Dark Shadows - Lara Parker Rehearsal

[@dtdavis8271]

I said it over 50 years ago and I'll say it in 2019: Lara Parker was the best screamer on Dark Shadows.

[@mjt11860]

i can vouch for that. she screams like that when i make mad passionate love to her....ok, the alarm clock just woke me up. i was just dreaming, damn!

[@captainbluegill3357]

not only the best screamer but she was the most beautiful woman ever maybe

[@captainbluegill3357]

@Frank Lopez you can't go wrong with either of those ladies :)

[@gordonreed2736]

Best screamer anywhere. Period

[@marshamariner7897]

Her laugh was never duplicated....they tried in 2013 w the laughing portraits.....but never the same 😵‍💫😵‍💫🖖✌️

[@kjamesthomson3045]

For those who do not know, she plays against her own self here who also plays her twin sister, so she is rehearsing one side of the conversation. Dark Shadows was filmed in a single take as live theatre and it lives today because of its very excellent work. It seems the entire catalogue of episodes must be the largest single taped essentially live theatre event of television history. The acting, the lighting and effects, the insertion expertly of the music catalogue composed for the series; the entire work is a daily incredible achievement.

[@johnmoore2180]

🦇Absolutely agree......Big Shout 2 Mr. Curtis....What a legacy 4 posterity🦇

[@kraftymomma1979]

I remember watching this episode when she faced her twin.

[@nahmaninisithole2734]

Even the rehearsals are better than anything that is on television now.

[@tuxiclassicpage]

“Amen!” to that!

[@debrapower8673]

Same still in October 2021

[@garyspencer6291]

FACTS

[@robertblackiston4784]

She's really good 😊

[@Barnabas45]

She was gorgeous!

[@mjt11860]

i had to give u a thumbs up, if 4 nothing else, ur user name.

[@johnmaki3046]

A CLASSIC BEAUTY!

[@JopiniStJopy]

She still is. It's freaky. She's supernatural.

[@lynjackson5274]

Lara has the most Awesome Evil Laugh Ever! No one on Earth can match her, she's beautiful and very talented. Barnabas, Angelic, and David ,"the best"

[@tapeduk]

Lara Parker= A Class Act

[@tuxiclassicpage]

I remember watching Dark Shadows as a kid. My aunt who lived several houses up the road watched the show, so we kids would walk up and watch the show with her. Lots of good memories of watching the show. Our cousins who were near the ages of my sister and I loved the show, so when we were together we talked about the show. Love Dark Shadows!

[@davidkost418]

She was the hottest woman on tv in the 60s - a great actress also! I had a huge crush on her when I was 8 - was scared to watch the show but I made myself do it!

[@tomphillips2214]

Such a beautiful woman, amazing eyes!

[@pookycat1626]

Her big eyes scared me so much when I watched this at age 7. 😂 She’s very beautiful, though.

[@derekec]

Lara played her part so perfectly but as a kid and still as adult, can't get over her beauty. I'd buy a DVD set in a heartbeat, so much of this show (I watched religiously rushing home from school) that I can't recall.

[@ronaldmitchell3124]

I think Lara Parker is an Excellent actress

[@dr.migalitoloveless1651]

She's extremely beautiful.

[@crestonperry2891]

She was such an iconic beauty! Those exquisite eyes! Totally amazing actress there's no one like her anymore a completely authentic presents on screen.

[@NinaMaria8]

Love seeing this! I'm wondering how someone got hold of a rehearsal video. Lara is such an excellent actress, and wow, what a scream she can give!

[@lynjackson4374]

Lara you beautiful southern bell

[@johnmoore2180]

This is absolutely treasure footage...just adds 2 her appeal.....📽🎬

[@Debby901]

The best part of Shadows was the flubbing of the lines, camera in the shot😄, and mic boom showing above! And still I'd go hide in my bed with the covers over me 😂! Lara Parker is such a good actor and what a beauty.

[@user-kf8wb2cq4f]

I disagree 💯. The BEST thing about Dark Shadows were the Storylines, Actors, Decorators and Musical Score.

[@sting1111]

Holy crap that blood-curdling scream!

[@leighannhuughes5155]

I was so in love with her when was young boy i think it was my first real crush she drope dead beautiful and have been watching it again just love her

[@rebel42813]

Loved this! I had a girl crush/obsession with Lara Parker. I met her at the 2005 Festival. It was a thrill of a lifetime.

