Mayor Aldo Palombo has announced a lineup of 22 shows for the 18th annual outdoor summer series to be held at North Wildwood's Lou Booth amphitheater at Ocean and Second Avenues.

The series features many nightclub acts that have appeared at Atlantic City and Las Vegas casinos and New York City venues. They will be presented on Thursday and Saturday nights at 8, starting July 4 and extending until September 14. Included among the headliners will be Shirley Alston Reeves, the original lead singer of the Shirelles, the Coasters, the Platters and Cozy Morley, South Jersey's favorite comedian.

The summer series, which attracts some 40,000 spectators each year, is supported by various sources including $5,000 each year for five years from the estate of Lou Booth after whom the amphitheater is named. The New Jersey Council on the Arts contributed $4,100 and an anonymous arts aficionado showed his appreciation of the series by contributing $5,000 to the funding. In addition, audiences contributed $2,000 last year in free will offerings. The balance comes from the city's special events budget.

This year's series will have a new twist. Under the direction of North Wildwood's new entertainment director Joseph Quattrone, succeeding the late George Schmidt, 10 of the concerts will be preceded by community sings led by singer-actress June Willis of North Cape May accompanied by three musicians.

See the 2002 lineup