Friday, Oct. 18, 2002 | 4:43 a.m.
WEEKEND EDITION: Oct. 20, 2002
Dean Martin's son is doing his part to keep his father's memory alive.
Earlier this year 49-year-old Ricci Martin published "That's Amore, A Son Remembers Dean Martin," a book he co-authored with Utah journalist Christopher Smith.
Then, Martin created "A Tribute to Dean Martin ... His Son Remembers," a show at Riviera's Le Bistro Theatre with performances at 8:30 p.m. Saturdays through Mondays and 11:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Dean Martin died of acute respiratory failure at age 78 on Christmas Day in 1995. By then Ricci Martin had already abandoned the hectic, congested life of Southern California, where he was born and raised. In 1990 he moved to a 53-acre retreat along the Provo River in rural Northern Utah, where he lives with his wife and three young daughters.
Martin recently talked to the Sun about his father and about the show that takes a peek at the man behind the shot glass.
Las Vegas Sun: What was it like growing up as the son of Dean Martin?
Ricci Martin: Believe it or not I had a very normal childhood. When you're young, there's your dad and there's your mom. That's what you know, that's your reality. Dad was such an easygoing, incredibly sweet and loving man. Mom insisted that we were all to be around the dinner table at 6 o'clock every night, and he was happy to do it.
Until we got older, and his TV show started on NBC (1965), it was a very normal childhood. But when the TV show started, and it went through the roof, things started to change because of his popularity. He was in millions of households every Thursday night. I saw a tangible change at that point, and there were certainly differences, but we were still in Beverly Hills and we still had the same friends.
Sun: Who were some of the friends?
RM: We were down the block from the Desi Arnaz house with Lucille Ball. We had the MacDonald Careys and the Danny Thomases. It was very normal. But I guess it's all relative.
Sun: How did being around your father affect your career choices?
RM: Being around dad in the early days of his records and motion pictures, going to Capitol Records and seeing him record in the early '60s, it kind of gets in your blood. I've always been kind of a technical person. I enjoy engineering and producing (records) as much as I do being on the other side of the glass. But performing got in my blood in the early days.
Sun: Is there a possibility you might write another book about your father?
RM: There are tons of more specific material that I have that I could use. I made "That's Amore" very broad-based, touching on things here and there. I don't count it out, but doing this tribute to him is the most exciting thing to me right now.
Sun: How did the tribute come about?
RM: People had been asking me for years to sing his songs, but I always stayed away from that. Who can sing Dad's songs better than Dad?
More recently I was asked by David Cassidy to take dad's part in "The Rat Pack is Back." It called for me to sing a medley of Dad's songs, including "That's Amore" and "Volare." The production went away, but I had learned the script and still had the songs in my head. So the next time I performed with Desi (Arnaz Jr.) and Billy (Hinsche) at the Boulder Theater in Boulder City, I dropped them into the show and the place went nuts. The reaction was great.
Then, we did another show, this one at Sunset Station, and I included the songs again and the audience went nuts. At that point I saw I had a winner. People enjoyed watching his son sing his songs. Meanwhile, the book was out and I had all these pictures so I started to build a show around some of the stories, around the photos and, of course, his music.
Sun: The show had a month's run in September and then closed, only to come back last week. What was that all about?
RM: The show ran Sept. 6 through Oct. 6. I figured with a month's run, we would know where we were at toward the end. It was looking good so we decided to do another month's run. This one will end Nov. 9, but we can extend for another month, depending on the kind of reaction we get.
Sun: How is it doing?
RM: It's picking up every day.
Sun: What does the future hold for the show?
RM: I like to keep the run at the Riviera open-ended at this point. We're going to see how we feel about it. We're scheduled to take the show on the road next summer.
Sun: Jerry Lewis is a resident of Las Vegas. Do you have a friendship with him?
RM: I tell the story in the show how Jerry came to (my brother) Dean Paul's funeral without saying anything ... he just snuck in the back. Afterward, Dad called him and they started talking after many years of not speaking.
Once I was performing at Sunset Station with Desi and Billy. My mom, Jeanne, came over from California to see the show. Afterward, we went to Piero's to eat. Jerry and his family happened to be at a table right next to ours. This was before Jerry got sick, and he looked really well, with his tan and wearing shorts.
Mom, Patty (Lewis' ex-wife), Jerry and Dad were really tight in the early days. When Jerry saw Mom, his reaction was unbelievable. He was just thrilled. Just before I left the restaurant I gave him a big hug and a kiss. Yeah, when I see him it's nothing but a lot of love.
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