Main Mission: 2000
| Convention | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Main Mission: 2000 |
| Dates: | September 1-3, 2000 |
| Frequency: | Once |
| Location: | New York, New York |
| Type: | |
| Focus: | Space: 1999 |
| Organization: | |
| Founder: | Tom Lowry, Robert Ruiz |
| Founding Date: | 2000 |
| URL: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Main Mission: 2000 is a Space: 1999 con that was held September 1-3, 2000 at the Crown Plaza Hotel, Times Square, in New York City.
Special guests from Space: 1999 were: Barry Morse, Zienia Merton, Catherine Schell, Prentis Hancock, John Hug, Keith Wilson, Johnny Byrne, Christopher Penfold, George Bellak, and Kevin Connor.
Martin Landau was invited and advertised as a guest; however, he was forced to cancel his appearance due to filming schedule conflicts.
Other guests included: Richard Hatch, Jack Stauffer, Grace Lee Whitney, Corinne Orr, Karen Lynn Gorney, Phil Plait, John Muir, Jim Burns, Tye Bourdony, and Nick Abadzis.
The "President/CEO" of the con was Tom Lowry, who was assisted by Robert Ruiz. There were approximately 225 attendees.
Staffers and panelists included: Tony Wynn, Robert E. Wood, Ellen Celeste Lindow, Jenny Lobb, Terry S. Bowers, Chris Paulsen, Shawn O'Donnell, and Nick Williams.
Actors Barry Morse and Grace Lee Whitney reunited for a screening of The Outer Limits episode Controlled Experiment. It featured a newly reedited 30 minute cut of the classic installment, replicating what it may have looked like as a television pilot.
Barry Morse also hosted a premiere screening of his one-man show Merely Players which had been filmed for television.
Richard Hatch and Jack Stauffer screened a short film based on Battlestar Galactica, entitled Battlestar Galactica: The Second Coming.
Goals of Main Mission: 2000
From the convention program:
The purpose of organizing Main Mission: 2000 is four-fold:
- To raise funds and awareness for the National Parkinson Foundation and for AIDS through the Gay Men's Health Center;
- To bring together noteworthy writers, actors, directors, producers, and other film and television celebrities in order that they might share their experience and knowledge of the industry for those who are at the early stages of their own careers;
- To commemorate and celebrate the life and works of one of the finest playwrights of this century, George Bernard Shaw; and
- To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the highly influential epic television science fiction classic, Space: 1999 (which strongly influenced all filmed science fiction to follow (including Star Wars, Alien, et al.) with its groundbreaking special effects work), as well as to pay homage to other quality science fiction television series from the mid-1970s such as Battlestar Galactica.
A Tribute to George Bernard Shaw
In conjunction with the convention, the benefit evening A Tribute to George Bernard Shaw' was held at the Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College, on the upper East Side of New York City. It was sponsored under the banner of UnitedVision, a company owned by con "President/CEO" Tom Lowry. The synopsis from the publicity material:
In celebration of the centenary of one of the finest playwrights of our time, UnitedVision is proud to present A Tribute to George Bernard Shaw.Acts I through IV consist of a staged, radio-style adaptation of Pygmalion starring Len Cariou, Rita Gam, Prentis Hancock, John Hug, Zienia Merton, Corinne Orr, Ann Pitoniak, Amy Ryan, Jack Stauffer, and Ellsworth G. Stanton, III.
Act V is a performance of the Interlude from Shaw's The Apple Cart, starring Michael Allinson and Rita Gam. Act VI is a series of monologues by Michael Allinson, Karen Lynn Gorney, and Barry Morse. There is also a performance of Shaw's one-act How He Lied by ArtGroup. Proceeds benefit Gay Men's Health Crisis and the National Parkinson Foundation, Inc.
The convention and associated theatre production were expensive to mount and produce. It is unknown if any proceeds actually benefited the two named con charities, the National Parkinson Foundation and the Gay Men's Health Center.
Con Program
Cover of the program
Page 2 of the program
Page 3 of the program
Page 4 of the program
Page 5 of the program
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Page 8 of the program
Daily Con Schedule
Schedule, day 1
Schedule, day 2
Schedule, day 3
