New Cape hall plays it for laughs

WHAT'S so funny about Cape May?

For starters, there's the summer series of the all-star comedy company Catch a Rising Star at the Cape May Convention Hall that kicks off Tuesday with a performance by Robert Klein.

According to Suzy Vengo, owner of the famed comedy-club chain, the stand-up series fills a hole on the Cape May entertainment scene. "The closest comedy club is in Wildwood," she reasoned, adding that "you can reach so many more people in one night" at a venue the size of the newly rebuilt convention hall than you can at a typical comedy club.

Not that her new undertaking doesn't have its challenges. Vengo admitted that finding "PG-13" acts isn't easy when so many comedians fill their routines with coarse and inappropriate topics and language. But she believes her hoped-for summer slate fits the family-friendly bill.

Although Klein is the only headliner announced so far, Vengo said she is in the process of completing paperwork that will bring in other similarly formatted comics, including former "Saturday Night Live" cast member Kevin Nealon.

Cape May Convention Hall, which opened in late May, is the third venue of its kind to be built in the country's oldest seashore resort, which officially dates to 1857. The first hall opened in 1917; it was a victim of the legendary coastal storm that wreaked havoc throughout the Jersey Shore in March 1962. Its replacement was condemned in 2008.

Although the new building, which cost $10.5 million, is somewhat cavernous (entertainment seating capacity maxes out at 900), Vengo is adamant it will be a suitable venue for comedy. "The biggest comedians play stadiums," she offered. "These aren't people who need intimacy."

So, is this a one-shot deal, or will the Catch a Rising Star comedy series become an annual summertime staple?

"Oh yeah, absolutely," Vengo said. "That's the goal."

The comedy shows join an event schedule that also features a weekly series of musical performances. That schedule is: