Last updated: 03/10/2010

2010
 Club Meeting News

Our first meeting of the year was held February 13, 2010 at at the Denny's on Semoran in Orlando. Our theme for the day was in honor of Valentine's day Dark Shadows style.

At the meeting updates were given on the 2010 Dark Shadows Fest - `DARK SHADOWS IN THE SUN" JULY 16-18, 2010 – back in beautiful BURBANK, CA. Among the special guests will be Jonathan Frid, David Selby, Lara Parker, John Karlen, Kathryn Leigh Scott, Jerry Lacy, Marie Wallace, Kathleen Cody, and others.

The Tim Burton - Johnny Depp Dark Shadows Movie is under script rewrite and according to the latest reports will shoot later this year (after Pirates 4 and the Lone Ranger.)

Kathy Resch has published several DS Concordance books. Kathy reports she has a few copies of "The 1897 Concordance Volume 1" with slightly scuffed covers/pages that she is selling for half-price. She also has available fresh copies of the 1897 Volume 1 book plus all her other Concordances: 1795, 1968-Volume 1, 1968 Volume 2, 1970, and 1840/1841 Parallel Time.
 Please email her at kathleener@aol.com for more information.

Of other interest Conventions coming up in Orlando:
MegaCon - March 12th - 14th, 2010 Orange County Convention, Orlando
BloodLust Vampire Festival - May 7-9 Florida Hotel and Conference Center, Orlando
Out of this World: Extraordinary Costumes from Film and Television - February 6-May 16 - Orange County Regional History Center, Orlando.




We will be doing our biannual club garage sale this year on Sat April 17. As you start doing your spring cleaning, set aside stuff you would like to donate and we will collect them from the April 3 meeting.

2009
 Club Meeting News

Our last meeting  of the year was held September 12, 2009 at at the Denny's on Semoran in Orlando. Our theme for the day was “Back to the Blue Whale” in anticipation of annual party. We had 24 in attendance including 1 new member who found us on the web and our youngest member, 5 month old Phoenix Dragon.

 We had 7 members attend the recent Dark Shadows Fest in Newark, NJ. Ed gave a brief rundown of the fest with input from Cindy and Beth. The hotel was nice and better set up for food with a quick snack lane with premade sandwiches, fruit and snacks available outside the ball room. The banquet food was a hit, a vast improvement over last year’s food. 

Ed pointed out the highlights for him were the performances during the “Gala” including a GoGo Carolyn, and a young lady who did a ballet to some of the DS music. The Collinsport Players’ skit, “Bewitched Shadows” stared Lara Parker as Angelique who was brought before the witches council headed by Endora played by Peter Mac. Other favorite players were Dr. John Schafer as Uncle Arthur, Richard Halpern as Aunt Clara and Walter Downs as Barnabas. 

Highlights of some of the star talks include Kathryn Leigh Scott discussing the article she wrote for Opera News about a friend of hers who became the stalker of an opera star. KLS acknowledged a debt of gratitude to Charles Ellis, who provided her with invaluable resources through his workplace.  "He just happened to answer the phone when I called up to ask for information and he recognized Maggie Evans's voice!"  Jonathan Frid remained on-stage for the cast reunion this time.  When Lara Parker took the stage, she briefly sat in his lap. When asked which contemporary actor would you like to see playing your character in the movie several of the stars responded.  Lara named Charlize Theron as her pick, Kathryn would like Keira Knightley to play Maggie, and   Jerry Lacy named Alan Rickman to portray Trask.  

The auction consisted mainly of Jonathan Frid’s items, contracts, scrapbooks, comic books, etc. 

The Fest dates and location have been announced. Next year’s Fest is July 16-18 at the Burbank Marriott (location of the 2008 fest). The Hotel is taking reservations and the rate is $129, although you may do better using AAA rates. 

Club member, Cindy, showed off shirts she made for the fest along with koosies with the “Blue Whale” logo. The club members present signed a card that will accompany a picture and a T-shirt with Collinwood on it that is to be sent to Johnny Depp.

