Dark Shadows Resurrected 2009
Dark Shadows Resurrected was held this year from August 14 to the 16th.
These Festivals get better and better each year, and as far as the fans were concerned,
this was the best one yet Well, we have many more to go,
but I want to share some of the photos from this great year.
Registration opened at 3pm and what would we do without our volunteers
at the tables, greeting, registering, and assisting in all ways possible.

Here's Ann Wilson who runs it all. (sorry I caught you with your eyes closed, Ann, but, with all the work you did, you needed a little shut-eye.) And that's Paula next to Ann.

These are "My Boys" and are always ready, willing and able to assist us in any way. And at all times, in the most cheerful and engaging way.

We opened the Festival with Dark Shadows Recollections between John Karlen and me.
They showed scenes of ours, but unfortunately Johnny and I had no scenes together.
We had a Q&A throughout and John kept them laughing throughoutIm always amazed at how many new and at-the-Fest-for-the-first-time-fans there are.
I thought you would get older and older, but not so.
In fact, we have some of the youngest fans of all.

One of our beautiful young fans

and here's another beauty

We have the most wonderful volunteers...they help to make the Fest run smoothly...we couldn't do without them.
Here I am with my friend Larry at the Volunteer Party which they so richly deserve.I think you'll agree that everyone had a good time at the party!

David Barnett created beautiful portraits of some of the actors, and I was one of the lucky ones.
So was Jonathan Frid and Donna Wandrey. I was so sorry that Donna wasn't there, because of a bad summer cold
(she was missed by all) but she'll be happy to receive her portrait.

David presenting Jonathan his portrait. Sorry I didn't get a good shot of it, but there were so many photographers in front of me, I did not. But it was also wonderful.

Isn't this great? I'm Megan there (scarf wrapped around my neck because I'm hiding the fact that I've been bitten by Barnabus and am becoming a vampire.)

Thank you, David.

It's always a pleasure to see old friends at the Fests. Here's Peter and John, and their aunt and Mom.

John Schafer and Peter Mac

Me answering one of the queries. Trying to make the answer funny, I guess

A room full of fans...are YOU there? If not, come to Burbank in 2010!

Please note: 9/10/09 - I have more photos but Im running out of space,
so I have to do some housekeeping on my site.
TO BE CONTINUED

Our last festival - 2008
We had a most exciting festival, with so many of the stars from the original show. Everyone was thrilled that Jonathan Frid was there, along with Lara Parker, Kathryn Leigh Scott, John Karlen, David Selby,Christopher Pennock, Robert Rodan, Jerry Lacy, Roger Davis, and "yours truly". We also had wonderful programs with Bob Cobert (music composer who created all our marvelous music, including Quentin's Theme - Shadows of the Night) and Sy Tomashoff (scenic designer who, with his great designing talents, transformed our studio into the grandest gothic sets on television).

 Look at the young fans that I meet...and I do mean young!
Another feature of Dark Shadows Resurrected was the Cast Reunion and Q&A.
And of course, all that audience participation.

Jerry Lacy, Roger Davis, Lara Parker, & Kathryn Leigh Scott...and here I am with Robert Rodan & Jerry Lacy

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John Karlen, Christopher Pennock & David Selby..............................................................................and our fans.

And what would a DS Festival be without the wonderful volunteers who cheerfully help to run it so smoothly. Here are some of them who stopped for a moment to be photographed with me.

At the "Thank You to The Volunteers" party

The above photo is me with the great Marcy Robin who does such a fabulous job with the ShadowGram newsletter,

That beautiful fan I'm holding in the photo with Marcy was given to me by a DS fan.
Here she is...thank you again, dear fan.

And here I am again with a few more of our young fans

Lots of happenings happen at our happening, and one was a birthday celebration for Dave LeBlanc, DS Fest sound man for as long as I can remember. He hit a big number this year, and his lovely wife and partner in sound presented him with a birthday cake to remember. Here they are...

It's a great cake, isnt it. And delicious too..........

...and here's a toast (with my favorite Chardonnay) to The One & Only Jim Pierson, without whom there would be no Festival.

Here's the dog everyone fell in love with - Lex - with owner Chari who has been coming to the Festivals for many years. She even came to see me in Blowing Rock, when I was appearing in a production of
"Arsenic and Old Lace".

