Engagement Party

* REVENGE. 10 p.m. tomorrow, 6 ABC.   NOTHING SAYS romance like an engagement party that ends with a body on the beach. Or so goes the thinking at ABC's "Revenge," which has taken 15 episodes to get back to the point where it began last fall, managing to plop that pivotal hour into the middle of February sweeps and into a week dominated by hearts and flowers. Emily Thorne (Emily VanCamp) couldn't have planned it better herself. The true architect of one of the season's guiltier pleasures, though, is executive producer Mike Kelley, and according to Gabriel Mann, who plays Nolan Ross, the Internet billionaire who's doing everything he can to help Emily avenge her late disgraced father, Kelley doesn't give much away.

Any truly accomplished writer of comedy knows that deciding what to take out of a script often can be a lot harder than coming up with just the right line in the first place. A witty exchange or a bit of business can be very amusing in its own right and yet still stop a movie dead in its tracks by seeming out of place or out of synch with the character. Christopher Heisen and Adam Zarembok, who wrote My Engagement Party - a comedy that struggles to rise to the level of sophomoric, have yet to learn this fundamental truth about what separates situation comedy from the genuine article.

Question: I am marrying a wonderful man this fall. His sister has had a falling-out with all of her brothers. She did not accept a few invitations that have been offered to her (Thanksgiving, birthday parties, our engagement party). The groom's mom has refused to go to our wedding if his sister does not attend. If his mom does not attend, his father has stated he will not be attending. I am sad for my fiance, but also concerned the wedding may be all of my family and our friends, but no relatives on his side.

Dear Amy: I am wondering about proper gift-giving etiquette when it comes to a combined engagement party/wedding reception being held nearly a year before the actual wedding. This is in celebration of one of my husband's coworkers and her fiance, who have a rocky "on again, off again" relationship. They are notoriously irresponsible with their finances. The wedding will be a destination wedding a year away. But on the invitation we received, they are requesting their wedding gifts now!

"Date with an Angel," a romantic comedy/fantasy starring Michael E. Knight, Phoebe Cates and Emmanuelle Beart. Written and directed by Tom McLoughlin. Running time: 105 minutes. A De Laurentis Entertainment Group release. It's a good thing that Tom McLoughlin's "Date with an Angel" is billed as a romantic comedy/fantasy, because one must suspend a fantastic amount of reason to get through his tale of boy meets girl. Michael E. Knight - formerly "Tad Martin" on the ABC soap "All My Children" - plays Jim Sanders, a hapless hero engaged to a spoiled little rich girl named Patty Winston - played by an appropriately bratty Phoebe Cates.

An early morning barn fire in the 7100 block of Sheaf Lane in Whitemarsh has not dampened the enthusiasm of two township businesswomen who said they lost an estimated $300,000 worth of company assets in the blaze. "We're not going to be held back. We're just going to start again," said Lois Caplan, a partner in Arrangements Unlimited Inc., a business that specializes in coordinating theme parties. The tablecloths, centerpieces, candles and Oriental vases accumulated during the last 12 years by Caplan and her partner, Lynne Brownstein, were reduced to ashes in the fire Friday, Caplan said.

The "girls" who came to see Girls Night were every age, shape, size, race, and color. There were even a few guys. A group of 11 high school teachers was sitting next to me. Everybody seemed to have the same good time. The show's unpretentious fun and the talented, unembarrassable women on stage had all of the audience on their feet, clapping, singing, and dancing in the aisles. Initially, Girls Night at the Kimmel Center looks like a truly awful bachelorette party: light-up tiaras, pink feather boas, and lots and lots of drinks.

The Hedgerow Theater production of The Cat Among the Pigeons may not please those who demand that their farces strictly follow the conventions of the genre. Those, however, who ask only that a farce be decently played and provide a good measure of high-spirited fun shouldn't leave disappointed. As directed by Penelope Reed, the Hedgerow version of Georges Feydeau's 1908 comedy deviates from the rule that the actors play their characters with earnest seriousness. The comedy in a farce comes, in part, because of a basic disparity: The audience perceives that what's occurring onstage is pure nonsense.

"I don't play golf and I don't fish. I want to die in the office. " - "60 Minutes" producer Don Hewitt, 75, on his retirement plans Ellen DeGeneres, convinced ABC will cancel her sitcom "Ellen" after its season finale next month, should resolve to spend some of her newfound free time studying show-biz etiquette. DeGeneres recently taped a guest appearance on the NBC series "Mad About You," and reportedly left the set with everybody mad at her. The star, playing a nanny on the May 19 episode of the Paul Reiser/Helen Hunt sitcom, "forgot it wasn't her program," the New York Post reported.