 Any one who would like to contact Bob Issel regarding the items mentioned at the meeting he has for sale can reach him through his email.

 Upcoming events

October 9-11 several members of the club will be attending Screamfest in Orlando  

On Friday Oct 16^th starting at 6 pm club members will meet for dinner at Hamburger Mary's Bar & Grille. Following dinner we will be attending the Orlando Ghost Tour. For those who are only attending the tour meet at 8pm at 129 West Church Street in Church Street Station, next to the front entrance of the restaurant Ceviche click here for directions. The cost is $20 per person for our group, the McCann party. Credit cards and PayPal are accepted - but only online prior to the tour, its cash only the night of the tour. If you are paying by credit card or PayPal, when you decide to pay, go to their website: www.hauntedorlando.com/orlando.html. Be sure to select senior/student in order to get the $20 rate.   Let Pat McCann know if you are attending the tour only or want to attend dinner prior to the tour at Hamburger Mary’s. After the tour we will be going to The Desert Lady.  

Oct 30- Nov 1  Halloween weekend will see some members attend a Dr. Who convention sponsored by a local Orlando Dr. Who club “Hurricane Who” (correction from jarrod.m.cooper@gmail.com " We are a fan run organization that plans Doctor Who/british sci fi events in the Central Florida Area." Mr. Cooper also writes; "We are not affiliated with the Guardians of Gallifrey, nor are we in competition with them. " http://www.hurricanewho.com/2009/05/get-tickets-for-the-2009-convention/ . This club is not to be confused with the older more established Central Florida Doctor Who Fan Club: the Guardians of Gallifrey (GOG) http://www.angelfire.com/space/ntime/index.html.  You may be asking what Dr Who has to do with Dark Shadows, beyond sharing members. Big Finish Audio which produces the new series of Dark Shadows audio dramas about also produces a series on Dr. Who. (I know it is a stretch) 

November 14 at 7 pm is the date of our annual party at the home of Cindy in Edgewater. Invitations with directions will be sent out soon. To cover the cost of food and drinks $15 per person (half price for children) was collected at our meeting. To have an estimate head count for the food please let Pat know if you are attending and will be paying at the door.

 November 15 several members plan to attend the final day of the Eyecon 'True Blood' convention in Orlando. One of our regular club members who attends many autograph fests and cons gives the following advice:

“If you're interested in going and plan on getting autographs from whoever the main guests turn out to be, I'd recommend purchasing your tickets in advance rather than waiting and buying the tickets at the registration table when you arrive. 

As at some of the DS Fests, there's usually a long autograph session for some of the stars.  Unlike the DS Fest where your position in the line is determined by a free-for-all of fans lining up at random, the autograph sessions at an Eyecon are handled more the way it is done at Vulkons and the Creation Enterprises events: fans line up sequentially based on the numbers on their tickets (ie: tickets 100-150 now; then 150-200 when they're done, etc etc.).  Volunteers check your ticket number to make sure nobody is out of order. 

The earlier you buy your Eyecon ticket, the lower your number will be and the less time you'll spend waiting on the autograph line.  If you buy your ticket on the day of the event, you might end up having to wait 2 or 3 hours in the autograph line. 

Also: unlike the DS events where the stars autographs are included in your admission fee, the guests at Eyecon charge $20 or $30 for each autograph.”

 December 12 at 7 pm we will meet again at Logan’s RoadHouse 3060 W Sand Lake Rd, Orlando for our annual Christmas Dinner. If you arrive early we will be gathering in the bar area until time to be seated.

The meeting schedule for 2010 will be announced here so watch the news for updates.

2009
Club Meeting News

Our meeting was  held June 27, 2009 at  at the Denny's on Semoran.  Coincidentally it was the 43rd  anniversary of the beginning of Dark Shadows. Our Theme for the day was First and Last and we viewed the first and last episodes. We had 18 in attendance including two new members who were friends of Sandy and a New/Old member who many knows from Ed Lambese's parties.

Beth  announced that Cindy is making two styles of T-shirts for the fest and took orders for her.

