Steel Pier

The once-famed Steel Pier on the long-faded Atlantic City Boardwalk will invest more than $100 million on new amusement rides and entertainment venues after scrapping plans to revive its centerpiece diving horse act amid an outcry by animal rights activists. PHOTOS: New rides at Steel Pier in Atlantic City Located across from Donald Trump's Taj Mahal casino on the New Jersey shore, the 1,000-foot-long amusement pier will add 11 rides, an arcade, nightclub, museum and ballroom during a four-year expansion project.

The once-famed Steel Pier on the long-faded Atlantic City Boardwalk will invest more than $100 million on new amusement rides and entertainment venues after scrapping plans to revive its centerpiece diving horse act amid an outcry by animal rights activists. PHOTOS: New rides at Steel Pier in Atlantic City Located across from Donald Trump's Taj Mahal casino on the New Jersey shore, the 1,000-foot-long amusement pier will add 11 rides, an arcade, nightclub, museum and ballroom during a four-year expansion project.

A musical set in the Broadway neighborhood, "The Life," won 12 of Broadway's Tony nominations on Monday--more than any other show. "Steel Pier," another new musical, was in second place with 11 nominations. Besides this pair, the best musical nominees are "Titanic" and "Juan Darien." Among the works nominated for best play is David Hare's "Skylight," a British import. The Mark Taper Forum will stage the West Coast premiere of "Skylight" next fall to open its 1997-98 season.

WHEN I read that the Steel Pier in Atlantic City is closing, it brought a tear to my eye and lump to my throat ["Atlantic City Landmark to Close," Travel Log, Sept. 24]. It took me back to my youth. I grew up in Philadelphia in the days before air conditioning. The summers were very humid, and even families of modest means fled to Atlantic City for the ocean breezes for a few weeks. The '40s were not the most prosperous times but we did have fun. We waited for an overcast day at the beach, packed a lunch, rushed to Steel Pier before the admission prices changed at noon, and entered an unbelievable fairyland for a daylong escape to a world of varied entertainment.

Those foolhardy souls who create Broadway musicals are fond of quoting writer Larry Gelbart: "If Hitler's still alive, I hope he's out of town with a musical." The only thing more hellish than that, they agree, is being in town with a musical in trouble. Three new musicals will open this week, and not one of them had an out-of-town tryout. What's more, "Titanic," "The Life" and "Steel Pier" all are book-musicals based on original concepts and created by veteran talents.

WHEN I read that the Steel Pier in Atlantic City is closing, it brought a tear to my eye and lump to my throat ["Atlantic City Landmark to Close," Travel Log, Sept. 24]. It took me back to my youth. I grew up in Philadelphia in the days before air conditioning. The summers were very humid, and even families of modest means fled to Atlantic City for the ocean breezes for a few weeks. The '40s were not the most prosperous times but we did have fun. We waited for an overcast day at the beach, packed a lunch, rushed to Steel Pier before the admission prices changed at noon, and entered an unbelievable fairyland for a daylong escape to a world of varied entertainment.

"Titanic" is a delightful show in my opinion, not the white elephant described in Don Shirley's review ("The Water Is Dotted With Icebergs," Jan. 12). If we are looking for real characters, we find them in the musical, not in the contrived and ridiculous figures in the movie. No stage production can compete with the over-the-top special effects of the movie, but they are not needed here. My advice: Go see the musical, it's well worth the price. MAXINE TREVETHEN Rancho Palos Verdes I saw "Titanic" in New York last year.

When wrecking crews demolished the Aliso Pier in the wake of several damaging El Nino storms, residents in South Laguna took comfort in the promises from county officials that they would eventually rebuild the landmark fishing pier. But two years later, efforts to construct a new pier have stalled, with many beach denizens as well as county leaders concluding that the beach is actually better without one.

When wrecking crews demolished the Aliso Pier in the wake of several damaging El Nino storms, residents in south Laguna took comfort in the promises from county officials that they would eventually rebuild the landmark fishing pier. But two years later, efforts to construct a new pier have stalled, with many beach denizens as well as county leaders concluding that the beach is actually better without one.

Plank by plank, piling by piling, there's a pier taking shape on the seashore here. Work began in earnest last week on Oceanside's pier, a 1,942-foot structure that will replace a wave-racked predecessor that had fallen victim to the ocean. But this, mind you, won't be just another set of pretty pilings. It'll be a pier with few peers.

When wrecking crews demolished the Aliso Pier in the wake of several damaging El Nino storms, residents in South Laguna took comfort in the promises from county officials that they would eventually rebuild the landmark fishing pier. But two years later, efforts to construct a new pier have stalled, with many beach denizens as well as county leaders concluding that the beach is actually better without one.

When wrecking crews demolished the Aliso Pier in the wake of several damaging El Nino storms, residents in south Laguna took comfort in the promises from county officials that they would eventually rebuild the landmark fishing pier. But two years later, efforts to construct a new pier have stalled, with many beach denizens as well as county leaders concluding that the beach is actually better without one.

"Titanic" is a delightful show in my opinion, not the white elephant described in Don Shirley's review ("The Water Is Dotted With Icebergs," Jan. 12). If we are looking for real characters, we find them in the musical, not in the contrived and ridiculous figures in the movie. No stage production can compete with the over-the-top special effects of the movie, but they are not needed here. My advice: Go see the musical, it's well worth the price. MAXINE TREVETHEN Rancho Palos Verdes I saw "Titanic" in New York last year.

A musical set in the Broadway neighborhood, "The Life," won 12 of Broadway's Tony nominations on Monday--more than any other show. "Steel Pier," another new musical, was in second place with 11 nominations. Besides this pair, the best musical nominees are "Titanic" and "Juan Darien." Among the works nominated for best play is David Hare's "Skylight," a British import. The Mark Taper Forum will stage the West Coast premiere of "Skylight" next fall to open its 1997-98 season.

Those foolhardy souls who create Broadway musicals are fond of quoting writer Larry Gelbart: "If Hitler's still alive, I hope he's out of town with a musical." The only thing more hellish than that, they agree, is being in town with a musical in trouble. Three new musicals will open this week, and not one of them had an out-of-town tryout. What's more, "Titanic," "The Life" and "Steel Pier" all are book-musicals based on original concepts and created by veteran talents.

Plank by plank, piling by piling, there's a pier taking shape on the seashore here. Work began in earnest last week on Oceanside's pier, a 1,942-foot structure that will replace a wave-racked predecessor that had fallen victim to the ocean. But this, mind you, won't be just another set of pretty pilings. It'll be a pier with few peers.

Roy Rogers, the "King of the Cowboys" who sang, smiled and occasionally shot his way into the hearts of multitudes of Little Buckaroos, died Monday. He was 86. Rogers died of congestive heart failure in his Apple Valley home near Victorville, with his wife and co-star Dale Evans and other family members at his side. He had undergone heart surgery in 1977 and 1990 and had been somewhat frail in recent years.

MERV GRIFFIN is headed for a 2:30 appointment with the crown prince of Manhattan real estate in New York City's Trump Tower. That's the glassy skyscraper at 5th Avenue and 56th Street, not to be confused with Trump Plaza over on 3rd, near Bloomingdales, or Trump Parc, the art nouveau condominium complex on Central Park South where $4 million buys a three-bedroom apartment.