Donna McKechnie appearing at HEAR IT FROM THE PROS event

Donna McKechnie is scheduled to be among the guests participating in next month's Steps Beyond's Artists Talk: "Hear It From The Pros," a discussion on working in the business of Broadway.

McKechnie made her first appearance on DARK SHADOWS in 1969 as "Amanda Harris," the magical creation of artist Charles Delaware Tate. McKechnie would go on to later acclaim on Broadway, winning a Tony award for A CHORUS LINE in 1976. You can watch a video of her acceptance speech HERE.

Despite her short stint on DARK SHADOWS, McKechnie has never been far from Collinwood, and has taken part in various cast reunions over the years. She can be heard on Big Finish's most recent DARK SHADOWS audiodrama, "The Darkest Shadow."

Also part of the "Hear It From The Pros" event are actor/choreographer Grover Dale and director/choreographer Randy Skinner.

HEAR IT FROM THE PROS takes place 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 24 at Steps on Broadway, 2121 Broadway, New York, NY. Tickets are $10 For reservations, call (212) 874-2410, ext.127. Click HERE to purchase a special event ticket online.

DARK SHADOWS: THE DARKEST SHADOW now available

DARK SHADOWS: THE DARKEST SHADOW is now available from Big Finish Productions. This is an episode that took quite a while to materialize, with good reason: Producers took pains to wait for actors David Selby and Donna McKechnie to align so that they could record their performances together in the studio. THE DARKEST SHADOW is also a double-length episode, though Big Finish has kindly refrained from charging twice as much for it.
 

David Selby and Donna McKechnie

In addition to Selby and McKechnie, THE DARKEST SHADOW features appearances from Denise Nickerson and Wally Wingert. If you're unfamiliar with Wingert, here's a link to a podcast interview we did with him back in February. DARK SHADOWS fans are everywhere!

THE DARKEST SHADOW is available on compact disc and as an MP3 download from the company website. Here's the official plot synopsis:

“I am Olivia Corey, the eternal actress. I’ve lived my whole life in two dimensions. Perhaps I prefer it that way.”

Olivia Corey has been offered the role of her life.

They’re making a movie called The Curse of Collinwood by Mr D Curtis. Apparently it’s based on a true story about an old house in Maine where all manner of terrible things happen.

Olivia is offered the role of ‘Amanda Harris’, a woman created from a painting, destined to fall in love with a cursed man, destined to roam the Earth to find him again.

How could she refuse?

After all, it’s the part she was born to play…

David Selby, Donna McKechnie DARK SHADOWS reunion delayed

David Selby and Donna McKechnie.

Big Finish has announced that the DARK SHADOWS audio drama THE DARKEST SHADOW, a double-length episode featuring the reunion of David Selby and Donna McKechnie, has been pushed back to July.

“The story reunites David Selby and Donna McKechnie as Quentin and Amanda for the first time in over forty years,” producer Joseph Lidster explained in a statement on the company website. “And we really felt it was important to record the two of them together, for such a special occasion and such an ambitious script, which meant waiting a few months until we could synchronize their schedules. Also, this being a double-disc story — for the price of a single disc release — has obviously meant a lot more work at every stage of production. We’re very sorry for the delay but confident that people will find THE DARKEST SHADOW worth the wait!”

Disappointing? Sure. THE DARKEST SHADOW has been in the works for a while, but this kind of delay is actually good news in the long run. This time next year we won't even remember this delay. While waiting a few more weeks might be inconvenient for fans, it does nobody any good to rush an unfinished product to the market. And it's hard to argue with Lidster's goal of finding in-studio chemistry between the actors.

The episode is written by Nev Fountain, who is making his debut in the DARK SHADOWS line of audio dramas with this episode. (NOTE: A Google search connected Fountain's name with his DOCTOR WHO credits for Big Finish, but not DARK SHADOWS. Had I only thought to search my own website I'd have remembered Fountain won an award for his prior visit to Collinsport.)  I'm not entirely sure what to make of the episode's official summary, though: Olivia Corey, a pseudonym adopted by Amanda Harris, is offered a starring role in a movie titled "The Curse of Collinwood," being directed by one D. Curtis. Her role? Amanda Harris. Nobody can fault Big Finish for being timid in its approach to storytelling.

Oh, and Wally Wingert is in it!

You can listen to the first 13 minutes of THE DARKEST SHADOW below.

DARK SHADOWS audiodrama wins SCRIBE Award

The International Association of Media Tie-In Writers named DARK SHADOWS: THE ETERNAL ACTRESS the "best audio"story in this year's SCRIBE AWARDS, announced last weekend during Comic-Con International in San Diego, Calif.

This year's Scribe winners are:

• In the Original Novel category: Robert Jeschonek for Rising Sun, Falling Shadows, a Tannhäuser book.
• In the Adapted Novel category: Clockwork Angels by Kevin Anderson, based on the album by Rush.
• In the Audio category: THE ETERNAL ACTRESS by Nev Fountain, a DARK SHADOWS story.

THE ETERNAL ACTRESS stars Tony Award winner DONNA McKECHNIE in the role of Amanda Harris, who she first played on DARK SHADOWS in 1969. Interestingly, the episode was competing against another DARK SHADOWS audiodrama, DRESS ME IN DARK DREAMS by Marty Ross, and DOCTOR WHO COMPANION CHRONICLES: PROJECT NIRVANA by Cavan Scott and Mark Wright.

(Note: Thanks to MARK PASSMORE for the heads up!)