The main topic of discussion was Johnny Depp's movie adaptation of Dark Shadows. There have been numerous reports coming from one of Depp's interviews while promoting his latest movie. Depp has been reported as saying:

“Dark Shadows’ is happening. Tim is working on ‘Alice in Wonderland’ which is obviously quite a large piece of work there. So when Tim is done with ‘Alice’ and we get the script, which is very, very close, in order we’ll probably attack it next year. It’s exciting, very exciting. It’s like a lifelong dream for me. I loved the show when I was a kid. I was obsessed with Barnabas Collins. I have photographs of me holding Barnabas Collins posters when I was five or six. I’m very excited to do it.”
 

The "other' hot vampire series was also discussed. we watched some "extras" on the season 1 DVD set of True Blood. Announcement about David Selby appearing on AMC Mad Men in an episode called The Greatest Generation. Check back for air date.

Several members are going to the DS Fest to be held Aug 14-16. The Hotel is sold out as is the banquette. For more information see the Fest Website

Reminders that the next meeting would be Sep 12. Our annual Party is November 14 at Cindy's in Edgewater. Hotel information is listed here. The party's theme is "Back to the Blue Whale". $15 per person / $7 under 12 to cover cost. Our Christmas dinner is Dec 12 at Logan's more details to come. Pat collected IM and Face-book contact information so that we can keep up with each other between meetings.

2009
Club Meeting News

Our meeting was  held April 4, 2009 at  at the Denny's on Semoran.
Breaking News Club members Sydney Dragon and Amy had a baby boy on March 24. Congratulations and welcome to our newest member! They brought little Phoenix Kia to meet all of us click here to see pictures. Besides our newest member we had a great turn out of more than 25 people at our meeting.

• Breaking News on the Johnny Depp Dark Shadows movie MTV News reports is is still an active project with Depp slated to appear as Barnabas. Click here for the web page or here for a PDF of the article.

• The 1991 Series was recently broadcasted on Chiller cable network. It is also available online at www.Hulu.com .

• The other vampire guilty pleasure, True Blood, will be back June 13th with season 2 and the 9th Sookie Stackhouse book Dead and Gone is due out in May.

• Big Finish Audio has released the 7th in its dark Shadows Reborn audio drama series. This one is called The Wicked and the Dead and stars new comer to Dark Shadows Audio drama, Jerry Lacy who is reprising his role of the Rev. Gregory Trask, and perennial favorite John Karlen, reprising his role as Carl Collins.

We have four possible five members attending the festival in New Jersey Aug 14-16 (Beth, Cindy, Ed, Virginia and maybe Jim). We have had a request from our Cousin from California who is looking for a third roommate, for contact information email the WebMistress.

Up coming dates:

• Our next meeting is June 27, which corresponds with the debut of Dark Shadows in 1966.

• Our annual party is Nov 14 at Cindy's, the theme is "Back to the Blue Whale"

The Links page has been updated with a link to the new online version of Shadowgram and the bog site for the DS movies.

2009
Club Meeting News

Our meeting of  January  24, 2009 was held at  held  at the Denny's on Semoran.
Dates were set for the rest of the meetings for the year, as well as our annual party and holiday dinner. Here are the key club dates for 2009:

April 4 - Meeting
June 27 - Meeting
August 14-16 Dark Shadows Fest Newark, NJ
September 12 - Meeting
November 14 - Annual Party - Back to the Blue Whale
December 12 - Holiday Dinner

We had 17 members and 1 new guest in attendance. Our Theme for the day was the 1991 Revival series and we enjoyed an episode from that series.

Discussions included: Bright House in Orlando getting Chiller Channel which is a horror/mystery genre channel. Possibly a new home for Dark Shadows? No new news on the Depp version of DS movie. Johnny Depp has quite a few movie commitments before making  DS, 2010 seem a bit wishful.
General news from the world of DS has been very quiet due to the lack of publication of Shadow Gram for several months. No word from Marcy Robin since Oct when she announced the dates for the next fest. The Dark Shadows Festival will be presenting The Dark Shadows Resurrected convention over the weekend of August 14-16, 2009, at the Renaissance Newark Airport Hotel, 1000 Spring Street, Elizabeth, New Jersey, 07201. See the Fest Web site for order additional information and the order form.
Discussion continued on the latest vampire hit TV show, True Blood  on HBO and the book series by Charlaine Harris on which it is based . The first season ended in November 2008 but has been repeated on HBO and available on HBO on demand. This is a good show folks catch it if you can. Season 2 is scheduled for May 2009.

