Audio Dramas in Studio

The cast of Dark Shadows have been busy in studio, as Big Finish Productions continue recordings for this year's slate of audio dramas. Here are some photos from the recent sessions...

Alec Newman and Lysette Anthony recording guest appearances for Kingdom of the Dead, the new four-part miniseries, available from July. Alec played Barnabas in the WB's 2004 Dark Shadows pilot, while Lysette played Angelique in the 1991 Dark Shadows remake. Both play new characters in the new series. But who is Dr. Rankin, and what is the secret of her patient?

Lisa Richards (Sabrina) recording Blood Dance, a new dramatic reading. The story features Quentin embroiled with a mysterious nightclub in Prohibition-era Chicago and is due out in April.

Andrew Collins and Jerry Lacy (Trask) recording Kingdom of the Dead. To pre-order upcoming titles on CD and download, visit the Big Finish website.

Actor News

• Barbara Steele (1991 Julia) has filmed a new horror movie, The Butterfly Room, marking her first major role in several years. Fangoria has published some photos from the project, which can be seen here. Barbara also recently recorded a commentary for a new DVD edition of The She Beast, available now from Amazon.
• Fans of Jerry Lacy (Reverend Trask) can keep abreast of his latest activities on Facebook, at the Friends of Jerry Lacy group, featuring news and many rare photos from Jerry's career. Pay a visit by clicking here.
• Marie Wallace (Eve) will be performing on stage during March in Where's Sheila?, part of the New York City's Emerging Artists Theatre's Spring Eatfest. For more information, visit Marie's website.

Burton and Depp Speak

Tim Burton and Johnny Depp have been busy promoting their new film, Alice in Wonderland, and have spoken about the upcoming Dark Shadows feature film, slated to being shooting in 2011. 

On the BBC's Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, the pair were in high spirits, explaining the Dark Shadows concept to the UK audience. “It was on TV in the afternoon," said Burton enthusiastically. "It was like a supernatural soap opera... and it was just the weirdest vibe of any show I’ve ever seen." Johnny Depp: "Yeah, a gothic soap opera." 

"There were some of the worst camera moves you’ve ever seen in your life," Burton joked. "And strangely a lot of flies landing on actors’ faces, and them still trying to act through it — it was amazing. We’re gonna fill the room with flies... and make the actors pretend that they’re not there!”

Speaking for Enquirer.net, Depp revealed: "I was obsessed with this character, Barnabas Collins... I came to find out many years later that when he was a kid, Tim ran home like I did to watch that Gothic soap opera. It was a very strange thing back then.” Speaking about developing film, Depp said: “We looked at ways to go, story-wise. We’ve started to come up with something interesting. If all goes well, I will jump into that toward the end of this year.”

Update: BBC America are screening this edition on Friday March 5 at 10pm ET/PT.

Audio Drama Recording Continues

The Dark Shadows cast were back in the studio in Los Angeles this weekend, as recording on the new series of full-cast audio dramas continues. Jerry Lacy, Kathryn Leigh Scott, John Karlen and Andrew Collins will be heard in the four-part miniseries, Dark Shadows: Kingdom of the Dead, due out in July.

The new CDs are available to pre-order online here from Big Finish, plus series co-writer Eric Wallace has been busy documenting the recording sessions on his blog, which can be viewed here.

Johnny Depp's Dark Shadows Hopes

In a press junket for his new movie Alice in Wonderland, Johnny Depp has spoken about the upcoming Dark Shadows feature film. The project's status has seemed uncertain of late, with Depp's commitment to the new Pirates of the Caribbean film, On Stranger Tides, which is due to shoot later this summer.

Depp confirmed that Dark Shadows is "coming along now", adding that "I see it going [into production] this year. I hope it does." To read the complete interview, click here.

New Audio Dramas for 2010

Big Finish Productions have announced a number of new titles in their series of Dark Shadows audio dramas, with five new Dramatic Readings and a new four-part full-cast series due out in 2010.

The full-cast stories return in July with a four-part serial Kingdom of the Dead, picking up from the cliffhanger ending of The Rage Beneath. Recording has taken place in Los Angeles, New York and London. Confirmed cast members include David Selby (Quentin), Lara Parker (Angelique), Kathryn Leigh Scott (Maggie), John Karlen (Willie), with Nancy Barrett (Carolyn), Marie Wallace (Eve), Lysette Anthony (1991 Angelique) and Alec Newman (2004 Barnabas) making guest appearances.

Kingdom of the Dead is written by Stuart Manning and Eric Wallace, and directed by Darren Gross. It will be available from July as a limited edition box set, or as four individual CDs from July to October. To pre-order online, click here.

The two-hander Dramatic Readings continue with Final Judgement, available now, followed by an additional four titles in the coming months. April sees the release of Blood Dance by Stephen Mark Rainey, starring David Selby and Lisa Richard (Sabrina Stuart), which features Quentin in prohibition-era Chicago.

Other stories in preparation include The Doll House by Torchwood and Being Human novelist James Goss and London's Burning by Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures script writer Joseph Lidster. For more information on these stories, click here. To pre-order upcoming stories on CD and download, click here. Listeners can also follow the productions on the Big Finish Dark Shadows Facebook Group.

2010 Festival Update

The Dark Shadows Festival has issued an update on its 2010 event, taking place on July 16-18 at the Burbank Airport Marriott Hotel & Convention centre in Burbank, CA. Guests include Jonathan Frid (Barnabas), David Selby (Quentin), Lara Parker (Angelique), John Karlen (Willie) and, making a debut appearance, Kathleen Cody (Hallie Stokes). There will also be an "extra-special pre-convention event" taking place on the Friday afternoon before the convention, and the Festival encourages fans to arrive on Thursday 15, so as not to miss out.

