A ‘Diva’ nabs a diva: How Frank Marino moved heaven and earth (and his schedule) to meet Diana Ross

By John Katsilometes

Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2015 | 4:03 p.m.

Frank Marino is at once a diva and a workhorse. His more than 25,000 performances and 30 years as a Strip headliner prove as much.

Thus, it requires an uncommon set of circumstances to force Marino from the stage. The night of Nov. 12, 2010, presented such a circumstance: Diana Ross was in Las Vegas.

And Marino was not.

Halting here to explain why Ross is important to Marino. The star of “Divas Las Vegas” at the Linq Hotel is all agog over the superstar diva who remains one of the very few subjects to be in “Divas” during its entire run. Joan Rivers and Cher are the only others.

Marino has been a fan of Ross’s since he was a child and had seen her perform many times in her years at Circus Maximus at Caesars Palace. He often took full weeks off from his show, which at the time was “Evening at La Cage” at the Riv, to catch her shows across the Strip.

That famed Caesars showroom was eventually taken apart to make room for the Colosseum at Caesars, where Ross also has performed in her returns to the Strip. This week, it was announced that Ross would headline nine shows at Venetian Theater from April 1-18.

As the years unfolded, Marino became a member of the Caesars Entertainment operation, with his show at what is now the Linq Hotel. He arranged to meet Ross for the first time that night in 2010. Problem was, Marino was headlining his own production on a rare booking at Don Laughlin’s Riverside Hotel in Laughlin.

Suddenly, Marino (cough, achoo!) fell ill.

“Conveniently, I got very ill that day. I had my fill-in play the Laughlin show, and Caesars Entertainment made it possible for me to be at the meet-and-greet,” Marino says, and he’s fortunate that his fill-in is Brian Keith, who is amazing as “Divas’ ” frontman/woman. “Well, I met her and had my picture taken with her, and it was in the paper the next day.”

The guy with the fake boobs was … busted.

“I came back to the hotel, and they said, ‘Next time you get sick and tell us you weren’t feeling good, don’t have your photo taken with Diana Ross.’ ”

That, and bed rest, is a sensible course of action. Marino doesn’t remember too much from that summit other than “every word was a stutter” and that Ross did say she would try to catch “Divas” when she was back in Las Vegas, which seems only fair.

“I would die to have her in the audience,” Marino said.

To prep for the April dates at the Venetian, Marino is shifting his own performance schedule at the Linq so that he will be off Friday nights, which allows him to catch Ross’ shows on April 3, 10 and 17.

Keith will be back then, too, in the lead role of “Divas.”

“For the next 10 weeks, I am working seven days a week, not taking any days off, so I can take that time while she’s here,” Marino said, and as he spoke, a voice called out from the background, “Make sure you say this is the most overpriced Valentine’s Day gift ever!”

That was Alex Schechter, Marino’s partner and fiance, who also is an exec with SPI Entertainment.

“It is very expensive,” Marino added. His favorite Ross song is “Touch Me in the Morning,” and his favorite Ross film is “Mahogany.”

Marino is not waiting for Ross to return to Las Vegas to catch her show again, either. On Tuesday, he and Schechter — who seems just along for the ride at this point — will be in the audience as Ross headlines the reopening of the 85-year-old Kings Theater in Flatbush, N.Y. The happy couple head out Sunday morning.

Marino is at a loss to explain his evident adoration for Ross.

“I have literally met everybody at this point in my career,” he says. “Elton, Celine, Whitney Houston, Cher, everybody. And when I met her, I just made a fool of myself.”

It is apparent that all of Marino’s work on the Strip has finally led him to the status of sharing a post-show conversation with Diana Ross.

“I needed to work 30 years to get to the point to meet Diana Ross,’ he said, laughing. “But you gotta do what you gotta do.”

Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at Twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow “Kats With the Dish” at Twitter.com/KatsWiththeDish.