A new website to order the Johnny  Depp as Barnabas t-shirt that made their début at the 2008 Dark shadows Fest in Burbank was announced. The link is http://www.zazzle.com/johnpeternyc and the shirts are designed by Dr. John Schaefer of Collinsportplayers fame.
 

2008
Club Meeting News

Our meeting of  September  27, 2008 was held  at the Denny's on Semoran. We had quite a large turn out including 4 new people. Cindy, Pat Murphy, Mary and  Beth shared fest news including live on stage the reenactment of Willie releasing Barnabas from his chained coffin, with Frid and Karlen reprising their roles. We showed some excerpts from the fest that was recorded by Joe Integlia.   Two fest T-Shirts were modeled the "Burbank" DS Fest t-shirt was a take off of the old Laugh-In TV show sold by  Bobulas. The other T-shirt was of Barnabas for President show the classic Barnabas portrait with Johnny Depp's face. Both T-shirts sold out at the fest. See 2008 Dark Shadows Fest News for a full fest report.

Plans were made to have our annual Holiday Dinner on December 13th, 7 pm at Logan's Roadhouse, 3060 W. Sandlake Road, RSVP to Patrick

Information on two new Big Finish Dark Shadows Audio dramas (Clothes of Sand and The Ghost Watcher)  that were released at the fest and information on the 4 new ones slated for release later this year/early next year was discussed.  Both of the two new 1 hour dramas feature Kathryn Leigh Scott and Alec Newman (Barnabas in the 2004 DS pilot).

Invitations to the Annual Party were handed out. Invitations will be mailed to those who didn't make it to the meeting. The party's theme is the two Dark Shadows movies House of Dark Shadows and Night of Dark Shadows. Come dressed as your favorite character from either.

2008 Dark Shadows Fest News

Click here for a PDF version of the 2008 Dark Shadows Fest report

Club Meeting News

Our meeting of  June 28, 2008 was held  at the Denny's on Semoran. Pat reviewed the profit from the yard sale of $250.00. Thanks to those who helped Beth, Carol and Sandy. the next meeting date is scheduled for Sep 27 and the date of the party is confirmed for Nov 1 from 6:30pm -10:30pm. This year's theme will be DS goes to the movies come as your favorite NODS/HODS character.  Invitations will be available at the next meeting. The party committee will meet in Aug. Discussions of the proposed Johnny Depp DS movie with announcement of Tim Burton to be involved prompted a lively discussion both pro and con. See cast updates for info on the stars

Club Meeting News

Our meeting of  April 12, 2008 was held  at the Denny's on Semoran. The meeting reviewed the latest information on the upcoming including announced guests. The Fest flyer sent out listed Roger Davis as attending, however the website and other communications from the Fest do not mention him. We believe it to have been a typo. Hands were called for those planning on attending the Fest and roommates were coordinated.
The biannual yard sale was discussed, volunteers called for and donations gathered and taken to Pat's home. the yard sale is scheduled April 19.
The next meeting was announced as June 28 the theme will be Picnic/DS Outdoors. Nov 1st was suggested for annual party and will be confirmed at the next meeting. Other announcements include a discussion of Retro TV showing allot of 60's shows.

Club Meeting News

Our first  meeting of 2008 was held on February 9 2008 at the Denny's on Semoran. The meeting reviewed the last party, which was really a surprise party in our president, Pat McCann's honor of his 15 years of service to Central Florida Dark Shadows Fan Club and DS Fandom in general. At the party video tributes from cousins from around the country was shown. The video was produced by our own CynDe and our cousin Guy Haynes. Another video tribute produced by resident Web Mistress, LdyAnne showed photos from past parties, trips and outings sponsored by the club.  the evening was topped off with a presentation of a jacket  with Central Florida Dark Shadows Fan Club and Pats name on it.

