about her first audition for DS. It was a very dramatic scene: someone put a ring on her finger and she became possessed. When the ring was removed, she became hysterical, bursting into tears. Terry won the role of whatever character this was supposed to be. However, at the same time she was also offered a television commercial and a part in a movie, and was undecided as to which job to take. She finally chose the commercial instead of DS, but luckily Dan Curtis invited her back to play Beth a few months later.

Next came the auction. Jim Pierson sold several CDs: the soundtrack to the DS movies, a soundtrack from the show, and Robert Cobert's "Night Stalker" album. Other items included a program from the Museum of TV & Radio's DS reunion, a Dark Shadows Resurrected book, a sound card of DS music cues, (which nobody will be able to play without studio equipment) trading cards, a House of DS video (out of print), an MPI marketing item the "Barnabust," (a small statue sculpted to look like Jonathan Frid, "makes a nice paperweight") and several articles of clothing. Among them were the jacket that Jim Fyfe wore as Willie in the 1991 series, a pair of shoes (size 11) and an ascot that belonged to Michael Stroka, and a dress and shawl supposed to have been worn by Lara Parker during the 1970 season of the show. "We tried to find stills of her wearing the dress, and it seems that Lara didn't actually wear it for the show," Piersoin confided, "but this *was* part of the Dark Shadows wardrobe, and if you bid on the dress, you can get the shawl for free." Finally the major item of interest, the portrait of Josette from the 1991 Revival series went up for bid. "There were actually two portraits," we were told. "The first was used in the pilot and we auctioned that one off a few years ago. But this was the one seen in the next 12 episodes of the series." This portrait of Joanna Going as Josette eventually sold for $2,400.

Following the auction, the video tribute to Dan Curtis began to play, but since I wasn't especially interested in seeing this, I thought I might as well get in line for the "Return to Collinwood" show. Yes, get in line; we'd been warned all weekend that on Sunday afternoon, the ballroom would be cleared so that the orgnizers could perform a sound check of the microphones and other equipment. Thus, everyone who was already sitting in the front and had been there since the morning would lose their great seats. It was only about 3:00, an hour before the show was scheduled to start, when Robin and I walked out. As soon as we left the ballroom, I could see a long line near the entrance door, wending its way through the dealer room. "Is this for autographs?" I asked. (Earlier that morning, people had been standing in the same spot to meet David Selby.) "No, this is the line to get in for 'Return to Collinwood'," a woman told me. "What?! The line is already this long?" I stared out past the ballroom, past the dealer room. As we walked, I could see the queue stretching along the length of the convention hallway and out the doors, into the main lobby, and around the hotel itself. In fact, people were lined up in front of the elevators, curving around the balcony, almost all the way across the lobby and practically through the doors of the lounge/bar! I had never seen such a line! And these people had been waiting for several hours already to ensure that they got good seats! My kind friends Sunsetter, eeriekitty, and eeriekitty, jr. generously allowed RobinV and I to join them in line; later, we were joined by Tina, JVjr, victoriawinters, mazinG and a few members of Grayson's Legion (the yellowshirts.) Not long after we'd secured our place in line, security came over and split us right where Robin , Sunsetter, the eeriekittys and I were waiting. There were too many people in the lobby. We were taking up all the space and it was a hazard so they were moving us. We feared that if they took us from our current spot, we'd be at the back of the line instead of somewhere in the middle, but they assured us that we would keep our place and only stand elsewhere for a little while. They split us from the larger line and led everyone back into the hallway where they made us stand against the wall. They turned our line around a few times, but eventually, we did get back into the ballroom. There were so many people in the rows in front of me that I could barely see the stage, but that didn't turn out to be such a bad thing. We learned that instead of an actual play where the actors put on costumes and carried out actions, the cast would be performing in the style of a radio play, reading scripts at the microphones. Therefore, all I had to do was relax and listen.

RobinV has posted a wonderful summary of the show: http://bboard.scifi.com/bboard/browse.cgi/1/1/2084/59

The play, scripted by Jamison Selby, was supposed to be about an hour long, but it ended up running for two. Alternately dramatic and comedic, it was entertaining, though the ending left me wanting resolution to some of the loose ends. I hear that this script was labelled 'Episode One' so perhaps we'll have a follow-up performance in the future with additional actors. Toward the story's end, the characters commented on how wonderful it would be if only David were with them or if they could just find Victoria. I turned to Robin and asked, "Do you suppose David Henesy or Alexandra Moltke is backstage waiting to make a surprise appearance ?" We watched to see if this was so, but it never happened. That's not to say it couldn't in the future, however. Nancy Barrett and Donna Wandrey turned in exceptional performances as Carolyn Stoddard Stuart and Mrs. Franklin, successor to beloved housekeeper Mrs. Johnson. Highlights of the show include the reading of Elizabeth's will and the revelation that Victoria Winters was Carolyn's half-sister, Maggie slapping Cassandra and calling her a b*tch for trying to steal Quentin from her, and Willie taking ownership of the Old House and installing a whirlpool (now he can finally soak away the pain from all of Barnabas's thrashings.) A standing ovation concluded the show and the ballroom quickly emptied out for autograph lines and banquet lines.

