Midnite writes: DS Tribute
The tribute was held at the (new) Director's Guild of America building on
Sunset Boulevard, the line for the sold out event weaving around its spacious
lobby. Merchandise for several of the Paley Festival's honorees was on sale,
but it was a plastic keychain with a moving image of Barnabas lunging toward a
woman with his fangs bared, flames in the forefront and a now-you-see-it,
now-you-don't Collinwood as the backdrop, that was flying off the table despite
its $10 price. The crowd was moved into the 500+ seat theater (the largest of
the 3 in the complex) at around 6:30 and the screening began promptly at 7.
Candice Bergen spoke on video about the Museum of TV & Radio, followed by a
tribute to William S. Paley by Dan Rather. Then came the montage of clips
from each of the Festival's honorees, with DS represented by a scene with Frid
and Bennett at the window from the 1st episode, which of course drew applause.
Then came the Horror Heads ad from '69 ("Barnabas, Quentin, the witch!"), the
first indication that the evening wouldn't be solemn.
David Bushnell, curator of the Museum of TV & Radio took the stage as emcee and
moderator. He spoke of the history of DS-- its conception as a dream of Dan
Curtis' and described it as a Gothic romance, gloomy and in the milieu of the
Bronte sisters, set against a stormy landscape and beginning with a young girl
looking out a window. Then when it faced cancellation, Curtis decided to scare
the hell out of his viewers by introducing a supernatural brew-- ghosts,
Phoenix, vampire. DS went on to inspire films, novels, and merchandise (as we
saw, he said, some more ill-advised than others). This was before e-commerce
and synergy, he explained. The show inspired legions of passionate fans, and
not only was it popular, it was important. What made it a landmark was that it
was radically different from daytime soaps of that time and it attracted a
sizable young audience. At its peak in 1969, it was the most popular daytime
soap with 20 million viewers. In 1975 it was the first soap sold into
syndication, and in 1989 it was the first soap available in its entirety on
video. The people behind DS were talented, innovative and forward thinking.
Then the introductions began…
First was LELA SWIFT, director of 580 eps, twice as many as any of the others.
Her other shows were mentioned, including Studio One and Ryan's Hope for which
she won 3 Emmys.
Production designer SY TOMASHOFF was next, who received 5 Emmy nods.
Next, ROBERT COBERT, who created all music for the show including the opening
theme and was nominated for a Grammy for Quentin's Theme. His other credits
were listed.
For the actors that follow, the number of DS eps they appeared in and the names
of all characters they portrayed (some lists were quite long!) were given, plus
work done in film, TV, and theater. Everyone was stylishly dressed, the men
all wearing jackets and the women in pant suits (yes, including Alexandra!).
JAMES STORM
CHRIS PENNOCK, who wore his hair long.
JERRY LACY, who received extra applause for the mention of his playing "3
incarnations of Reverend Trask" and the spirit of Humphrey Bogart on stage and
film.
ROGER DAVIS, the only actor wearing a tie has, I'm happy to report, mastered
the art of sharing the microphone. :)
MITCHELL RYAN, very handsome in a brown suit and sporting a long brown scarf.
JOHN KARLEN, dressed all in black, an Emmy winner for his portrayal of Harvey
Lacey.
KATHRYN LEIGH SCOTT, her work as co-producer of The Bunny Years, which was
based on her book, and a little about Pomegranate Press were also mentioned.
DS was LARA PARKER'S first acting job. Though you recognize all the names,
it's still hard to believe how many characters she played on it. She was also
credited as an author, having written "Angelique's Descent".
KATE JACKSON, who looked fantastic! It was mentioned that she received strong
praise for her recent work at the Westwood Playhouse.
DAVID SELBY, wearing a patterned sweater, suede jacket, and black slacks.
NANCY BARRETT, beautiful and in an elegant and colorful 3 piece ensemble.
ALEXANDRA MOLTKE was described as making her first public appearance since
leaving the show, and her 3 works as a documentary filmmaker were listed.
She looked amazing and drew the biggest applause. I'm sure she felt the love
emanating from the crowd.
The last introduction was for DAN CURTIS, described as the genius behind DS.
