“California Dreams” Reunion! The Band Is Back Together for First Full Gig...

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...'25 Years in the Making' (Exclusive)

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/...235421944.html

JP Mangalindan
Thu, October 12, 2023 at 4:54 PM PDT·4 min read

"It's like nothing has changed. We're like a big crazy family. But with just a couple more wrinkles," star Jennie Kwan exclusively tells PEOPLE.

More than 25 years after NBC's California Dreams wrapped and the stars went their separate ways, the cast has reunited for a long-awaited live concert.

The nine-member cast is scheduled to perform on Friday at Manhattan's Stitch Bar & Blues and participate in a panel discussion, autograph sessions and photo opportunities with loyal fans. Original cast Michael Cade (Sylvester "Sly" Winkle), Brentley Gore (Matt Garrison), Jay Anthony Franke (Jake Sommers), Aaron Jackson (Mark Winkle), William James Jones (Tony Wicks), Jennie Kwan (Samantha "Sam" Woo), Kelly Packard (Tiffani Smith), Heidi Saban (Jenny Garrison) and Diana Uribe (Lorena Costa) are all slated to attend.

While the cast began promoting the event on social media in recent months, Packard and Kwan expressed their excitement about the event together in a short video on Instagram on Oct. 3.

Cast members began arriving in New York City on Monday ahead of Thursday's rehearsal, which brought back a "flood" of memories to Franke, who "almost cried out of joyful nostalgia" during the band's dry run. For least some of them, it seemed like no time had passed.

"It’s like nothing has changed," Kwan tells PEOPLE. "We’re like a big crazy family. But with just a couple more wrinkles."

Jones was feeling nostalgic, adding, "It felt like a high school reunion the moment I saw everyone. A love and connection that remains timeless."

California Dreams ran from 1992 to 1996 as part of NBC's Saturday morning lineup. The show centered on a fictional West coast band and its teenage members' antics, with plenty of catchy original tunes along the way (many of which were composed by Grammy-winning producer Steve Tyrell), including "Castles on Quicksand," "One World," "If You Only Knew."

Since California Dreams went off the air, different combinations of the cast have participated in smaller reunions, with an especially memorable 2010 gig on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon when they performed the show's theme song. They also appeared Saved by the Max pop up restaurant in LA in 2019 (whose name fans will recognize is a nod to California Dreams' fellow Saturday program Saved by the Bell).

Several of the show's stars went on to work on other TV and film projects. Packard appeared in Baywatch and served as a field correspondent for Ripley's Believe It or Not. Kwan graced the stage in productions of Avenue Q and AIaddin, appeared in Entourage and New Girl and voiced roles in Avatar: The Last Airbender. Uribe, meanwhile, landed a part in Quentin Tarantino's 1997 crime drama Jackie Brown and appeared in the music video for Johnny Gill's "I Got You."

As positive as the reunion has been so far for many members of the cast, Uribe — who hasn't seen the cast since the show's wrap party — admitted she had a few jitters about reuniting with her former costars.

“I was so nervous to reopen a past chapter of my life," she admits. "The moment I saw everyone, there was an immediate reconnection like we wrapped a week ago. I can't wait to meet the fans who supported this reunion.”

The 90s Dreams Fan Fest is taking place at 10 a.m. ET on Friday at Stitch Bar & Blues in New York City.

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