The Daily Journal from Vineland, New Jersey • 8

8 VJneland Timet Journal Aug. 15, 1986 That's Rivers sues 1937 British musical, opens on Broadway impersonator in Vegas act LAS VEGAS, Nev. (AP) Comedienne Joan Rivers says Frank Marino is no laughing matter, and she wants him to stop imitating her. Miss Rivers has filed a lawsuit in excess of $1 million against Marino, the Riviera Hotel and the hotel's show "An Evening at La Cage," which features female impersonators. The suit was filed in U.S.

District Court in Las Vegas this week against Marino, a 22-year-old New Yorker who does three shows a night imitating the 53- sing with a great deal of charm if not golden tones of a matinee idol. A wonderful musical come-dyperformance. The book, originally written by L. Arthur Rose and Douglas Furber, has been revised by Stephen Fry with further contributions from director Mike Ockrent. What they have distilled from the original 1937 musical is an old-fashioned story that may be simple but never condescending.

That same sureness of tone and style is reflected in Ockrent's direction, an impressive job considering he had to deal with nearly 40 actors, a series of opulent sets designed by Martin Johns and the colorful costumes by Ann Curtis that could have overwhelmed the musical. NEW YORK (AP) Can a nearly 50-year-old British musi-. cal with a plot that sounds like a combination of "Cinderella," "My Fair Lady" and a bit of "No, No, Nanette" thrown in for good measure make it on that increasingly desperate street called Broadway? It could and it should to alter slightly a lyric from "Me and My Girl," an enchanting musical entertainment that opened Sunday at Broadway's new Marquis Theater. There are several reasons to see this musical, but at the top of the list is an astonishing actor named Robert Lindsay who starred in the show's 1985 London revival. Lindsay plays a cockney gadabout named Bill Snibson.

Bill is sort of a male version of Eliza Doolittle who discovers that he is a member of the upper crust, the long lost heir to the Earldom of Hareford. The news is greeted with dismay by several lounge lizard relatives who have taken up residence in what is now Bill's country estate. They would love to see him gone, but his aunt, an old duchess, is determined to make an aristocrat of the young man and, more important, get him to drop his cockney girlfriend Sally. There's no doubt that true love will triumph in the end. Lindsay makes it all believable and very funny.

He's an accomplished clown, ingratiating without being cloying. Call him a vinegary vaudevillian with a seemingly inexhaustible bag of stage tricks. He can get a laugh with the oldest of puns, dance with the grace of an Astaire and Joan Rivers Gay with lyrics by Rose and Furber. Gay was an enormously successful British composer of musicals in the 1930s and 1940s, but virtually unknown to American audiences. "Me and My Girl" was his most popular show, running for nearly five years in London.

Gay, who died in 1954, wrote simple, tuneful melodies that have immediate audience appeal. In this show, the most famous song is "The Lambeth Walk," which serves as a rousing first act finale showcasing the best of Gillian Gregory's choreography. Once heard, the tune is impossible to forget. Several strong performers lend Lindsay their able support. Maryann Plunkett, looking like a young Judy Garland, exudes a sweetness that matches her voice.

She also gets to sing one of Gay's loveliest songs, a quiet ballad called "Once You Lose Your Heart." George S. Irving as a nobleman who transforms Sally into a lady and Jane Connell as Bill's wealthy aunt create a great of deal of sympathy for two people who could have easily de- scended into caricature. The more obvious low comedy is handled with care by Jane Summer-hays as the evening's predatory female, Nick Ullett as her Bertie Woosterish beau and Timothy Jerome as a twinkle-toed family The score was written by Noel year-old Miss Rivers. Marino's rendition of Miss Rivers has become a popular act on the Las Vegas Strip since "La Cage" opened in September 1985. lzAyzz Liirxao, Editor Wildwood to host seafood fest '')' (r- AP Usarphoto Judge Carter Addison played by Dick Van Dyke (right) looks over some papers with attorney Ben L.

Matlock played by Andy Griffith during taping of "Matlock," an NBC drama series, recently. Van Dyke guest stars in the episode as a snake-in-the-grass killer judge. name to win a bicycle. The drawing will be at 10 a.m. Entry is free.

The festival is being sponsored by the Wildwood Dept. of Tourism, the Wildwood Tourism De-1 velopment Commission and the. Pacific Avenue Merchants. For more information, contact the Wildwood Dept. of Tourism at 522-1407.

