Treniers, Platters team at Orleans

Monday, Nov. 11, 2002 | 8:23 a.m.

It has taken three years, but Las Vegans will finally get a chance to relive the past for an evening.

The Treniers, who have been performing in Las Vegas for 54 years, will be joined by veteran entertainers Freddie Bell and Sonny Turner of The Platters for "A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening" at The Orleans.

Longtime Vegas personality Nelson Sardelli will host the event.

"It has taken this long to get everyone together," Ken Sands, manager of The Treniers, said. "It was a matter of logistics."

Although most of the entertainers who will take to the Showroom stage are old enough to draw Social Security, none are retiring. And while they aren't as visible on the Las Vegas entertainment scene as they were in the '50s, '60s and '70s, most are still popular in other parts of the world.

The Treniers routinely perform in the East.

"They haven't played Vegas in about a year," Sands said. "Freddie Bell plays out of town a lot. So does Sonny Turner."

Many of the classic performers of Vegas still have the talent, but that talent isn't as appreciated locally as it is elsewhere.

"Las Vegas crowds have changed," Sands said. "Entertainment directors want younger people. It's not the same atmosphere here as it was a few years ago."

It's hard for old-timers to get a booking these days.

"We've all tried to get in various places here, but it's pretty hard," Sands said. "So, we decided to rent the showroom for a night. If there is enough interest, we will do it again. We would like to do it once or twice a year."

Tuesday's show will be a homecoming of sorts for The Treniers, who performed at The Orleans when it opened in December 1996.

The group made its Las Vegas debut in 1948, one of the first black singing groups to appear in Las Vegas during the Strip casinos' age of segregation. After performing to packed houses on major Las Vegas stages, The Treniers stayed at Mrs. Shaw's Boarding House on Jackson Avenue in west Las Vegas because blacks were not permitted to eat, sleep or gamble in Strip resorts.

Claude Trenier, 83, continues to be a vital element of the ensemble, sharing the stage with his nephew, Skip, 66, and the rest of the band.

In 1946 the act was the Trenier Twins, with Claude and his brother Cliff, who died in 1983. There were 10 Trenier children, most of whom performed with the act at one time or another.

In 1948 brother Buddy joined the band and it became The Treniers. Buddy died in 1999.

Freddie Bell, singer and comedian, has been performing in Las Vegas since 1953. For many years he fronted Freddie Bell and the Bellboys, an act that broke up in 1966.

The 70-year-old entertainer continues to perform extensively in Chicago, on the East Coast and in Europe.

Of the performers at The Orleans, 62-year-old Sonny Turner is the young kid on the block.

Turner, a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, joined The Platters in 1959. He replaced lead singer Tony Williams and stayed with the group until 1970.

During the '60s he recorded such hits as "I Love You 1,000 Times," "With This Ring" and "Washed Ashore." He also re-recorded a number of hits by the earlier Platters, including "Only You," "The Great Pretender" and "The Magic Touch."

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