Master of put-downs will return in February

Good news for Jackie Mason fans, especially those who couldn't get tickets to his sold-out shows at the Palace Grand in January.

Mason is coming back, this time for four dinner shows on Feb. 11, 12, 13 and 14, again at the Palace Grand in Spring Hill.

I'm still chuckling about some of the outrageous things Mason said during his act when he was here last. He is the absolute master of the put-down, and he spares no one. I have to laugh when he insults people I admire and/or love, even as I wince at his sometimes profane language.

Clive Barnes of the New York Post, an unabashed Mason worshiper, once described Mason as a "chubby Jewish leprechaun spilling over with the bile of human kindness." See what I mean?

Mason's four one-man Broadway shows played to standing-room-only crowds for up to two years each. That's a lot of fans for one man. He has won Emmy and Cable Ace awards and has been nominated for Grammys for his comedy albums.

Mason told Palace Grand owners Nick and Sal Sessa that he loves to come here because there's a smaller crowd (Mason usually plays the 1,334-seat Neil Simon, 805-seat Golden or 718-seat Booth theaters) in a non-New York place (okay, we're full of New Yorkers, but does that count?) and we're not paying New York or London prices, so he feels comfortable trying out new material.

That means locals can hear Mason's stuff before anyone else does and get a good dinner, all for $39.95, about half of what they would pay for a ticket in New York. Besides, they don't have to pay for airplane tickets and hotel rooms or bunk with Cousin Alfie in Queens to see him.

Speaking of the Sessas: No, their Show Palace Dinner Theatre isn't for sale. That big "For Sale" sign is in the lot next door, which the Show Palace leases for patron parking. If it sells, the Sessas have plenty of room behind the theater for cars and buses.

The Tarpon Springs Performing Arts Center is bringing back its locally produced, classic theater shows. Until a couple of years ago, the resident Avenue Players did Shakespeare, Agatha Christie and tough dramas like Amadeus there, to appreciative audiences.

The Avenue Players appear at other venues now, notably the Forum at Stage West Community Playhouse and the upcoming series at the Leepa-Rattner Museum's theater. New Port Richey resident and community theater mainstay Dick Poole has agreed to direct two productions for the Tarpon Springs theater next year, according to Kathleen Monahan, the cultural and civic services director responsible for programming at the center.

The first is Ruth and Augustus Goetz's The Heiress, a stage adaptation of the Henry James novel Washington Square. It is played on Broadway three times, and during its last incarnation in 1995, won four Tony Awards, including "best play revival." It will play during the 2002-03 season, Ms. Monahan said.

In fall 2003, Poole will direct the beautiful musical Kismet, which has several tunes adapted from classical music -- Stranger in Paradise and And This Is My Beloved, to name a couple.

Poole, recovering nicely from a serious illness, will be a busy boy this year. Besides the Tarpon Springs shows, he is directing the musical Gypsy and the mystery-drama Ladies in Retirement for Richey Suncoast Theatre.

Poole may also pick up some statues in October at the 21st annual Lary Awards, the Pasco/Pinellas/Hillsborough community theater version of the Tony Awards.

He has been nominated for three awards, one for directing the musical Brigadoon at Francis Wilson Playhouse in Clearwater, another for directing Mack and Mabel at Richey Suncoast Theatre and a third for designing costumes for Teahouse of the August Moon at Francis Wilson.

Last year, Poole and Poole-directed productions won nine of the coveted awards, six for The King and I at Francis Wilson, including one for his direction, two for The Little Foxes and one for A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, both at Richey Suncoast Theatre.

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