He received a standing ovation.
ROBERT RODAN arrived on stage during Curtis' speech and hugged him. He looked
great and wore a wild shirt with a sport jacket.
Dan Curtis:
"Welcome ghouls and vampires…"
He said the evening wouldn't have been possible if not for Jim Pierson, who has
kept DS alive and was responsible for bringing everyone back together. He
described him as an expert on DS, far more than himself, and a great archivist.
So he gave Jim a big thank you, called for everyone to give him a hand, and
attempted to point him out in the back of the theater.
He hadn't seen the people that were assembled behind him in a long time and was
thrilled to do so again, loves them, and it recalls for him the days of his
youth. "Oh my God, they're all alive," he declared, then added, "almost." They
are his real friends. (This is the point at which Robert Rodan took the
stage.)
We were about to see the scene in which "Barny came out of the box and grabbed
a much younger Johnny Karlen by the throat." Then he said Karlen looks the
same, and the audience giggled. Referring to the video we were about to watch,
he stated, "I hope it's good," and it should "amuse all you lunatics out
there." Then he welcomed us once again and said he's glad we came.
The star panel headed for the empty seats reserved for them along a side aisle,
but as they were exiting Mitchell Ryan picked up one of the glasses of water
from a table and called out, "To Louis Edmonds!" The audience cheered, and
several of the stars also picked up glasses in toast to Big Lou.
On to the screening…
First, #212 was shown in its entirety: "My name is Victoria Winters … Barnabas
takes in the foyer for the first time in almost 2 centuries and is greeted by
Liz … He and Vicki meet … David sees him while playing at the Old House (his
cute misspoken line draws laughter) … and we see Josette's portrait and
wonderful acting all around. Sy Tomashoff's name in the closing credit was
applauded.
The air date was shown at the beginning of each of the scenes that followed:
We saw Vicki on the train (#1), and Liz and Roger (this first scene of his drew
tremendous applause) speaking about her up to the point that Roger breaks the
glass in his hand.
Next, from #2, Carolyn dances in a crowded Blue Whale, Joe fights, and Burke
breaks it up.
Jump to #126 and the scene in which Josette comes down from her portrait.
From #191, we saw Laura calling David to her in the burning shack.
Willie opened the chained coffin (from #210), which drew much applause.
Jason ministers to a sick Willie (#217).
Barnabas gives Josette's music box to an entranced Maggie (#236).
A voice announced the good news during the opening logo that DS was now being
presented in color.
Carolyn finds the empty coffin but is confronted first by Julia (applause,
applause) and then an aged Barnabas who says he wouldn't do anything to hurt
his own flesh and blood, then bites her (#350).
In 1795, Angelique performs her fire and ice spell, causing Vicki to flee into
the waiting arms of Reverend Trask (#400).
Angelique shows Josette the bloody vision of what she will become and she
falls from Widow's Hill, and the witch's laughter rings out around the
anguished Barnabas (#425).
Peter and Vicki say goodbye, and she is hung from the gallows (#460).
Amy and David enter the West Wing room and meet up with Quentin's ghost (#646).
During a dream, Quentin recites the lyrics to "Shadows of the Night", then
kisses Charity (#786).
Megan is upset with Jeb, but their kiss draws someone's ire (#953).
Barnabas and Julia find a future Collinwood in ruins (#1061).
From the ep that aired last week, Quentin introduces Daphne to Gerard, who then
finds her pistol (#1132).
From the final episode, (SPOILER!!!) Julia, Bramwell, Kendrick, Flora, and Ben
(applause!) fear that a vampire may have attacked Melanie, but Thayer David
explains in the final voiceover that for the first time it really was an animal
attack.
The video comes full circle as we once again glimpse Vicki on the train
followed by a rapid montage of clips of similar highlights to those just seen
plus others. (Jennifer, we saw Don!) In addition to characterizations already
mentioned, there was Roger and David in exterior shots; Matthew Morgan; Guthrie
at the séance; Jason with the cemetery caretaker; Mrs. Johnson (applause);
Barnabas looking pensive at the cemetery; Sam and Joe visiting Maggie at
Windcliff; Julia with the favorite of the Doc Woodards; Sara; Dr. Lang allows
Barnabas into the sunlight; Jeff during the dream curse; Adam (applause);
Nicholas (applause); Sandor throwing knives, with Magda; Beth; Nora; Amanda;
Chris; the werewolf attacks; Sabrina; Bruno at the piano with Angelique
(applause); Roxanne (applause); Gerard's ghost; Hallie and David in the
playroom; Samantha; the head of Judah (heehees). The highlights video ends
with the DC Production logo.