Jonathan Frid presented two programs on stage. On Saturday, he discussed The Growth of Barnabus followed by a lively Q&A. And on Sunday, he talked about An Odd Assortment of Stage Events That Determined a Career. As usual, he was so interesting, I wouldn't dream of interrupting it with a flash from my camera. However, I did manage to get a few photos...
Jonathan with Jerry Lacy backstage, and one photo as he relaxed outdoors.

On Saturday and Sunday, the famous Collinsport Players presented a pair of skits based on Dark Shadows. They're always a big hit. I'm posing below with Dr. Hoffman, who was just ready to go on stage in Another Day at Collinwood, written and directed by Peter Mac...

Well, it's really my friend Dr. John Schaefer, who does a very convincing job in that role.

And here's a happy vampire (Wally Wingert) I ran into at the Fest

On Sunday afternoon, we did a reading of an unproduced 1968 Lost DS script on stage with the original actors. It was an Adam and Eve script, and Robert Rodan, happily, was there to recreate his role, as I did the role of Eve. Lara Parker played Angelique and Roger Davis was Jeff Clark (but to me (Eve) he was really Peter Bradford). It was great fun and the audience loved it. Unfortunately, no photos of our performance, but here are more fans...

..Loyal fan Rick hasn't missed a Festival.....More of my favorite fans and friends.......Our most colorful DS fans..

All good things must come to an end, and we do it up with
a celebratory banquet with the stars.
I visit as many tables as I can, greeting all the guests and stopping for just one more photograph

Here we have new and long-time DS fans, and looks like everyone is having a great time, including moi!

Here are some more fun tables, and they all told me what a great event the Festival was.


Yes, a good time was had by all!
We look forward to seeing all our Dark Shadows fans
next year in Brooklyn.

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2007 Festival
40th Anniversary of the creation of Barnabus!

Here's Jonathan at the mike as he told us all his wonderful stories. Looks like Nancy Kersey (in the background) is really enjoying them, as I and all the fans did. And then at the table as he signed all of his photos for the fans at the banquet. There were so many fans and therefore so many photos, that he extended the signing into the next morning.

Our Youngest Fans!


This is the part I loved. There were soooo many young people at the Fest, and little kids too.
These photos are just a sampling of some of them that visited me at my table.


And my friends Sophia and Dorothy dropped by and we had a great reunion. OOps! I mean John and Peter who did their very special impersonations at the Fest.

And I was so happy to see my cousins from New England. They came to the Festival for the first time and loved it. It was wonderful to have them there.

There was a very special party on Friday night, hosted by Nancy Kersey, and it was a pleasure to be with Jonathan in an informal setting. Kathryn and Lara were there too and we all enjoyed "catching up."


There were lots of expected and unexpected guests turning up. Photo bealow is of agents Mary Haggarty and John Shea...Yes, they were original fans who ran home to watch Dark Shadows.

And a wonderful surprise was to see Larry Storch (Corporal Agarn of F Troop). Larry and I worked together in I Oughta Be In Pictures at the Hampton Playhouse in New Hampshire. That was a marvelous experience and I write about it in detail in my memoir, On Stage & In Shadows. It was an even bigger surprise for Jonathan to see Larry, (they co-starred in Arsenic and Old Lace.) They had a lovely reunion on stage. I unfortunately didn't get a shot of that because I ran in to the auditorium when I heard they were on stage together, but without my camera.


And I wish I had photos of all our loyal fans, however I was a bit too busy for that, but here are a few.
I guess Steve Morga has been to all our Fests. Or at least most of them.


And then the final evening's Banquet. Here are some of the tables.



I think you can see that everyone had a fabulous time including we who were the original cast members of the most unforgettable tv show, Dark Shadows.

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2006 Brooklyn Festival
Photo is at a Volunteer Party,
and of course,
you all know John Karlen and Lara Parker, and me!

