Hello, Dolly! Dave & Buster’s
is in show business

By Tom Waring
Times Staff Writer

In the 17 months since Dave & Buster’s Grand Sports Café bought the bankrupt Jillian’s chain, a lot has stayed the same at the entertainment complex.
The bowling alley, pool tables, arcade games, three bars, restaurant and televisions remain, at least at the 65,000-square-foot location at the Franklin Mills mall.
One of the features at Jillian’s that did not fit the concept of Dave & Buster’s was the Groove Shack dance club.
D & B’s gutted the room, taking down the bar and the disco balls and lights. The largest of its three banquet halls, it’s being used for showers, Sweet 16 birthday parties, bar mitzvahs and other occasions.
Now, Steve and Dolly Garber have come up with more uses for the club. They are about to open Dinner Theater on Demand.
There are nine different shows, with flexible times to suit groups.
"It’s a new concept," Dolly Garber said. "We can give people the show they want to see, not what they’re forced to see. I thought it would be something cool in the Northeast."
The Garbers are calling the spot — which can hold 300, as opposed to 200 during the Groove Shack days — the "Showbiz Showroom." They held comedy shows there during the Jillian’s days.
While they will use the room primarily for dinner theater, opening night on April 28 will feature a fund-raiser roast of City Councilman Frank Rizzo (R-at large).
"We’re bringing back the old Dean Martin celebrity roast concept," Dolly Garber said.
Garber will host the show, which will start with a performance by well-known comics Ben Kurland and Chris Rich.
The roasters, who’ll be seated onstage at the head table, will be radio talk-show host Michael Smerconish, former City Controller Jonathan Saidel, Republican mayoral candidate Al Taubenberger, former state Sen. Bob Rovner, political operatives Marty Weinberg and Renee Amoore, and businessmen Manny Stamatakis and Nick DeBenedictis. Veteran newsman Larry Kane will appear on video.
The Garbers will present Rizzo with their Good Humor Award, which also has gone to funny people like Jay Leno and seemingly not-so-funny people like Donovan McNabb and Harold Hairston, the former fire commissioner.
"I have a feeling this comedy roast thing is going to take off," Dolly Garber said.
Garber, 59, is a longtime entertainer and entrepreneur whose former comedy partner was the late Councilman Thacher Longstreth.
Today, she keeps busy with several ventures: her weekly Dolly Talks Hollywood talk show on WBCB (1490 AM); her weekend comedy club at the Spaghetti Warehouse, at 10th and Spring Garden streets; as dean of the Comedy College, where students of all ages come to learn the craft at the Spaghetti Warehouse; and as a performer at private shows, where her husband is the butt of many of her jokes.
Her future plans include opening a second campus of the Comedy College at Dave & Buster’s.
For now, though, most of the focus is on building the dinner theater.
"I think this is something the Northeast needs that it doesn’t have right now," Steve Garber said.
When the Lily Langtry’s showplace in King of Prussia closed in April 2006, tour bus companies contacted the Garbers to find another venue. That conversation led to Dinner Theater on Demand, which is geared to crowds of 100 to 300.
The Garbers are excited about the concept, especially because the site is a stone’s throw from their Bensalem home. They also think Dave & Buster’s will benefit by having large groups coming to the theater. Parking is free and spacious enough to accommodate buses.
Michael Kenny, a D & B’s manager, explained that the age demographic for his club is 21 to 30. The theater-goers will be a bit older, but young enough to enjoy the rest of the club.
"We hope they have a good time and return in the future," he said.
The Garbers said the theater crowd will like the food at D & B’s, adding that the company installed a new sound system in the banquet hall. The couple also plan to conduct a "Comedy Star Search," with audience members picking the winner.
Steve Garber is in charge of finding the theater talent, which he compares favorably to casino-level acts. All of the acts present clean, family-friendly material in a smoke-free environment.
The show offerings include standup comedy, comedy hypnosis, comedy magic, Broadway, Vaudeville, big bands and tributes to Mario Lanza, Elton John, Neil Diamond, the Rat Pack and the Beatles.
"They’re dead on," Steve Garber said of the celebrity impersonators. "They sound like them, look like them and act like them."
The Garbers believe that the variety of acts will be a big selling point.
"People can come back and not have to see the same show over and over," Dolly Garber said. ••
Reporter Tom Waring can be reached at 215-354-3034 or twaring@phillynews.com

Frankly speaking . . .

The celebrity comedy roast for City Councilman Frank Rizzo will take place on Saturday, April 28. Doors open at 6 p.m., with dinner served at 7. A comedy show will precede the roast. The public is invited to the event, which is a fund-raiser for Rizzo’s re-election campaign. The cost is $250. Call Judy Camiel at 610-668-1730.
For more information on the Dinner Theater on Demand, call Steve and Dolly Garber at 215-281-0456 or Dave & Buster’s at 215-632-0333.