Weekend antiques fair at cold spring village An antiques fair takes place Saturday and Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at historic cold spring village on Rt. 9 in Cape May. More than 50 antique dealers from New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania will be present.

Many categories of furniture, decorative accessories, jewelry, books, postcards, prints and silver will be available for the discriminating decorator and the collector in search of rarities. All the village shops including the bakery, old fashioned ice cream parlor, seafood restaurant in the Old Grange, the country store, candy and candle shops will be open. Admission is $1 and is good for the whole season. Free music, strolling entertainment and a Lobster Race are a few of the activities planned for the first annual Wildwood Seafood Festival to he held Aug. 19 from 5 to 11 p.m.

on Pacific Avenue. Many of the area's leading restaurants will provide some of their seafood specialties. Delicious fish, crab, and lobster dishes will be included. A memorial ceremony honoring all fishermen that have been lost at sea will be held at 7 p.m. at Holly Beach Park on Andrews Avenue.

All families of fishermen lost are especially invited to attend. Flowers will be provided to lay at the base of the memorial monument. Coordinators of the event will hold a Lobster Race at 8 p.m. Anyone may enter the race andor sponsor a lobster for just $5. The lobsters will race on an inclined track.

The track will be greased and contestants will be allowed to squirt the lobsters with waterguns to help move them along. Fishing displays, arts and crafts displays and sales, magicians, clowns, jugglers, a fire eater, and more will highlight the night's activities. There are still openings for arts and crafts displays. Throughout the evening there will be places to register your bui Miss mvers, in me jawsuu, claims Marino is using material she has copyrighted, and that the hotel's advertising of the show is misleading. The suit also asks that Marino's act be closed, that all its profits be turned over to Miss Rivers and that advertisements depicting Marino dressed as Miss Rivers be stopped.

The suit states only that damages sought for several claims are "in excess of $1 million." "I personally haven't been served (with the lawsuit) yet," Marino said Wednesday. "She asked me to take some material out, which I did. Now, the material is 99 percent my material and 1 percent Joan Rivers material." Marino said he did not want to comment further until he had seen a copy of the lawsuit. In an interview last month, Marino said the Rivers material was essential to his act. "It's impossible for me to do Joan Rivers on stage and not use some of her stuff to do her kind of humor," Marino said.

"I don't use her monologues. I do use some of her jokes, but I mix the jokes and alter them for my show. Comedians borrow from each other all the time. Joan does it too." The hotel's publicity office said no one was available to comment on the lawsuit. "La Cage" producer Norbert Aleman said last month that he considered the dispute silly.

The suit alleges that Marino "appropriates and copies a substantial portion of his material from Rivers' live stage and television performances." Marino also illegally uses material from Miss Rivers' 1983 comedy album, "What Becomes a Semi-Legend Most," the suit states. The suit also contends that "La Cage" ads on radio, television and billboards "have been employed by the defendants in order to delude and confuse the public into believing that Rivers is associated with 'La Cage' and is appearing at the Riviera Hotel." Miss Rivers performs at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Marino never sought permission to use her copyrighted material and was warned by her attorneys that he would face a lawsuit if he continued, the suit contends. Pi 0 August 12 thru 17 Showtimes: 8:00 pm and 11 :30 pm August 17, 6:00 pm only Tickets: $20.00 Friday and Saturday, $22.50 August 19 thru 24 Joel Grey For information and to purchase tickets call 800-523-2803, call Teletron, stop by our convenient Boardwalk Box Office or your local Ticketron. 2 AMERICAN Opwi 8:00 Show Starts Dusk Car Radio sound f-hlLrfean UiMtar 1 2 FrM ANTHEM pgi3) TONIGHT THRU THURSDAY JOHN CANDY 2JUl.u TRUMP PLAZA HOTEL CASINOON THE BOARDWALK ThM hey mate Tate your whole family to visit our generating plant and discover how electricity is realty made.

No wonder a child maybe mystified by electricity. You cant see it, taste it, or touch it Yet electricity is one of the most useful forces in society. And the availability of electric energy is critical to everyone's well-being. TV Qt'u ulii AHanti Plof T-ir rnr. ating Station.

See how the power we rely upon every day is actually produced The unique, informative tour takes about an hour but will create impressions that last a lifetime. Plan to visit soon. Days Times: Saturdays and Sundays June 14-August 24, 11 AM -4 PM Call 645-4 1 60 for more information. 1 ONLY AT: Cumberland Mali, Vineland, New Jersey Route 47, Delsea Drive Park Ave. Vineland, New Jersey V.

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