Three months at the Riviera
An Evening at La Cage opens with Marino as star and mistress of ceremonies, playing Joan Rivers. The hotel gives it a three-month trial. It stays nearly 24 years.
The one, the only, FrankMarino
1985 — 2026 · Superstar Female Impersonator
He signed a three-month contract at the Riviera. He stayed forty-one years. This is the whole glittering record — every gown, every diva, every last bow.
By the numbers
A career measured in sequins
41
Years on stage
1985–2026
33
Years headlining the Strip
1985–2018
25,000
Performances
Production’s tally, May 2014
2
Walk of Stars stars
2005 & 2010
The three-month contract
The Riviera, 1985
A three-month contract.
Forty-one years.
“From day one, I knew it was going to be a long-term event.”Frank Marino · Las Vegas Weekly, 2025
The signature show
his name above the title Divas Las Vegas
Seventy-five minutes of couture, comedy and complete chaos. Frank hosted as Joan Rivers, changing gowns between every act, while an all-star company became Cher, Britney, Dolly, Diana, Whitney and Madonna.
It opened at the Imperial Palace in 2010 and ran eight years in one showroom while the hotel around it changed names three times — Imperial Palace, The Quad, The LINQ. For most of those years he was, as the Review-Journal put it, the Strip’s longest-running continuing headliner.
1985 → 2026
The Marquee Years
Four decades in six moments. The full record runs deeper.
Served papers mid-monologue
Joan Rivers sues for “in excess of $5 million” over his use of her material. By his telling, the papers reached him on stage during his opening monologue. It settled out of court — and the two later became friends.
The lawsuitA star outside the Riviera
On February 1st he receives a star on the Las Vegas Walk of Stars, at a ceremony on the sidewalk outside the showroom that made him.
Divas Las Vegas opens
After the Riviera goes dark, he self-finances his own showcase — and wins the room. Frank Marino’s Divas Las Vegas is declared officially open on February 25th. The same night, a second Walk of Stars star.
Retiring the wig
On the eve of his birthday he retires the Joan Rivers character on stage after some thirty-five years. It does not stick. He is back in the wig by December.
The sign turns ruby
At 8 a.m. on September 18th, the bulbs on the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign are switched to ruby — the fortieth-anniversary color — for him.
40 yearsMay 31, 2026
The final bow
Divas, Drag & Drinks closed at 24 Oxford inside Virgin Hotels Las Vegas after final performances on May 29–31, 2026, with a last run at Don’s Celebrity Theatre in Laughlin that June. Forty-one years after a three-month contract.
“I am not retiring; I am ending the show.”Frank Marino · Las Vegas Review-Journal, May 2026
The gowns are packed. The wig is retired (again). But the Queen is still very much here — now holding court daily on social instead of nightly on a stage.
The company
Every diva you ever loved
One cast. Twenty legends. Zero apologies.
The little black book
Celebrity friends
Ninety-five photographs from a life spent backstage with everyone who ever played this town.
Beyond the showroom
On screen, on the page
Frank on TV
Twenty clips from his own archive — the daytime circuit, the reality shows, and the news cameras that never stopped coming.
Watch →
On film
An appearance as himself in Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous, plus four decades of red carpets.
See the reel →
The books
His Majesty, the Queen — part memoir, part how-to — and the 2020 sequel, Drags to Riche$.
Get a signed copy →In his own words
Thank God she settled — I was about $80 short.Frank Marino on the Rivers lawsuit · Las Vegas Sun, 2010
It’s not about being a girl; it’s about being a Vegas icon.Frank Marino · Las Vegas Magazine, 2015
Frank was drag before drag knew how to market itself.Gabriela Rodriguez · Las Vegas Weekly, 2025
Appearances & press
Say hey to the Queen
Guest spots, press, private events, or just a very well-dressed hello.