The emcee announced that the evening's event was being taped for viewing in the
Museum's library. He thanked Jim Pierson for editing the highlights video and
for helping to get many of the people there. He also thanked him for
personally arranging for there to be a full moon that night.
Dennis Patrick was not present because he had been hospitalized and the emcee
sent his best wishes. He also acknowledged stars that had passed, including
Joan Bennett, Thayer David, Grayson Hall, and as of Saturday-- Louis Edmonds.
He said everyone is very saddened by the loss but that his memory will live on.
He added that many stars, despite the length of their contract, never imagined
leaving it. Then, from left to right, the stars were asked to make a brief
comment:
Mitchell Ryan joked that he didn't have any fun on the show.
Robert Cobert said he never knew what was going on with the show; he just
supplied the music. Curtis thought he was at home watching it, but he never
saw it. He had fun working on it, but that was because he was never there.
He loved everyone he was involved with, though they probably couldn't stand
that he just "sat there and collected royalties."
Robert Rodan said he was a serious actor at the time, but he enjoyed the
camaraderie and fun. He hadn't seen some of the people on the stage in over
30 years.
Sy Tomashoff said this had been the first time he had seen the show on a large
screen, and while he's been working on soaps for 30 years since, not another
has captured people's fancy the way DS has. It was brilliant.
Lela Swift said the show was a challenge. It involved a suspension of
disbelief, and the audience took it seriously. Technical work is now done
with computers, but back then they did it with 3 cameras. The show had
energy and vitality.
Jerry Lacy said he didn't get a chance like that very often. It was a
challenge, and while it was fun it was also hard work. He had to get up for
performances. Every a.m., Lela would say, "Jerry, we need more. More." One
day, he decided to let her have it, so he poured it on but she said, "Stop.
Save it. We'll need that later." That's when he knew how to do it.
Roger Davis was happy that Alexandra was there. He said the hardest part for
him was remembering the lines, so she would cue him. They were not kissing in
the scenes; she was telling him his next line.
Chris Pennock said he experienced absolute terror at being on TV, and he's
surprised he didn't have a massive heart attack. By the second year, however,
he became a master at finding the teleprompter.
James Storm admired the inventiveness of it all, as Lela had mentioned. It was
all done in a small space, but best of all was that there were "such beautiful
women". That helped make it one of the most enjoyable jobs he's ever had.
Kathryn Leigh Scott said it was her first job, and she had been there from the
first day. It gave her the extraordinary opportunity of playing so many
characters and to work with veteran actors. Lela was awe-inspiring, and Dan
created a family atmosphere, plus there were dinners, parties. There was never
a day during which she didn't want to go to work.
(Dan Curtis passed to the next person.)
John Karlen announced that he had 7 children with different members of the
cast. He had a wonderful time on the show, and best of all was the many good
restaurants in that area where he could get champagne, frog legs. He and
Alexandra went to the Queen Mary one day. He was young, he was acting in New
York, and all was good.
Kate Jackson said, "I'll second that." She said it was great to be there and
"to be with all of you" [the audience].
Nancy Barrett said, "I am stunned to know about Johnny Karlen's other 6
children!" She was also stunned that she was ever so young. The show convinced
her that she was always a character actress, not the ingénue. She played 8
characters, but they were all well written and delineated.
Alexandra Moltke said, "Since I left because I was pregnant, I just want to
clear it up…" Dark Shadows was not a lot of fun for her because she was the
most near-sighted person on the show. She would look at her hand from time to
time and she was anxious. The friendships were the best part of the
experience, and it was an unpredictable and wild show-- Barnabas' coffin got
stolen, and she felt privileged to have been a part of that.
