This is the news roundup from Nan Dibble and Helpers' Network. Call the Central Hotline at 513-961-3317 or the East Hotline at 201-779-6040.

Hard copy of the December Gazette has an ad for Linda Hamilton's "The Way to Dusty Death" and a picture of the new poster, Vincent At the Threshold. Copy for that poster is included, however.

Hard copies of the Gazette are $1.50 each to Helpers' Network, 379 Amazon Ave., Cincinnati OH 45220-1148. Ad rates are 1/2 page $5, 1 page $10, 2 full sides, $15. Classified FREE (and included in the online version, as well).

A New Project for Linda Hamilton
According to Lynn Musaccio of the New England B&B Hotline, Linda Hamilton has a role in A Mother's Prayer, a tv movie being developed by/for HBO. She's also in The Way to Dusty Death, made for European tv but may be shown here, too. (The above mentioned ad for "The Way to Dusty Death" reads: Alistair MacLean's: The Way to Dusty Death. With a quote from the Observer: "Vigorous thriller with screaming tyres". It also stars Simon MacCorkindale.)

Send a Different Kind of Valentine's Day Card to Witt-Thomas
Many B&B organizations, including Helpers' Network and the New England B&B Hotline, have combined to encourage fans to write Witt-Thomas Productions, the originators of B&B (as an executive of Republic recently reminded us, encouraging us to write!) centered on the day for celebrating romance, Valentine's Day. Besides, it's their turn: we haven't sent them letters since the pledge drive, which some of you are too new in the fandom even to know about. While knowing perfectly well that everybody's going to do exactly what they want, because they always DO, here's what Nan would like you to do.

Starting the 1st of February, write a letter a day until Valentine's day. Then STOP. (Poor Marcia Basichis at Spelling is still getting letters, Nan hears!) A letter a day for two weeks should make the point we want to make without persecuting and annoying people we want to be our friends and kindly disposed toward us.

Second, keep the letter short and to the point. Say Thanks for bringing us Beauty and the Beast in the first place, and I WANT A MOVIE! If you feel compelled to explain exactly what kind of movie you want and why, there's nothing Nan can do but try to discourage you with the well known fact that these letters are seldom, if ever, read. What Nan's after is volume--fourteen letters from everybody--not a long explanation, in a lone letter, of everything B&B has come to mean to each and every fan. Emote some other time. Nan asks most earnestly, if you want a movie at all, say so...and leave it at that. Please be brief. Use postcards, even! Long letters serve no purpose and confuse the issue.

The address is Tony Thomas, Witt-Thomas Productions, 1438 N. Gower Street., Building 35, 4th Floor, Hollywood CA 90028.

Thanks to helper Lisa Howard, news about the letter campaign will be going out over the Internet, but in this scattered fandom, everybody's help is needed in spreading the word. Let everybody you're in contact with know about this newest letter-writing campaign, especially those you think are less likely to hear about it by other means. Let's really give Witt-Thomas some major mail here, because it's Nan's unprovable theory that, now that all the corporate pieces are in place from Viacom, through Paramount, through Blockbuster and Spelling, on down to Republic, we have a better chance of getting something started on a movie this year than we ever have before. Just say she feels it in her bones. The dream is alive and well and getting closer. So write, people!

[Photo from "The Way to Dusty Death" supplied by helper Laura Hardy.]

CALIBAN'S HOUR
Read by Ron Perlman
Through the help of Ron Perlman's agency and the determined phone calling of helpers Lynn Kramer and Marion Kozlowski, Nan learned details about the audiobook Ron Perlman did last fall. It's by a contemporary fantasy writer, Tad Williams. Perhaps his best known works are: The Dragonbone Chair; a fantasy about cats, Tailchaser's Song; and a series in a land where magic is possible, To the Green Angel Tower. This current book, Caliban's Hour, was published as a small format (paperback-sized) hardback in November by HarperCollins Publishing, priced at $14.99. The audio version is comprised of three audiotapes--the book is read unabridged--and runs for 4 1/2 hours.

The story is a very B&B-like fantasy in which Shakespeare's bestial Caliban, of The Tempest, bursts in one night on Miranda in her Renaissance Italian palace intending to kill her...after he's told her of what he's suffered from his desperate, hopeless love for her. People have been playing excerpts to each other over the phone, Nan hears--they're that excited about it, and about Ron Perlman's narration. He's a good reader, as we all know.

The audio version of Caliban's Hour is $20 plus 2.50 p/h if you buy it from the publisher. For credit card orders, call 212-207-7000; or write HarperCollins Publishing, Order Dept., 10 E. 53rd St., New York NY 10022. To order it, you'll need the audiobook's ISBN number: 0694515353. Allow about a month for delivery.