[@loribpidgeon]

what an excellent actress lara

[@greg7656]

So cool to hear Lara slip back into her real voice, complete with Southern accent, and lose the MidAtlantic accent immediately. Very interesting hearing that after all the years of hearing her "Angelique" voice

[@larryaldrich4351]

It's been a privilege watching Miss Parker work.

[@bob58jf]

"My dear Alexis, you are oh so right. Someone must die, but it won't be me, it will be you." For some reason that one line of dialogue has stayed with me when I first heard it nearly 50 years ago.

[@williamwatson4354]

That one scene stuck with me for years as well.

[@SuperPussyFinger]

This isn’t a rehearsal. She is playing two simultaneous parts, and they are taping half of the interaction.

[@lizziedssg8643]

She really knew how to scream!

[@loribpidgeon]

u rock lara parker

[@sammyvh11]

Best laugh in gothic horror next to Vincent Price.

[@marysawaya6667]

This was the scariest episode 1001 when Alexis goes back to the coffin to visit Angelique and she wakes up and makes the switch, killing Alexis. I thought it was so eery!! Well done!!

[@billycampbell769]

Its so rewording to hear Ms. Parker speak in her rich southern accent. It falls so pleasing on a fellow southerners ears.

[@minnbeef]

And a few of us northerners too!

[@BegoneJonah]

That woman had weapons grade looks and mojo.

[@dr.migalitoloveless1651]

I love Lara Parker.

[@davidthomson6561]

Lara Parker is originally from Kentucky and I thought it was so cool that when she left character at the one minute mark she complained about the prompter with her rich southern accent.

[@darlenevicars3988]

David Thomson she is from Tennessee...knoxville I believe...

[@donnaevans7]

@@darlenevicars3988 You are right. She is from Knoxville

[@sturoc0]

So thats where her inflection comes from when she is acting her lines. I could never quite make out the origin. Seemed like a cross between fine royal English speech and or well educated American dialect.

[@mastersadvocate]

This is excellent! It must have been difficult playing twins. Lara was such an accomplished actress! And, boy, could she scream! Great video! Thanks for sharing! ~Janet in Canada

[@poetryjones7946]

Wow! This is fascinating, there’s so little “the-making-of” tapes of this show. Filming was radically different back then without today’s computer technology. It must have been a nightmare to learn those huge batches of new dialogue every single day! Especially for poor Jonathan Frid who had dyslexia ❣️

[@steelmonkey2532]

"The dead cannot live again?" How long you ben livin in the the Collin wood hood, lady?

[@janetflier6192]

Right!

[@Marcel_Audubon]

haha!

[@sturoc0]

about 1000 & 1 episodes !

[@thomasromano9321]

One of the best actresses on Dark Shadows. Some good actors, others, not so good.

[@thomasmagnum3588]

Almost all the actresses on Dark Shadows were outstanding: Grayson Hall, Joan Bennett, Kate Jackson, Nancy Barrett, Alexandra Moltke, Kathryn Leigh Scott…..not a bad egg in the bunch. The only one who was “not so good” was Sharon Smyth, poor little Sarah Collins. She stunk!

[@BlackfireInk]

Actors can be so difficult to work with at times. LOL Just follow the teleprompter lady! LOL Actually I like seeing the behind the scenes. All the goofs and gaffs. I'd Love to see more of these.

[@heavenbounddaughter1125]

A real professional.

[@tapeduk]

At 5:21 Lara says "I messed up"

[@66collinwood]

This is a great scene from the show!

[@michaelbarlow6610]

This scene from "Dark Shadows" was probably not a rehearsal because they would not waste videotape on a rehearsal. Dan Curtis would usually leave bloopers in the show as it was videotaped for later broadcast because it was too expensive to rerecord scenes in which something went wrong.

[@VictoriaBlancaa]

Beautiful and great great actress!!

[@Island_Girl1]

RIP Lara. You wont be forgotten thanks to the role of the devious, devilish Angelique.

[@Sly549]

A total class act ❤️ She slayed her rehearsal here and the fact she had to embody and portray two twins, one good and one evil, shows her depth and range and versatility as an actress. I have all of her books which were based on the show and its characters. May her soul rest in Heavenly peace. She has done her job quite well as a woman and a wife and a mother/grandmother and actress. Nobody is Angelique but the late, great Ms. Parker 🌹 💐 😊

[@JosephRGrych]

It is awesome to see this. Thank you!

[@MrZerosRememberWhen]

Someone asked me who my Very 1st CRUSH was ... I thought about it long & hard, it was Lara Parker ... in 1969 ZERo

[@stephaniestanley8041]

The unearthly beauty of Lara and angelic voice. Where did this tape come from?