Lara Parker said one of the best things about playing on a soap is that as your
character develops, the writers begin to write for you. It becomes symbiotic.
The problems with a person's craft can work for the character because they
write for that. She would play a character for a long time and then inevitably
she would be killed off, but she got to come back. It was a repertoire and felt
like live theater anyway requiring theater techniques. As Jerry said,
directors always wanted more. Hank Kaplan gave grades. He would open the
dressing room door and go, "B minus."
David Selby said that the subtext of the show that no one knew about was that
it was about Quentin and Willie. Lara asked, "Are you one of…?" and he said
no. He thanked Dan-- the driving force whose personality never let him down,
especially when he was directing.
Dan Curtis now spoke and said the people were all great, but he had no
experience and didn't know what the hell he was doing. It was a little
made-over studio that resembled a bowling alley, and he had no concept of doing
a soap. It was great fun and he had a great time doing the hiring. He hired
people he liked and couldn't tell if they could act, but they all learned
anyway. Kate Jackson could barely say her name, but by the time she was
working every day she became great … Everyone became great. He would take them
to dinner, they'd get drunk, have donuts, coffee. The kids outside would mark
names on the walls and he would count them and let the person know if their
wall count dropped. When Jonathan showed up, the show was dead in the tank.
His own kids wanted him to add spooky stuff, so when he added ghosts the
ratings shot up. Then when he introduced a vampire, he planned to stake him
after 6 weeks but he ended up a matinee idol and fan mail began to arrive by
the truckload. He had to then find a way to keep him alive, and so the
reluctant vampire was born and women went nuts. ABC now pressured stations
that didn't air the show at 4 p.m. that they wouldn't get the show. And the
show is still here today.
David Selby thanked Robert Cobert for giving him a theme song, and Cobert
thanked him in turn for making it a hit. Selby added that the show now belongs
to the audience, who ran with it for the next 30 years. He said, "It's your
show, you went with it. Look at this lineup. I think we're ready to go
again." The audience applauded enthusiastically.
The Q&As:
Curtis said he had no answer about the lost footage for NoDS and didn't know if
somebody was going to pay to put it together. He said, "Ask Jim." He also
couldn't say if the two DS movies would be released on DVD.
Alexandra Moltke was asked if she, as Vicki, was the daughter of Elizabeth
Collins. "You bet I am," she answered.
A fan related the story of meeting his wife at a DS Fest and described their
wedding, which incorporated DS music along with other DS themes, to which
Cobert commented, "I didn't remember getting royalties." Mitch Ryan told the
fan, "You'll be hearing from his lawyer."
Henry asked about creating the scenery for the 1995 Collinwood. Tomashoff said
it was a wonderful thing to do. Dan wanted the place in disrepair-- abandoned,
wrecked, but they only had one weekend to do it and then afterwards everything
would have to be returned to where it was before. He decided to suspend pieces
from the set, then they threw dirt around and added foliage, broken glass,
cobwebs, and overturned the furniture and took the doors off. On Friday at
midnight, he said the crew was so exhausted that they said, "Sy, we're going
home," and they did. But it worked out fine and he thought it looked great
when he saw it in the highlights reel.
An 11 year old asked, "When you screwed up, how did you keep from laughing?"
KLS said that forgetting lines is called corpsing, and asked, "Isn't that
perfect for Dark Shadows?" She said they all broke up. Kate Jackson said that
when you forget your lines, laughing is usually the last thing on your mind.
They were asked what they did in the interim such as when their character died.
Jerry Lacy said that Dan saw his play on Broadway and told him at Sardi's
afterwards that he was going back on the show and thus "another Trask was
born." He added that he's finally old enough to play him. Karlen said that you
would get a job and when it was through you would be brought back. If your
character had been killed, you would just come back as someone else. Curtis
said he had an idea that he never tried or told anyone about: During the
Christmas holiday when there were no ratings and the show was booming along, he
wanted the whole group to peform Dickens' "Christmas Carol." This shocked just
about everyone!
Robert Rodan said he had a question of his own. "There was a knock at the
door. Stokes said, 'Adam, go in the closet.' WHERE DID I GO???" Curtis said he
thought he had been on until the end of the show.