Localites Christopher Heisen and Adam Zarembok have written, directed and produced their first film, and they're coming home for the premiere at the Roxy Theater on April 9. My Engagement Party, a romantic comedy about a young couple facing a major crisis at their engagement party, stars Jennifer Grant and Peter Krause. It's the first starring role in a feature film for Grant, daughter of Cary Grant and Dyan Cannon. She previously appeared in The Evening Star with Shirley MacLaine and had a recurring role as Celeste on Beverly Hills, 90210.

* REVENGE. 10 p.m. tomorrow, 6 ABC.   NOTHING SAYS romance like an engagement party that ends with a body on the beach. Or so goes the thinking at ABC's "Revenge," which has taken 15 episodes to get back to the point where it began last fall, managing to plop that pivotal hour into the middle of February sweeps and into a week dominated by hearts and flowers. Emily Thorne (Emily VanCamp) couldn't have planned it better herself. The true architect of one of the season's guiltier pleasures, though, is executive producer Mike Kelley, and according to Gabriel Mann, who plays Nolan Ross, the Internet billionaire who's doing everything he can to help Emily avenge her late disgraced father, Kelley doesn't give much away.

Question: I am marrying a wonderful man this fall. His sister has had a falling-out with all of her brothers. She did not accept a few invitations that have been offered to her (Thanksgiving, birthday parties, our engagement party). The groom's mom has refused to go to our wedding if his sister does not attend. If his mom does not attend, his father has stated he will not be attending. I am sad for my fiance, but also concerned the wedding may be all of my family and our friends, but no relatives on his side.

Dear Amy: I am wondering about proper gift-giving etiquette when it comes to a combined engagement party/wedding reception being held nearly a year before the actual wedding. This is in celebration of one of my husband's coworkers and her fiance, who have a rocky "on again, off again" relationship. They are notoriously irresponsible with their finances. The wedding will be a destination wedding a year away. But on the invitation we received, they are requesting their wedding gifts now!

The "girls" who came to see Girls Night were every age, shape, size, race, and color. There were even a few guys. A group of 11 high school teachers was sitting next to me. Everybody seemed to have the same good time. The show's unpretentious fun and the talented, unembarrassable women on stage had all of the audience on their feet, clapping, singing, and dancing in the aisles. Initially, Girls Night at the Kimmel Center looks like a truly awful bachelorette party: light-up tiaras, pink feather boas, and lots and lots of drinks.

HELLO, young lovers, wherever you are . . . getting ready to walk down the wedding aisle. Engagement party. Check. Bridal shower. Check. Bachelor party weekend. Check. Bachelorette party weekend. Check. Destination wedding so the party goes on for at least three or four days. Check. Photos and videos. Check. Matching table linens, party favors, exquisite floral arrangements (so what if the blooms have to be flown in from Tahiti? The colors must be PERFECT)

Glassboro Mayor Alvin G. Shpeen, 70, a lawyer and a former prosecutor in Gloucester and Salem Counties, died early yesterday, shortly after toasting in the new year at one of his favorite local restaurants. Mr. Shpeen apparently had a heart attack shortly after midnight as a friend was driving him home from a New Year's Eve dinner party at the Barnsboro Inn in the Barnsboro section of Mantua Township, friends and family said. He was taken to Underwood-Memorial Hospital in Woodbury, where he was pronounced dead.

QUOTE "Lying on the couch watching TV, eating fat-free chocolate cake with syrup on it and drinking coffee with fat-free Coffeemate, with Laura Dern. " - Boyfriend Billy Bob Thornton, on how he spends Saturday nights Maybe Barry White can't get enough of your love, but he's had enough of promoting his new album. The big soul star, who's spent recent weeks busily flogging "Staying Power" in TV and print interviews, has checked into a San Diego hospital for tests. He's also postponed the first month of his tour with Earth, Wind & Fire, slated to begin tomorrow in Concord, Calif.

Any truly accomplished writer of comedy knows that deciding what to take out of a script often can be a lot harder than coming up with just the right line in the first place. A witty exchange or a bit of business can be very amusing in its own right and yet still stop a movie dead in its tracks by seeming out of place or out of synch with the character. Christopher Heisen and Adam Zarembok, who wrote My Engagement Party - a comedy that struggles to rise to the level of sophomoric, have yet to learn this fundamental truth about what separates situation comedy from the genuine article.

Localites Christopher Heisen and Adam Zarembok have written, directed and produced their first film, and they're coming home for the premiere at the Roxy Theater on April 9. My Engagement Party, a romantic comedy about a young couple facing a major crisis at their engagement party, stars Jennifer Grant and Peter Krause. It's the first starring role in a feature film for Grant, daughter of Cary Grant and Dyan Cannon. She previously appeared in The Evening Star with Shirley MacLaine and had a recurring role as Celeste on Beverly Hills, 90210.