A second line for banquet tickets developed, and I was lucky enough to get mine fairly quickly so that I could run up to my room and change for dinner. Unfortunately, going back downstairs, I encountered a banquet line that was almost even longer than the one for "Return to Collinwood." Because the autograph line was in the main hallway, everyone destined for the banquet was split up throughout the convention area. One group was lined up in a ballroom just behind the gift shop at one end of the hotel while others stretched around the lobby and all the way to the back near the kitchen. I estimate that we must have stood in line for a good two hours at the least. The banquet was originally scheduled to begin at 8:00, but since the play had run over and the autograph session was lengthy, as usual, we weren't allowed into the ballroom to be seated until after 9:00. Roger Davis walked the line, apologizing for the delay and promising us that we would be eating very soon. I know that several of my friends complained of hunger, the pain of standing, and the general disorganization. Once inside, I was amazed to see that there were over sixty tables in the banquet hall, stretching all the way from the stage to the very rear of Salon I. Unfortunately, those of us sitting in the back (I was at Table 59 with Minja, Teresalita/Springsteena, and ReneeC/DSFan1970) weren't even able to hear Jim Pierson's announcements above the clatter of sliverware and dishes as the waiters bustled around serving coffee and desert. We shouted, "Louder! Speak LOUDER!" but even then, it was nearly impossible to understand what was going on. Dinner wasn't bad. The main course consisted of chicken, vegetables, and rice, preceded by a salad and rolls. (Vegetarians ate vegetable lasagna.) Sadly, our table ran out of rolls before the basket could circulate the entire table and we weren't able to get a refill on the breadbasket. Dessert was fruit in cream cheese, which I was unable to sample because of my allergies. I can't say I was thrilled with the way the door prizes were given out. The process involves drawing two numbers: the first number stands for the table, the second number is the person at the table. (Each table selects one person to be "Number One" and all the other diners number themselves 2-12 clockwise.) So, if someone draws 12 and then 7, the seventh person at Table 12 wins. This year, it seemed that all of the winning tables were in the teens and twenties. I heard one 30 and one 50, but that was it, and I wondered if someone had bothered to put in enough numbers to represent all of the tables. Eventually, we gave up hope of winning any door prizes, though we were given complimentary sunglasses with the DS logo on the earpiece. Unfortunately, I forgot to pick mine up as we were being rushed out of the dining room. The Marriott staff wanted to clear the ballroom by midnight, so the banquet ended at 11:15, immediately after we had finished eating. We just had time to watch two of Guy Haines's music videos and no further programming.

Not ready to settle for an early night, my friends and I went to the bar for about an hour where Bobubas talked the Marriott into letting us watch Guy's recording of the Collinsport Players' skit on the big screen TV in the bar. Just as we were watching the curtain call, we were told that the bar was closing and we would have to leave. Oddly enough, several patrons remained in the bar even up to an hour after we were told to go. Since the Brooklyn Marriott doesn't have a 24-hour meeting area for guests, we simply stood around in the lobby, talking, taking pictures, and enjoying one another's company, knowing that we would all be leaving the next morning. When we grew tired of standing, we sat or sprawled on the floor. At one point, Jonathan Harrison and Richard Halpern of the Collinsport Players started dancing and singing "Puttin' on the Ritz" in the style of Young Frankenstein, drawing several laughs. A few times, security came around and asked us politely to go back to our rooms because we were too noisy, but we remained until nearly 3:30 AM, making every moment last. This gathering was a thrilling end to a lovely weekend.

Many thanks to everyone who helped make the Festival special for me! Reuniting with old friends and meeting new ones is really the highlight for me. I hope to see you all again in the near future!

ProfStokes

(Below is a picture of victoriawinters in the costume gala.)

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Here are some of the costumes from Saturday's gala.

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Here are more costumes, including Petofi VAM in the back.

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'Barnabas' and 'Angelique' in the costume gala

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'Nicholas Blair' threatens anyone who would cease the Festivals

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"Puttin' on the Ritz" circa 3:00 AM...

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