Lela Swift said she was not told about the change made to the show. A dead
person appeared on it, so she had to ask, "Are we going supernatural?" Dan told
her they were going to give it a try, and Kathryn had declared, "That's it,
we've crossed over" when Sara appeared, bouncing her ball.
Nancy Barrett said that they were not allowed to say "vampire" for a year.
Curtis said they had him biting everyone on the wrist!
To a question about screaming, KLS replied that an actress had been hired as a
scream double-- an opera singer who didn't want to hurt her own voice. Lela
had told her you can't scream like that, so "I [KLS] screamed, and she got
paid."
Curtis explained how Dr. Hoffman came to be a woman: The character was written
as Julius (that's what he said) Hoffman and it was said on air. Then Sam came
in with his wife and Curtis said she's got to be on the show. He had said,
"Look at that face!" He was told that he couldn't do that, it had been said on
air, but he said who cares, no one will listen anyway.
The panel was asked if they watched the reruns on SciFi, and Robert Rodan
answered no, he didn't get residuals.
The issue of stars forgetting their lines came up, to which Curtis said,
"Jonathan Frid used to go up in the middle of his name." Lara Parker said she
had a lot of scenes with Frid, and when he forgot you could see the panic in
his face, his eyes would dart around, and he'd start taking deep breaths. She
would think oh God, he is so bad today. Then the next week, when the show
aired she would see that his emotions of terror and confusion and total misery
worked for his character. He would be mesmerizing and his character would
appear to be going through torture. Robert Rodan added that Grayson Hall's
character would incorporate a stammer and stutter the times she would forget.
To a question about retakes, Lara Parker answered that she never did one. Sy
Tomashoff said that they violated every fire law in the city. Roger Davis said
that when CD Tate's head had been cut off, he couldn't stop laughing. He said
he was probably the worst violator of that. Lara Parker said they called him
"the violator".
Lela said the show was very devoted to the reality one could find in the story.
There was jealousy, greed, terror, sadness. This worked for the audience.
Curtis said making the movies was fun. The show had become a big hit, so why
not make a movie? The buses brought the actors back and forth, and those were
wild days. KLS said that on the first day of shooting they were taken to the
set by limousine. She thought it would be that way through the entire shoot,
but it turned out that the limos were needed for the graveyard scene and so it
was a way of getting the cast there too. Lela Swift said that Dan was
responsible for getting her the producer credit. He was strongly behind the
idea, she said. The writers worked off his energy and ideas. "He's
remarkable."
Kate Jackson was asked if she'd seen the show before she was on it. She said
yes, though not every single day, but she'd watch it when she was at school and
all her friends watched it. When the music started, she went zooming to the TV.
Lela Swift was asked if it had been difficult for her as a female director.
She said she began as an assistant, coming from one of the most prominent shows
on the air-- Studio One. She learned on the job. Dan once said of her after
someone else had said I don't want to work with a woman, "I like that broad."
She had a job to do and was unaware of problems for females. Women are suited
to be directors, she said. They're aware of feelings, and they can gather
people together. It was hard for women, and she feels very fortunate to have
been in the right place at the right time.
When the panel was asked if they would have wanted to do anything differently,
Mitch Ryan replied, "I would have drunk a little less." Alexandra said she
wanted to be a vampire so badly. She asked once after she had left if she could
play some kind of monster instead of boring Vicki. Nancy Barrett said, "She
was my best friend, my only friend. But she was so dull." Roger Davis said he
was very excited to play a vampire. He bit Joan and was so excited that he
knocked her flat on her back and was very embarrassed about it. Jerry Lacy
said this happened in rehearsal … "You bit her and just threw her over. She
was already 60 years old!" Lela said that Joan Bennett was a great lady. She
didn't act like a movie star. She ran her lines with everybody, even if she
wasn't in the scene. She was a marvelous person. KLS said Joan would bring
chicken soup for the afternoon rehearsal and carry it in a Tiffany shopping
bag.
The time was now up and immediately a line of security formed along the edge of
the stage as most of the stars exited, though a few stayed behind to graciously
sign autographs. Even then, their signing was cut short by the staff. Ah well,
it was a fun time.
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