Regis Philbin will serve as emcee for the Mr. Mature America Pageant, Ocean City’s tribute to men ages 55 and older, at 7 p.m. Saturday (April 8) on the Ocean City Music Pier.
The pageant opens with a raucous production number featuring the debonair (and fully covered by Medicare) array of contestants. It includes competition in talent, judge’s interview, poise and appearance, and on-stage question. Philbin will conduct the on-stage interviews with contestants.
Advance tickets ($25 to $35) are still available at oceancityvacation.com/boxoffice, by calling 609-399-6111, or in-person at the City Hall Welcome Center or the Roy Gillian Welcome Center on the Route 52 causeway. Tickets also will be available at the Music Pier Box Office on the evening of the event.
This year’s hopefuls include:
- Rich LaLena: A 60-year-old singer from Berlin, N.J., who has served as the “town crier” for the N.J. League of Municipalities.
- William Andrew Dowling: A 65-year-old Christopher Walken fan from Ventnor who will read his self-authored poetry.
- Frank Formica: A third-generation owner of the famed Atlantic City bakery and an Atlantic County freeholder, 65, who will sing and play guitar.
- Jack Byrne: An 88-year-old comedian from Cherry Hill and Ocean City
- Matthew Allen: A 64-year-old singer from Newtown, Pa., whose brother was an astronaut on three space shuttle missions.
- Jay Keally: A storyteller in an elf outfit, 58, from Ocean City.
- Joseph Stefano: An 85-year-old saxophonist from Ocean City.
- Tom Troncone: A 64-year-old from Pennsauken, N.J., who will take the stage with his voice, a microphone and a pair of 40-pound dumbbells.
- James Rago: A 69-year-old comedian from Linwood, N.J.
- Gregg Clayton: A 58-year-old guitarist and singer from Somers Point, N.J., who will perform “The Purple People Eater.”
The event is the first and only pageant of its kind in the United States. The historic Flanders Hotel returns as a founding sponsor.
Celebrity judges will include Miss New Jersey Brenna Weick, QVC on-air host Bethanie Lori, and Jack McDade, who was Dick Clark’s first musical guest on “American Bandstand” in the 1950s. McDade will perform as part of the show.
Mark Soifer, the founder of the pageant and of many other special events in Ocean City, will be honored with a “Lifetime Achievement Award.” Soifer retired at the end of 2016 at the age of 84, after a 45-year career as public relations director for the city.