Our annual Holiday dinner was held at Logan Roadhouse on December 8 and had a great attendance with over 20 members present including an appearance of our youngest member JR Mulhall age 8 months at the time.

New business discussed included dates for up coming meetings (April 12) and our Semi Annual Yard Sale (April 19). Our club doesn't charge dues and we use the proceeds from the yard sale to defray the cost of mailing the meeting notices, costs of our annual party and other expenses.  Clean out those closets and bring your donations to the next meeting. If you would like to help, donate or work at the sale please contact Pat McCann.

Discussion of the upcoming Dark Shadows Fest in Burbank July 18-20, 2008 included who from the club plan to go or was making plans to go. Roommates were being discussed and travel plan exchanged.  New Info Since the Meeting: Jonathan Frid will be making another appearance at the West Coast fest

We have tentatively  picked November 1, 2008 for the date of our party. More details will be coming as plans are formed.

Club Meeting News

Our final  meeting of the year was held on September 29, 2007 at the Denny's on Semoran.
The meeting included Fest reports and sharing of pictures from the fest and other activities by club members. These include visits to Lyndhurst, location of Collinwood for the two DS movies, Sunnyside, the home of  Washington Irving, Phillipsburg Manor, a 18th century farm, and the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. Some Club members also visited the Train station (now a post office) used in the opening episode when Victoria arrived in Collinsport. Pictures and individual reports will be uploaded soon.

Announcements included:

• Annual Party, in Edgewater at CynD's house Nov 10, see invitation. RSVP to Patrick

• Organized trip to Greenwood Cemetery in Orlando for a moonlight tour on Oct 26 at 9 pm. See Flyer for details. RSVP to Patrick

• Annual Holiday dinner Dec 8, 7 pm at Logan's Roadhouse, 3060 W. Sandlake Road, RSVP to Patrick

• Announcement of a new book by our "cousin" from NY, Peter Mac, called Cinema Salem, which deals with the Salem witch trials as depicted in movies and TV. It has a foreword by our own "witchy poo" Lara "Angelique" Parker. see Flyer for Details.

NEW Dark Shadows Film

click here for details

Club Meeting News

Our third meeting of the year was held on June 30, 2007 at the Denny's on Semoran. The new location has become an over whelming success. the Management has been kind enough to purchase a TV with built in DVD/VHS for our use. Kudos to Denny's!

The meeting was primarily discussions of  the Fest and the news of Frid's appearance (see below). 
(WebMistress' note: it has been reported in several sources that the banquet and hotel has been sold out. Tickets for the fest are still available at this time.)

News on the release of the pre-Barnabas episodes to other than MPI outlets as a cost savings; sites listed are Deep Discount DVDs and Amazon (after note: the DS Forums reports Wal-Mart on line has the cheapest preorder price). News of David Selby new series on HBO (see cast page).

The other announcements are the dates for the next meeting September 29, 2007 and the date of the Annual  Club Party November 10th at CynD's House in Edgewater. The theme this year will be 1840 - The Head of Judah Zachery. Invitations with additional information, directions and maps will be available at the next meeting and will be mailed to those unable to attend this meeting. We hope to have a great turn out so we would like old members to come on back. For those who may want to book overnight accommodations for the weekend we recommend Best Western in Edgewater. the rates are from 79.20 (non refundable) to 99.00 rack rate. AAA rate is 89.10

DATELINE: Tarrytown, NY  August 17 & 18, 2007

The Dark Shadows Festival Presents: Johnathan Frid's 40th Anniversary celebrating his appearance as Barnabas Collins.  Also appearing Lara Parker, Kathryn Leigh Scott and Marie Wallace. Click here for registration flyer and  information.  This is the link to the Fesival's online form

Club Meeting News

Our second meeting of the year was held on April 28, 2007 at the Denny's on Semoran. the new location was decided on due to Golden Corral having changed management and no longer providing a TV for us to use to view DVD's of Dark shadows on.  Denny's was a rousing success, we had a private room with a real door so that we had a quite room. They provided us with a TV-DVD/VHS combo. The food was served fairly quickly and was quite good.
News at the meeting:

• 2007 Fest - a 2 day only event in Tarrytown, NY (location of the two DS movies), the special guest is none other than Jonathan Frid, Barnabas Collins himself. Frid will appear on Saturday and attend the banquet that night and each attendee will receive a personalized picture.