[@wilsonsalvador1898]

Que buena actora a mi me ponía la piel erizada. Y eso que a pasado 50 años. Me pongo a temblar.

[@2snowgirl520]

So interesting. Thanks for posting.

[@naturegirllover]

Angelique OMG!! I absolutely loved her she was so perfect for that role so beautiful and such a wonderful interesting voice and the most gorgeous eyes I've ever seen

[@ScottyKirk1]

Too cool to see this!! Where did you find this?? I'm surprised it wasn't included on the DVD's... Any more outtakes like this? Awesome stuff!!

[@yvonneeliseporter9204]

Robot Quentin It is included as an extra on The Dark Shadows coffin box DVD set.

[@RETROTV1394]

R.I.P. ...Lara Parker... You will be missed

[@jeanettesmith765]

I hated her character but loved her as an actress.

[@marilynwillett804]

I can't imagine wanting to do that for a living. Unless it was a love scene with Barnabas.

[@mjt11860]

& if u told him, "bite me", you'd mean it literally.

[@janetflier6192]

Thank you for this!

[@nonenoneonenonenone]

It's amazing how full-on she rehearses, or is this film they used for her to play against herself as she plays both characters?

[@loriannrichardsshinn422]

Never missed an episode.Still better than the trash out today

[@darrenmiller6927]

Loved Dark Shadows a a kid. Lara Parker was talented. I saw Race with the Devil as a kid and it is still a really great, terrifying, movie. Peter Fonda, Lara Parker, Warren Oats, and Loretta Switt made the movie. As an adult watching the movie again i realized The four leads were a huge part of what makes that movie so good, sobering, and disturbing. All four of them are talented and completely sold out and 110% in that movie. Lara is super special and an important part of the plot as the sensative/psychic one. One of the best thriller/horror films ever made.

[@southernfriedhippie]

Lara would've made a great 50s "scream queen".

[@tapeduk]

"The prompter is going 3 timesfaster than I would go---he just ZIPPED to my next line"

[@rodlabbe2976]

Maybe she should learn her lines and not depend upon the teleprompter!

[@CWFRage]

They obviously liked her enough as she stayed in the series until the very last episode...

[@natashamariestannard4423]

+Created Wrestling Federation her character Angelique was very popular

[@natashamariestannard4423]

+Rod Labbe She was playing two characters in the scene identical twins

[@tideoftime]

Rod Labbe: she was cross-reading against the other character she was playing. She was playing two characters filmed from different POVs. Back then, they didn't have the time/technology like today where you could just cut/splice with ease -- she is timing her lines relative to the lines she already said when playing the other character. If the prompter goes to fast, it won't record/pace properly. So it isn't Lara "not knowing her lines", but rather her complaining about the prompter-technician not pacing at the rate they had already rehearsed.

[@robincallender4569]

My mother always thought she was beautiful

[@thomasmagnum3588]

Wow fascinating! That must be director Lela Swift coaching Lara off camera, when Lara asks “do I get another chance?” Lela replies, “of course you do, darling”…..Lara hated working with her!

[@susanbrindisi8197]

I am still scared of Angelique.

[@lennomenno]

I would have dropped Josette like a hot potato for Angelique !! No Witchcraft required !!

[@dr.migalitoloveless1651]

Same here.

[@mjt11860]

i would have 2 timed them. ;)

[@HorrorFreak68]

I’d of taken Josette/Maggie any day.

[@Marcel_Audubon]

Nothing gets in the way of a union lunch break! haha! as it should be 😆

[@RossingtonRules]

She was my favorite actor in Dark Shadows.

[@pattiharvey1787]

The twins were one of Laras better roles. Loved the storyline 👍

[@FLStelth]

I love how the stage hand insisted on keeping that giant cigar in his mouth as he helped her in the coffin. What a ridiculous affectation.

[@richardk8821]

Is that the off-screen voice of director Lela Swift after the 9:00 mark?

[@mxylpx]

Typical...you get geared up to do the scene and they break for lunch!

[@BikiniDeathSquad]

why would you film a line rehearsal? this should have never been seen by the outside world (but I'm glad it is)

[@tideoftime]

Because sometimes the first go-through turned out perfect, or usable, so they always made sure to tape it (plus, this isn't a "standard" line rehearsal, but a full-dress go, and those were usually taped); with the time-restraints they had back then (sometimes the episodes were recorded only 2-4 weeks before airing, unlike today where soaps are usually 2-6 months buffered), you pretty much *had* to film all dress-reads, because you never knew what would take, and if it did, you moved on quickly to the next scene/cut. As you said, though, this is a great peek into the process, especially for back then. Lara Parker was awesome, and I thought she did a great job on the show.

