In anticipation of the upcoming Sabrina Live Reunion Event at the historic Uptown Theater this Sunday, November 1, we had the great pleasure of speaking with Melissa Joan Hart in an exclusive interview. Welcome back to the East Coast, Sabrina! Fans have been waiting 30 years for this exciting reunion, wondering what the spark was that turned this possibility from “Maybe someday,” into ”We’re doing a live tour across the nation.”
“I know it’s a big jump,” Melissa Joan Hart chuckles. “In the last 10 years, I’ve been doing a lot of Comic-Cons where the cast has been getting together, which has been super awesome, and I’ve also been enjoying podcasts. I thought it’d be really fun to put this on the stage and have that kind of fan interaction. I followed the podcast format a little bit, so the audience can expect us doing skits, and we’ll be watching bloopers from the original show.” There will be lots of crowd engagement, Hart confirms: “We’ll be doing some Q&A, and we’re bringing on audience members to audition for the part of Salem. We’ll also be hosting a costume contest, because people seem to like to come in costume. At the end, there will be a little sing-along of all the songs that everybody knows from the show.”
It’s thrilling that Providence, our cozy yet renowned college hub, made it onto the list of tour stops. About picking the capital of Little Rhody, Hart says: “We’re looking to find great theaters and venues, and Providence has one that we were excited about. At the ’90s Con in Hartford, CT, everyone was like: ‘We’re coming to Providence!’ That’s awesome, because it’s a great spot for so much of the New England area to be able to get to, whether it’s by train from New York, or coming down from different parts of Massachusetts, or even up as far as Maine. We’re hoping that people will come find us and play with us!”
Hart, who grew up in the New York area, shares what she loves about the East Coast: “I feel like I’ve lived everywhere, but there’s a thing about New England, especially the Northeast Coast… The smells, the fall foliage, the summers with the fireflies and this humidity, and then the cold, snowy winters. It’s got all the seasons. I just love it. If you’re watching a movie set in November? You’re not seeing a California-November, usually, you’re seeing a Northeast-November. It’s like the epicenter of the world to me; it definitely has a special place in my heart.” The tour sure is coming to town at the right time. The New England foliage is in full bloom, and most importantly in the context of the show: It’s Halloween! Maybe we can expect the cast to appear in costume? “It’s gonna be absolutely perfect,” she says, “I’ve got my spookiest little dresses planned for that weekend and ready to go… I’m leaning into the theme, let’s just say.”
“Fans are encouraged to come in costume. There will be a Halloween costume contest!”
In case you’ve always wondered about Sabrina’s favorite Halloween candy: “Oh gosh, that’s a tough one. If I want chocolatey, it’s usually Twix or Snickers. If I want to feel like I’m behaving myself and getting more protein, I go for the Reese’s, but I really love Skittles, particularly purple and red.”
Motif has recently published an online article about the massive cultural impact of the original ’90s show, and the star remembers that back when “Sabrina” was being produced on set in California, the cast was well aware of the international and generational influence of the show: “It was kind of a trickle effect: We got lucky to be picked up for over 50 episodes, which is unusual, and meant that the show was doing well over there. You get invited to talk shows and premieres, and you’re in all the magazines, and running into fans all over the world, realizing, ‘Oh, I go to Australia, I’m popular there. Oh, I go to the UK. I’m popular there.’ Now, during fan interactions at Comic-Cons, you learn about the impact your show has had on people for generations when you’re talking to grandmas or five-year-olds that love Salem – or hate Salem. It’s been amazing to hear fan stories about how people watched Sabrina while they were in a hospital, or after their loved one died, something that bonded them and their sister, or made them feel like I was their best friend when they were being bullied at school, or they learned English from it. To see that impact is really, really amazing.”
As for the part of the tour she feels most excited about, Hart exclaims: “The bloopers! I love watching the bloopers. Back then, as soon as each season wrapped, we’d get a VHS of the bloopers. Eventually, I had them digitized, from VHS to CD, from CD to PC… so we could splice the clips together for the reunion shows. They’re a little grainy, they’re a little rough, but you still get to see the silliness of what was going on behind the scenes, which is super fun for audiences.”
For many fans, the highlight of the iconic show remains Salem, embodying the ultimate stereotype of a black cat. Cat lovers can expect funny anecdotes about feline co-stars misbehaving on set, Hart teases: “Oh, so many stories about the cats! We did work with live animals a lot, and the cat would do its own thing, but sometimes even the puppet cat would fall off the table. Nick Bakay, the voice of Salem and one of the show’s writers, was right on stage with us, and he would come up with the funniest things to say (as the cat,) and some of that’s in the bloopers that you’ll see at the live show.
Everyone is invited to “come out and have some fun, wear your costumes, come ready to laugh and cry – no, not cry [laughs] to sing, and hopefully be entertained. We look forward to wonderful fan interactions and an opportunity to bring a little nostalgia to everybody.”
Join Melissa Joan Hart and cast members Beth Broderick, Nate Richert, David Lascher, Jenna Leigh Green and Elisa Donovan live at the Uptown Theater on Sunday, November 1.
Tickets available at https://www.uptownpvd.com/events/sabrina-cast-reunion-30