Dark Shadows 40th Anniversary Celebration at the New York Marriott in Brooklyn August 25, 26 & 27, 2006 The Dark Shadows weekend was once again a great success. It was attended by David Selby, John Karlen, Chris Pennock, Diana Millay, Lisa Richards, Lara Parker, Nancy Barrett, Kathryn Leigh Scott, Donna McKechnie, Betsy Durkin Matthes, and yours truly (all pictured above). Donna Wandrey also made a very welcomed visit, as did Conard Fowkes. There was a fabulous tribute to our producer Dan Curtis, who unfortunately died this past year. After the film, we all got on stage and reminised about him. It was truly touching. I had my book, On Stage & In Shadows, with me and I read some passages and talked and answered questions about it. I was so pleased to hear the comments from many of the fans who have already read it. Those who were new to the book bought almost all of the copies I had with me, and that couldn't have made me happier. If you weren't there, or haven't yet read the book, there's a nice offer on my home page. Saturday had so many happenings on stage - Betsy talked about her most recent book, Dressing the Man You Love; David Selby's latest book is A Better Place and he was there to discuss it; Donna McKechnie told us all about her autobiography, Time Steps; and Nancy Barrett entertained with her Cabaret act. The highlight of the day was the DS Cast Reunion, when, much to our surprise, Jonathan Frid greeted us with a live phone-call-broadcast. The fans went wild. I've worked with Jonathan over the years and have been in touch with him, but since he moved to Canada, DS fans haven't seen him. He hasn't been to a DS Festival in about ten years, so we all enjoyed Jonathan's "visit". Fans had a superb time in the evening, when many of them showed up in very inventive clothes and makeup for the annual Costume Gala. That was followed by Collinsport Players' extremely funny skit Golden Shadows - The Miami Branch, adapted and conceived by Peter Mac. It's what happens when America's four favorite senior citizens (from The Golden Girls) meet America's favorite vampire. The actors were Walter Down, Jr., Diane Ekert, Richard Halpern, Jay Keaveny, Peter Mac, Dennis Petragnani, Helen Samaras and Dr. John Schaefer. A good time was had by all! Sunday brought wonderful Q&A sessions with Diana, Chris, Jerry, and Kathryn. Jim Pierson had an inspired idea when he thought of having the cast do a recreation of the First Episode (June 27, 1966) and Last Episode (April 2, 1971) of DS. The cast was David Selby, John Karlen, Lara Parker, Kathryn Leigh Scott, Donna Wandrey, Jerry Lacy, Nancy Barrett, Chris Pennock, Richard Halpern (he also directed) and, yes, our own, Jim Pierson...and I. Many of us took on roles we'd never played before, so I had the chance to play Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, which was great fun. Our DS fans loved it all. Here's another cast photo right after the presentation, and the fans couldn't resist taking a few more photos. I want to thank the generous fans who brought me gifts-you shouldn't have, but I appreciate your thoughtfulness...a beautiful mother-of-pearl necklace, a sterling silver necklace, books, a magnificent shawl from Turkey, delicious Virginia peanuts, books, a charming roses pin, a year's worth of prayers, and the wonderful hats that Donna and I are wearing. I love them all. Thank you, thank you, thank you! We ended the weekend in style with our finale dinner, which featured video screenings (one from Jonathan Frid), and door prizes, with Donna Wandrey and me pulling out the winning tickets. We all had a fabulous night and weekend, and hope that if you weren't there this time, you'll join us sometime in the future. I look forward to seeing all our loyal DS fans.

Dark Shadows Hollywood Weekend at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel July 29, 30 & 31, 2005 The Festival in Los Angeles was one of our best. We had many Q&A's with the stars, which included Lara Parker, Kathryn Leigh Scott, Diana Millay, Nancy Barrett, Christopher Pennock, Robert Rodan, Jerry Lacy, John Karlen, David Selby, and "yours truly." Jeff Thompson and Richard Halpern were our excellent emcees. There was a wonderful tribute to Joan Bennett with guests author, Brian Kellow, who wrote the definitive book on Joan and her family, The Bennetts - An Acting Family; actress June Lockhart, who read passages from the book; and Joan's daughter Diana Anderson, who spoke beautifully about her mother. Brian's book was a very popular item at the Fest, and he stayed for long hours signing them for all the fans. Kathryn had her many books which she has published (Pomegranate Press), and there were long lines at her table throughout the weekend, as there were at Lara and Diana's tables. Chris brought his latest comic books, which are a riot, and on Sunday, he did a wildly funny reading from one of them. One of the highlights of the Fest was the DS Hollywood World Premiere Drama, Vengence at Collinwood, written and directed by Jamison Selby. It's an all-new sequel with many of us portraying our original characters, and with Jerry Lacy playing his Reverend Trask once again. I was the only actor playing a new character, Jessica Loomis, loudmouthed wife to Willie (played her once before at the Brooklyn Festival, and she's lots of fun). That was presented on Saturday afternoon. Then on Sunday afternoon, Nancy Barrett gave us all a very special treat with her new musical cabaret program, Oh, To Be a Movie Star. She played to a packed and very pleased house. And of course, we ended the Fest with our annual Dinner with the Stars on Sunday night. A good time was had by all!