[@MichaelSimmons.]

Jesse G I would film it to make sure all the camera angles are correct. I'm sure there are many other reasons also.

[@greghowell2766]

This was filmed, I would think, because the scene had Lara Parker portraying 2 characters, Angelique and Alexis. They would have to join the two scenes. I don't know if that was done in post production or during actual video taping of the show, but despite what others are saying about "filming dress rehearsals," I suspect that this wasn't an actual rehearsal but filmed during preset "video feed production time" allowed by ABC. At the end, the 'break for lunch' so they must have had to arrange for a special video tape feed in order to film the dual role. According to all the sources that I have found, the actual video tape was miles away in another studio, and they had only about 40 minutes a day to shoot and simultaneously send the signal to the tape machines. What a great find! Wonderful to get a small glimpse of how the show was filmed and how it may have felt to be on the set.

[@tideoftime]

Greg Howell In another sub-thread in this vid/thread, I indicated that this was done live-to-tape for production. Lara was, indeed, reading against herself from the "other side of the scene", which they shot earlier that same day. In most circumstances back then the overlay process was done same-day via chroma key, so there was very little "proper" post-production time for special effects like these on the show -- it was literally processed/done the same day, in most cases, so time really was of the essence. Couple that with the prompter not doing his job correctly (Lara had already "timed" against the lines in the initial Alexis recording, and the prompter's job was to keep sync with her as she did her Angelique lines), and it's easy to understand why she'd be a little annoyed with the situation.... ;)

[@lynjackson4374]

Do I get another chaaannce!

[@jeffshook4615]

You don't know your shadows if this isnt THE BEST!

[@davidgagnon3781]

I forgot how she used to bat those eyelashes. How could any man resist?

[@jess4metoo]

Poor Lara, she lays back down in the casket and they break for lunch.

[@thomasmagnum3588]

At least they didn’t close the lid and forget about her!

[@cheryl9389]

DS was so theatrical... sublimely so...

[@lawrencehawkins7198]

Lord! When I was a little boy...

[@Tfontaine209]

The scene was with her sister Alexis.

[@jeanettesmith765]

Although I hated her character so much, I loved her acting in the show.

[@ruthschaefer3228]

Love Lara Parker and its definitely not her fault but that is not a 1970s hair style. She deserved much better

[@bh0931]

I do remember the 4:39 updo "French curls" was common in late sixties, v early 70's....that going to the prom look, lol.

[@jamesoffutt2801]

LOL!! she went complete out of character in 5 seconds.

[@jamesoffutt2801]

her face went blank.

[@dr.migalitoloveless1651]

@@jamesoffutt2801 blank but still beautiful.

[@kellyneese5216]

WOW !

[@sxhbk]

Wow she is all business ...

[@davidrobinson8337]

And talk about busy schedules...

[@dr.migilitoloveless2385]

There was always some screw up on the set of dark shadows.

[@jeffshook4615]

Boring? Boring? Are you dead inside?

[@pjesf]

Love her character but that tone she took at the beginning about the prompter going too quickly was total DIVA - few things put me off quite like that kind of behavior

[@sturoc0]

If you read the other comments per what exactly happened here you will understand that : Actors each evening had to read / memorize scripts for the next days taping. There were numerous daily changes to scripts. Ms Parker is playing against her twin sister character in this scene . Since she is playing both parts Lara has to pace her lines to be able to sync in between her Twin's lines already on tape. Extrememly difficult if the teleprompter is racing along too fast for her to read and time the opposite character's lines in order to get her own lines timing correct. In the modern hi tech era we live in now the editing could all be done digitally and synced in correctly , but back then it was time consuming and costly to cut tape and splice in at just the right second. Dan Curtis had no $ in the budget for this type of post editing..

[@bobstevens457]

She is way too serious in this.

[@Titan52berg]

She was the quintessential beautiful actress but her laughter was consistently overdone. It drove me up the proverbial wall.

[@jasonhurd4379]

Lara the prima donna hahaha

[@IwshIcldstrtover]

She treated the crew like they were trash.

[@sturoc0]

and you were there ?

[@IwshIcldstrtover]

@@sturoc0 I didn't have to be. I read that she was difficult to work with, and treated the crew as if they were benather her at times. I read this back in the 60's when it originally aired.The really nice ones were Jonathan Frid, David Selby, Kathryn Leigh Scott, and John Karlin.

[@garymazzeo3490]

Very boring scene