The Festival has arranged a discount rate at the convention hotel for the event of $129 per night plus tax (valid Thursday-Sunday). To reserve a room, call 1-818-843-6000 (Ask for Reservations Department). You must mention Dark Shadows to get the discount rate.

Actor Updates

• David Selby (Quentin) was a recent guest on Canadian talk show Unscripted. The episode can be viewed online here. He's also due to appear in the upcoming story of Facebook movie The Social Network, scripted by The West Wing's Aaron Sorkin.
• Lisa Richards (Sabrina) is currently on stage at the Pittsburgh Playhouse in Pulitzer Prize-winning drama The Buried Child, which runs from February 5-21. For more information, click here.
• Julianna McCarthy (1991 Mrs Johnson) guested in the February 2 episode of CBS' NCIS: Los Angeles. The episode can be viewed online here.

Dark Shadows Movie Update

In an interview with Collider.com, Dark Shadows movie producer Graham King has updated the status of the proposed feature film, set to star Johnny Depp as Barnabas. Contrary to earlier indications, King says that filming is not due to begin until 2011, as work continues on the script.

"I know that Johnny is dying to do it and passionate to do it..." says King, adding that production cannot progress "until everyone feels that the script is in a good place." As previously reported, John August has been working on the screenplay for Dark Shadows.

To read the full interview, click here.

Big Finish Accepts Story Submissions

Big Finish Productions are to begin accepting story submissions for their Dark Shadows CD Audio Dramas. If you are interested in writing for the range, there is now a set of Writers' Guidelines available, detailing how prospective writers can prepare their pitches. For more information, email webmaster@collinwood.net

Staged Reading with Marie Wallace

Marie Wallace (Eve) is to take part in a staged reading of War Wounds by Terri Campion, forming part of the ARTC Winterworks event. The production takes place on February 2 from 7.30pm at the Roy Arias Studios, Fifth Floor, 300 West 43rd Street, New York City. Admission is free, but donations are gratefully accepted.

Jean Simmons: 1929-2010

Veteran Hollywood actress Jean Simmons, who played Elizabeth Collins Stoddard in the 1991 Dark Shadows revival, has died following a long battle with lung cancer. Jean passed away at her Santa Monica home on January 22 aged 80. Her career included numerous classic films, including Black Narcissus, Guys and Dolls and Spartacus. 

At the time of Dark Shadows' production, she was quoted as saying: "I was a great fan... The children would come home from school and before homework, before tea, we would sit down and watch Dark Shadows. I just wanted to kind of join the club." To read a full obituary from the Los Angeles Times, click here.

Movie Costume Designer Announced

Footwear News reports that Oscar-winning costume designer Colleen Atwood will be working on Tim Burton's upcoming Dark Shadows feature film. "It's really the most fun a person can have, because Tim really lets you do your thing," she says. 

Atwood's numerous film credits include Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and Sleepy Hollow, plus award-winning designs for Chicago and Memoirs of a Geisha. 

Credit's Due

I love the Dark Shadows closing credits. At the close of each episode, the closing music would wheeze into life over a static shot of one of the studio sets, complete with reassuringly abstract shout-outs for "Miss Scott's Clothes by Junior Sophisticates", "Fashions by Ohrbachs" and "Bat by Bill Baird".  Some of these tableaus are striking, some are humdrum, and very once in a while, comes a credits backdrop that stands out from the crowd, be it beautiful, bizarre... or just a bit dodgy. Here's a countdown of five of my favourites:

5. Episode 903: One of the highlights of the Leviathan storyline is a particularly bizarre dream sequence from genius writer Violet Welles, which sees Elizabeth terrorized by fairground impresario David Collins and a pair of freaky robotic mannequins. Doubtless the Dark Shadows props buyer experienced no small measure of satisfaction when the mechanic marvels were given pride of place, at the end of the show, cheerily waving goodbye to the viewers.

4. Episode 991: The Seventies had made it to Collinwood, and soon no dream sequence was complete without a spangly backdrop courtesy of the resident Dark Shadows disco ball, resulting in this closing credits trip into the subconscious. All that's missing is a funk remix of the theme tune. 

3. Episode 1062: Barnabas and Julia have journeyed through a mysterious space-band-time-warp-disturbance (delete as applicable) to the faraway year of 1995, where Collinwood lies in ruins. Alas, this vision of the future proved to be a disappointingly conservative one, clothed exclusively in plaid shirts and nylon fibres. So, rejoice then, in the futuristic wonder of Victor Flagler's spacey table lamp, flashing in distress as the credits play us out. 

2. Episode 928: Another corker from the Leviathan sequence sees one-shot supporting artiste Mrs. Hutchins' Budgie step into the limelight. Cue mild seasickness from the viewing nation, as it sits rocking on its perch looking distinctly nonplussed. 

And finally...

1. Episode 703: Clocking-off time at West 56th Street, and first out of the door is man-about-town Jonathan Frid, sashaying into frame with some smart casuals folded over his arm. A bonus point too for the balletic 'oops' moment, as he realises his mistake and quickly tries to veer out of frame. Stunning. 

Second Comics Collection Cover

Hermes Press have unveiled the cover image for Dark Shadows: The Complete Series Volume 2, which features a great vintage rendering of Barnabas Collins stalking a victim. Click on the thumbnail for a larger view.

The book is the second in a series of deluxe hardback reprints of the classic 1960s Dark Shadows comic books from Gold Key, and is due out on July 29 2010, priced $49.99. Amazon are currently offering the book at a 30% discount, and it can be pre-ordered by clicking here.