Monday, July 19, 2010

Fans of 'Dark Shadows' bring gothic romance to ... Burbank Airport Marriott?

Los Angeles Times television critic Mary McNamara has an undying (and undead) affection for "Dark Shadows," that grand old gothic soap opera, and she carried her torch to a scary place this weekend -- the Los Angeles Marriott at Burbank Airport.

There were, mercifully, no vampires in attendance at this weekend’s “Dark Shadows in the Sun” convention.
Sure, there were a few Victorian cape coats, at least two wolf-head canes and several “Barnabas Collins for president” T-shirts (though with Johnny Depp’s face rather than that of role creator Jonathan Frid). But nowhere to be seen were the bouncing, writhing goth-tramp girls and boys who show up for “Twilight” premieres or appearances by the “True Blood” cast. This may have been due to the convention’s location — the Burbank Airport Marriott does not scream “fetch me my plum-colored waistcoat” — or the fact that it was 110 degrees outside. It could be that all the convention-goers were saving their costumes for the competition Saturday night or even Comic-Con International. But I think it had more to do with the demographic, which was way more "Lady Madonna" than Lady Gaga.

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