The book is available at large bookstores nationwide; the audiobook is carried by bookstores and through audio catalogues.

If you want this tape and can afford to buy it, DO IT, being sure to mention that you're really interested in Ron Perlman as narrator. It can't hurt his reputation if his narration of a book increases its sales. On the other hand, if you'd really love to have this set but absolutely can't afford it (we're on the honor system here), through Marion Kozlowski's kindness, Nan has a copyable set and will supply the audiobook for cost: $5 (p/h included). [Address is Helpers' Network, 379 Amazon Ave., Cincinnati OH 45220-1148.

An Interview with Cyndi Mitchell
by Jana Ondrechen
Beauty and the Beast is known for changing lives. Cynthia Mitchell's love for Beauty and the Beast led her from Los Angeles to New York City to write and direct Once Upon a Time in the City of New York: a Musical Fable, based on the television series. She wrote the book and lyrics, and William Whitefield wrote the music.

A Los Angeles native, Mitchell directed several award-winning West Coast productions, including The Lion in Winter, Into the Woods, Amadeus, Rumors, West Side Story, 100 in the Shade, and A Chorus Line before moving to New York to pursue her dream of putting Beauty and the Beast on Broadway. Composer Whitefield's previous work includes an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's short story "The Day It Rained Forever." (He continues to collaborate with Bradbury on new musical interpretations.) Whitefield and Mitchell are also working on Tomb, a musical set amid the pyramids of Giza. These projects show a clear preference for imaginative material. "I've always been interested in fantasy and horror," Mitchell admits. "Bill, too. He's a big Anne Rice reader."

Although much of the material in Once Upon a Time is taken right from the television episodes (particularly the pilot and "A Happy Life"), some adjustments were made for this adaptation. Mitchell notes that television scenes are shorter than theater scenes, and can be intercut with other action, so she had to "sew scenes together" to tell the story effectively on stage. Mitchell also had to "set together characters" to limit the cast and reduce complexity. For example, Nancy became a blend of Nancy Tucker and Jenny Aronson, and Elliot became the sole rival for Catherine's love, replacing Buddy in the storyline from "A Happy Life." But fans of Beauty and the Beast will find the musical is overall "very faithful" to the series. Mitchell also laced the work with inside jokes that fans will appreciate.

For this professional production, only the best talent was considered. Casting calls were placed in trade papers, and response was good: "We got almost 900 pictures and resumes," Mitchell recalls. After picking through the applications, they saw 100 people with strong experience in nationally and internationally acclaimed productions. They quickly selected Michael Park (whose credits include James in Shenandoah, and the stand-by for Billy Bigelow in Carousel) to play Vincent, but had a tougher time finding the right Catherine to work with him. "Then a girl ran in late, and was perfect," Mitchell reports. The late arrival was Stephanie Douglas, also a veteran of Shenandoah (Jenny) and Brigadoon (Meg Brockie). James Eric Anzalone, who toured Europe as Berger in Hair, and was one of the Village People (yes, the pop-disco ensemble!) was selected to play Elliot Burch. Father is Martin Epstein (Srebryakov in Uncle Vanya and Mr. Franklin in Children of a Lesser God, and Nancy is Allison Clifford (Anne in Shenandoah and Laurie in a national tour of Oklahoma).

At the staged reading at Lincoln Center January 9 and 10, the strength of the writing, music, and performing talent will be especially important, for the work will be performed without makeup, costumes, or sets. The hope is that the potential for this show will be seen by possible backers and producers. If so, Mitchell knows they will see "how loved Beauty and the Beast is."

If everything could go exactly the way she wanted, "The show would go to London and open on the West End, then go to Broadway." More likely, it would go to "regional theater to be tried, then tour or go to Broadway."

[Editor's Note: Reactions to the performance have begun to come in from attendees. They will be published in the January Gazette.]

Cronos Due on Pay Per View Soon
News just in from helper Marion Kozlowski that Ron Perlman's well-regarded Vampire movie, Cronos, will air on pay per view soon, probably in February. What we don't know is whether it will be the subtitled version, in which Ron Perlman says his own lines, or the dubbed version, in which another actor dubbed Ron's voice. Anyway, we'll soon find out. Nan hopes that the subtitled version will air at least in some parts of the country with a large Spanish-speaking population, like LA, the Southwest, and New York; if you live in such an area and can get Cronos on pay per view when it airs, please do tape it on good tape, the 2-hour speed, and lend the tape to Nan to make a master from, for copying for others. Nan hopes anybody in a position to supply such a tape of the subtitled version will let her know.

Silent Fall: Another View
From The Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) for Oct. 28, 1994, relayed by the kindness of Laura Pritchard. The review gives the movie 3 stars and is written by the newspaper's house reviewer, Donald La Badie. [Ed: the review has been slightly condensed].