Dark Shadows Festival 2004 started on Friday, August 13th and went through Sunday August 15th. It was at the Westchester Marriott in Tarrytown, New York. Again, it was so wonderful to see all of our long-term fans, and many, many new fans.

We ended the weekend with our traditional Banquet Dinner with door prizes and video screenings of clips from tv shows, movies, and commercials in which DS actors appeared. It was fabulous. I loved seeing them all, and especially the commercial I did many years ago-it was very funny.

I had my camera with me, as did Craig Hamrick, Click here and I want to share the photos with you.

Our 2003 DS Festival was held in Brooklyn over the Labor Day weekend at the Brooklyn Marriott Hotel, and it was one of our best. It was such fun to see all of our fans who have attended throughout the years, AND to meet so many new fans. I think there must have been at least sixty percent new people attending, with lots of young parents and many children. My dear friend (actor, director, teacher) David Moore sat with me at my table (what would I have done without him!!), and I talked and signed autographs for so many of the fans. And what fun it was to see writer Rodney Labbe and his two sisters. I hadn't seen them since they came backstage at the Hampton Playhouse in New Hampshire, when I was appearing in a play called "Burlesque", way back in the '60s.

. David Moore, Craig Hamrick, and I took a few photos at the event, and all you need to do is Click here to see photos.

The COLLINS Association (Celebrating Our Loving Loyalty In Neverending Shadows) had their eighth annual Halloweenathon on the weekend of October 18th through the 20th of 2002. I attended on Friday and Saturday and had a great time meeting many new east coast fans, as well as a number of our loyal "old" fans. Other star guests were Lara Parker, Diana Millay, Roger Davis and Terrayne Crawford. It was Lara's birthday that weekend, and Eddie Lambese, who runs the whole show, had a beautiful, and I must add, delicous, birthday cake for her which surprised and delighted her. I took a few photos when I had a moment free and I'll share them with you. Click here to see photos.

The 2002 Dark Shadows Festival took place during the weekend of June 28-30 at the Marriott Hotel in Anaheim, California, and it was just great. Fest events began around 6pm on Friday and ended with the banquet on Sunday. I was delighted to see so many new fans. And, of course, it's always wonderful to be able to greet all our old, faithful fans every year, and there were many of you there. It was also fun to be able to visit Disneyland, which I think all the fans did, and so did I. Many thanks to Jim Pierson for doing all the advance work, and the work during the Fest to bring it all together so successful.

If you weren't there, I hope you'll come to next year's Festival on the East Coast. See you there! We took a few photos during the event. Click here to see some of them.

My last convention appearance in Michigan was at the Motor City Comic Con, held at the Novi Expo Center, in Novi, Michigan. It took place during the May 17-19,2002 weekend. My birthday weekend! (Incidentally, many thanks to the DS fans who sent me all those lovely birthday cards.) I was at the convention with Kathryn Leigh Scott and we had a great time meeting many new Dark Shadows fans, and also seeing some of our very loyal fans too. Many other TV and movie stars including my dear friend Larry Storch (star of F-Troop), pictured here with his wife Norma. Stars from Star Trek, Star Wars, and Lost In Space were also at this convention. We just took a few pictures during the weekend and if you'd like to view them, click here.

This convention appearance was in Cleveland, Ohio at the Fright Vision Expo from April 5 through the 7th, 2002. I was there with Kathryn Leigh Scott. Mark Dawidziak, author of all those wonderful books on The Night Stalker was with us at our table, and we all had a great time. It was wonderful to meet all our Cleveland fans from the Shadows of the Night Fan Club there. Here are some photos from the event.

The Dark Shadows Festival held in New York on Friday, August 17th, through Sunday, August 19th, 2001, was the biggest and best ever. I was so pleased to meet the hundreds of new fans that attended, and of course, to greet all our faithful fans who have been coming to these Fests over the years. It was also great to see my old buddies from the show during the Q&A Sessions, the Cast Reunion, and at the Autograph Tables.

I'm sharing some photos with you from the weekend, so that you can see what it was like, or perhaps, if you were there, you might even find yourself or someone you know in one of the shots. At best, it will bring back the memories of a wonderful event. Click here to see the pictures.

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