• At present we have 6 club member attending the fest. If you are interested in attending let Patrick know to help coordinated roommates if needed.

• More fest information will be posted as soon as it is confirmed

• Other news on David Selby's latest doings are posted on our CAST page

• Our annual club party will be held at Cindy's house in Edgewater, FL (near New Smyrna Beach) on Nov 10, the theme will be 1840 story line, Head of Judah Zachery.

• Next meeting was announce as tentatively June 30 at the same Denny's

Holiday Get Together Dinner

Last year we we had an informal dinner at a local restaurant. No formal meeting, no agenda, or theme just friends sharing a meal during the holiday season. Well we had so much fun last year we did it again. On December 9th we met at Logan's Roadhouse 3060 W. Sand Lake Rd near John Young. We had a good turnout over 20 of us, taking up 3 long tables. We even had a "Cousin" from Pennsylvania come for a visit.

New Smyrna Beach Historical Ghost Tour

Several club members got together on Nov 18 to go on the New Smyrna Beach Historical Ghost Tour. For Pictures and a report click here.

2007 Meeting

Tentatively scheduled for February 10, 2007

Central Florida Dark Shadows Fan Club Halloween Party
October 28, 2006 7:00 to 11:00 pm

We will be celebrating 40 years of our favorite show. Dress as your favorite DS character! Food, Games, Prizes! For more information and an invitation contact Patrick McCann (407) 277-0840.

Update: 10/31/2006

The Party was a great hit. We had 22 club members attend the festivities which included games, prizes, a spooky graveyard and lots of great food and drink. Pictures from the party can be seen here.

ShadowGram Online Dark Shadows News Update
No. 160, No.161

Season's Greeting from Jonathan Frid

New Audio Dramas from Big Finish Productions
Click here to read a review

Oct 13-15, 2006 Scream Fest 2006
at Wyndham Orlando Resort Hotel Orlando, FL

Several club members are planning to attend. For more information  contact Patrick McCann (407) 277-0840.

Meeting Report September 9, 2006
Last Meeting of the year

We had twenty members gathered to attend our last meeting of the year.   As always, we had a wonderful time greeting one another and socializing over lunch.   It was especially nice to see long time club member Al Rocheleau back with us.  Al reports that his son Eric, once our youngest club member, is currently spending his military career as a meteorologist in Arizona.  We all send best regards to Eric!

Much of the meeting time was spent going over the Fest reports from the club members who attended the recent DS Fest in Brooklyn.  Everyone seemed to have a different Fest experience to share which was very interesting for us all. Link here for the fest report.

Lucy Ray is doing a group order for Bob Issel's wonderful DS 40th Anniversary T shirt.  If you were not at the meeting but would like to purchase a shirt, please email Lucy at lcandarchie@cfl.rr.com   She will tell you the sizes available and prices.  Lucy will be sending the order and payment to Bob on September 23rd.

As we have in the past, once more club members have joined together to make a charitable contribution to a worthy cause.  At today's meeting a collection was taken up in memory of Dan Curtis, and his wife Norma.  We can all feel very proud that club members donated a total of 120.00 that will go to the Dr. Jeffrey Cummings' Alzheimer's Research c/o UCLA Alzheimer's Disease Center, 710 Westwood Plaza, Suite 20238, Los Angeles, CA 90095 (per the wishes of the Curtis family)   A check will be mailed out next week.  Thanks to everyone for their generous contributions in honor of the man who gave us Dark Shadows!