Subtle 'Silent Fall' a first-class thriller
Why has [Silent Fall] arrived without fanfare? Because this solid piece of moviemaking delivers its suspense so gradually that Warner Bros. didn't know what to make of it.

The script and direction are first class and so is the acting. The film marks a striking debut by Liv Tyler, the daughter of former model Bebe Buell and Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler.

Put the elements together and you have something out of the ordinary.

The setting is hilly, rural Maryland. Unsettling sinister images of trick-or treaters pounding on the door of an old country house flood the screen. Jake Rainer (Richard Dreyfuss) and his wife Karen (Linda Hamilton) aren't answering. Jake, a psychiatrist, and Karen have retreated following the accidental death of a young patient.

The knocking stops, then resumes more frantically. This time it's Jake's friend, Sheriff Mitch Rivers (J. T. Walsh) asking for his help. An affluent couple living on a nearby estate have been knifed to death. There are two witnesses: Silvie (Tyler), the adolescent daughter; and Tim (Ben Faulkner) her 9-year-old brother.

As a witness, Tim presents problems. He suffers from autism, a condition that cuts him off from communication with the outside world. Jake has specialized in the problems of autistic children. He takes up the challenge to break through to the boy.

The parents of screenwriter Akiva Goldsman are--like the movie's protagonist--psychiatrists who work with autistic children. Goldsman has used this knowledge as a firm foundation for an unusually convincing thriller.

Although the clues to the mystery are planted by mid-film, the viewer initially may feel there aren't enough suspects from which to choose. Later there are enough possible killers to make the least likely fair game. Does Hamilton's presence, for example, have anything to do with the muscles she developed for the Terminator movies?

Director Bruce Beresford (Black Robe, Breaker Morant) has shaped Goldsman's material to create one of his best films in years. Unlike most directors working with suspense in the 1990s, he doesn't telegraph the answers. Silent Fall should keep viewers gripping their seats up through the last few minutes.

[Ed: the review then goes on to praise the cinematography, explain the title, praise director Beresford and actors Dreyfuss, Faulkner, and Tyler, concluding:]

Walsh as the lawman, Hamilton as Dreyfuss' wife, and John Lithgow as a vaguely sinister psychiatrist are all expert in sideline roles.

NOTICES & FACTOIDS
Jo Anderson has told Gloria Handley she'll attend Gloria's writers' conference, next June in Iowa, if her schedule allows (few actors can be certain to be free months ahead of the date involved). In addition to her acting, Jo is also a writer, and Gloria is (of course) the president of Jo's fan club. For further information, write to Gloria Handley, 4195 Rolling Hills, Bettendorf IA 52722. (Look for ads for the writers' conference and available zines online soon.)

Jo has started appearing on a regular basis on the series "Sisters."

Connie Parrish reports that the venerable recording, Of Love and Hope (Vincent reading poetry to the accompaniment of music from the series), has finally gone out of print after an unusually long run (almost 6 years). Those who waited too long to get their copy can get a tape from Nan for $5. She can put either "Vincent's Letters to Catherine" or the Don Davis B&B suite from Hyperspace on the other side. For members of Helpers' Network, the price is $1.50.

Helper Darlene Sullivan recently sent Nan an article about Lance Henriksen, the rainbow-haired supporting actor who played Snow and appears in the current video release, No Escape, trying to look benevolent while playing a character named Father. Some of us have become fond of many character actors who, like Ron Perlman and Roy Dotrice, get by more on their considerable acting skills than on their looks, and have become fans of this good actor who's never turned in a bad performance, regardless of the overall quality of the movie itself. If you're interested in this article about Lance, whose memorable film roles include the latter two Aliens movies, Jennifer 8, and Delta Heat, among many others, you can have a copy free from Nan for business sized SASE (#10 envelope) and 32 cents postage.

From helper and Ron Perlman fan extraordinaire Vivian Liebgold, a clipping about Ron's attending a charity ball in LA at the end of October. Other attendees of the event, the Hollywood Women's Political Committee fund-raiser, included Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barbra Steisand, Whoopi Goldberg, Shirley MacLaine, Liza Minelli, Lynda Gruber, Marlee Matlin, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Natalie Cole, Linda Grey, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Maria Shriver, Jackie Collins, Quincy Jones, David Geffin, Mary Tyler Moore, Chevy Chase. Rod Stewart, Paul Marciano, Wayne Gretzgy, Gore Vital, and lots and lots of others.

Reminder: the new set of 4 B&B tapes, episodes 9-12, are now on sale at the larger video stores; it might be a good idea to phone around first to find out if the store has them, and also to nudge them into knowing the tapes are available if they don't already have them. Nan encourages everybody to buy at least one of these videos even if you have the whole series on tape, to encourage Republic to continue releasing them. Laserdisks will NOT be available in conjunction with these new releases or the next ones, slated for September.

