QUIBBLES & BITS

. . . The L.A. Civic Light Opera’s selling its June revival of “Cabaret” as a nostalgia musical--”Return to a time when nothing was taken seriously and life was a cabaret.” Nothing, of course, except the rise of the Nazis and virulent anti-Semitism, both prominent in the storyline.

. . . American Ballet Theatre ads for the new “Giselle” (at the Shrine) prominently feature a photo of popular ballerina Alessandra Ferri. Only problem: Ferri is injured and is not dancing any of the performances.

. . . No way is Outtakes going to accept that freebie membership to the ALF Fan Club being proffered by the Lippin Group--not until ALF gets in touch with his felines (on the membership certificate, the cat-eating critter promises “to limit my cat intake to six a day”).

. . . Pulling no punches: Michael McWilliams, assessing Oscar nominees in Ad Age, opines, “If you’ve ever seen the great deaf actress Phyllis Frelich, who starred in ‘Children (of a Lesser God)’ on Broadway, you know how inexpressive (Marlee) Matlin is.”

. . . After scrupulously avoiding the touchy subject of drugs during a cable interview with the Mets’ Keith Hernandez (league-punished in a cocaine investigation), Robert Klein asked the first baseman how he concentrates when he’s “between the white lines” (meaning chalked boundaries). The audience howled. Klein came unglued.