Several club members plan to attend the October 21st performance at the University of Gainesville of L.A. Theatre Works production of "The Cain Mutiny Court Martial" starring David Selby.  WARNING: The final cast list is still not confirmed, but we are crossing our fingers that Mr. Selby will indeed be appearing in this production.  If you are interested in attending please contact Beth via this site.  She will be contacting the college soon to get more information regarding advance purchase of tickets, and hopefully a cast confirmation as well. If a large enough number will attend car pooling will try to be arranged.  Again, if you are interested in seeing this show, contact Beth and check back on the website.  Updates and news regarding the cast, etc will be posted as soon as they are available.

The annual club party is going to be held on Saturday, October 28th at Pat McCann's Orlando home.  The cost of the party is  $10.00 per person, $5.00 for kids payable in advance or at the door.    This year's theme is a general celebration of Dark Shadows 40th Anniversary.  Costumes are optional as always, but if you wish, please come dressed as your favorite DS character.  Payment may be made in advance, or at the door.  Invitations will be mailed out soon with all the information, but if you have questions before-hand please email Patrick at Pat@cfdsfanclub.com  . We hope everyone will join us for another great party! 

All in all, today's was a wonderful meeting.  It's always a bit sad when we come to the last meeting of the year.  Club members who could not attend were missed.  Any DS Fans looking at this website, who are not yet members, please continue to view this website.  During the months the club is not in session any DS news will continue to be posted as it is announced.  Contact Patrick if you may be interested in attending meetings in 2007 as we begin our 15th year.  New members are always welcome!

40th Anniversary Fest
Dateline: New York City Aug 25-26, 2006 

Fest Highlights:

Ø      Over 1,200 fans gathered at the New York Brooklyn Bridge Marriott for the 40^th Anniversary of Dark Shadows.

Ø      A surprise phone call from Jonathan Frid, (Barnabas) live from his home in Canada. The conversation took place during the cast reunion on the stage Saturday afternoon. He began by introducing himself as "Jonathan Frid, or 'Barny'".  He was surprised and thrilled there was a thousand people hearing his voice and Pierson indicated there were many more present.  He said, "Guess what?" and told us he was reviewing the script he'd be reading later that day for placement soon on his website.  He's still bug-eyed about the technology but considers playing with his website to be his new career. 

Ø      As promised Saturday night Jonathan Frid presented a special video recreating his “Readers Theater”. This video will be posted to his website very soon.

Ø      Saturday night highlights also included the East coast viewing of the Dark Shadows 2004 TV Pilot, The Collinwood Players skit The Golden Girls meet Dark Shadows and The Costume Gala with a hula dance performed by Josette (you had to be there) and Peter Mac as Miranda Duval singing  I Put A Spell On You by 'Screamin' Jay Hawkins

Ø      The auctions highlights were: two paintings - original cover for the first Dark Shadows novel by Marilyn Ross that went for $700 and the Barnabas painting from the NoDS movie that went for an astonishing $13,000.00; Other highlights from the auction was a Quentin figure that Beth got for $50.00

Ø      Sunday afternoon’s highlight was the dramatic reading of the first and last episode scripts, from June 27, 1966 and April 2, 1971. Some of the cast recreated their original roles while others took on other characters, such as Jerry Lacy as Bramwell and David Selby as Brutus Collins. The stage was enhanced with a recreation of the original TV series' Collinwood drawing room set.

Ø      Our own Lucy reports her highlight: “I maybe saw was less of the actual Fest than some of the others did, but I did witness one interesting thing on Friday afternoon before it started up. I was by myself, waiting for the 5th floor elevator.  Marie Wallace and Chris Pennock were standing close by having a conversation.  They were discussing the cast reunion script readings, which were to take place on Sunday afternoon.  Wallace was telling Pennock that she had just seen the script, and "that they were actually quite good" :)  Both of them seemed relieved to know they had some decent material to present..”

Ø      During the course of the weekend several of us had a chance to speak to a couple of Central Florida Fans that did not know about our fan club....let's cross our fingers that we might get some new club members in the future!

Ø      As for all of us in attendance the fest also meant catching up with old DS/Fan Friends from all over the country. The time flew by and we were off to our respective home too soon. With hopes to see each other next year although nothing was announced.

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Meeting Report July 29, 2006