SIGHTINGS
Police Academy 7, Mission to Moscow, in which Ron Perlman plays a Russian gangster, is due out on video Jan 20, and may show up on pay cable around the same time.

On video and on pay per view (besides No Escape and Cronos, already mentioned) are Beverly Hills Cop III, featuring Stephen McHattie, Guarding Tess whose cast includes Edward Albert, and [from secret helper Maxine Mayer] Plug Head Revisited: Circuitry Man II starring Jim Metzler, Steven Bass, who recently appeared in a DS9 two-parter.

Classified
Classified ads printed FREE for anything that can be written on a 3 x 5 card. Ads run once unless renewed.

Ready now: ODYSSEY--Romance and surprises on a NYC weekend Above; THE MIDNIGHT COLLECTION--cozy, clinging anthology; CROSSROADS--BATB/Terminator worlds meet in taut adventure. All Classic Adult; Age Statement Required. $18 ea US, $25 ELSE from Helen Commodore, 2930 W. 5th St., 19R, Brooklyn NY 11224. SASE for flyers, more info. [ED: note, this is a different address than that printed for these zines in the Q-fer. This one is newer and presumably correct.]

The following three ads from the Internet:

'Beauty and the Beast UK Chamber' - the first UK based fan club for the TV series. Club magazine (The Chronicle) 40+ pages of member input - stories, articles, reviews, letters, poetry, art, quizzes & information - March, June, Sept & Dec. Also produce 'The Journal', 16 pages, April, July, Oct, Jan between Chronicles to keep members up to date. Voted best club magazine for 2 years since inception of the British Annual Awards. US Membership $22 (US dollars, cash please). Send to: Sheila Waters, 14 Judith Road, Kettering, Northants NN16 0NX, UK.

MASK: TALES FROM THE UNDERGROUND is a zine exploring the worlds of "Beauty and the Beast" and "Phantom of the Opera". We alternate issues between each universe. There are also zines in this series featuring all "Beauty and the Beast". Our emphasis is on well-plotted stories emphasizing Catherine and Vincent's relationship against the backdrops of the worlds Above and Below. For detailed flyers send email Kathleener@aol.com or send SASE to Kathleen Resch, PO Box 1766, Temple City, CA, 91780.

WORLDWIDE ACCESS TO THE HELPERS' NETWORK GAZETTE!
From "Of Love And Hope," the biweekly electronic mail digest for fans with access to the Internet, comes the all new all Beauty and the Beast ftp archive. In this computer archive, you can find back issues of Of Love and Hope, the Helpers' Network Gazette, the Electronic Guide to Beauty and the Beast, A Distant Shore information, as well as other information on the fandom. They are also accepting submissions for their fiction, poetry, and image archives. The digest features timely discussions on all aspects of Beauty and the Beast. The subscription to Of Love and Hope is FREE. Just send e-mail to tullise@indy.navy.mil and request a subscription. Information on the ftp archive is provided in all issues.

Award-winning artist Sandy C. Shelton is offering calendars, stationary, cards, prints, t-shirts, other B&B fan merchandise. For flyer, more info, send to Sandy C. Shelton, 6851 Woodlea W., Oscoda MI 48750.

[Ed: the envelope for this ad arrived with the following stamped on it:

WARNING IF YOU THROW THIS IN YOUR WASTEBASKET UNOPENED, A CAPSULE OF WATER INSIDE WILL BREAK, SPILLING ONTO A DEHYDRATED GORILLA. HE WILL THEN JUMP OUT OF THE ENVELOPE AND HUG YOU TO DEATH.

Best offer I've had all day. Now if it'd warned that VINCENT would jump out.... Sigh.--Ed.]

Full color 11 x 17 limited edition POSTER of a new Beauty and the Beast miniature:

VINCENT AT THE THRESHOLD
Any moment now, Catherine will appear. She'll emerge from a shaft of blue light into Vincent's arms.

Tonight he has a surprise for Catherine. In a hidden place, a secluded niche beneath the Bandstand in Central Park, since childhood, he's secretly heard all the great music. Tonight, the New York Philharmonic performs a majestic and sublime work--one of his supreme favorites--Shubert's Unfinished Symphony.

There are many unfinished symphonies, Vincent reflects, poised at the threshold between two great and separate worlds.... But soon, Catherine will appear to bridge the gap--at least for a little while.

Any moment now, any moment!

Posters are $10 ea., $18/2, $25/3 (from Europe, add $2; foreign orders in cash only, please) from Jane Freeman, 21 Harrison St. #3, New York NY 10013. SASE for info on new miniatures, "Joe Maxwell's Point of View," "Jacob Wells' Bedchamber," and "Terrible Savior."

End.