Shows re-create vintage Vegas

By Jerry Fink

Thursday, March 13, 2008 | 2 a.m.

Veteran producers Sandy Hackett and Dick Feeney have achieved a coup, melding vintage Vegas shows and the vintage showroom at the Plaza.

It’s a fitting venue for “The Rat Pack Is Back” and “Viva Las Vegas!” — productions reminiscent of the glory days of old Las Vegas. One is a tribute to the Rat Pack, the other a tribute to revues that featured a little bit of glamour, some comedy, some dancing, some singing.

The 500-seat showroom, too, is a throwback to the old days — large yet warm, a place that appeals to entertainers and fans. If they ever take the Plaza down, they should keep the showroom and build a new casino around it.

Tickets for both shows also are a reminder of times when decent entertainment didn’t cost an arm and a leg.

You can spend an afternoon at “Viva Las Vegas!” for $9.95 — $14.95 with a buffet. The evening show, “The Rat Pack Is Back,” is more expensive, with prices from $55 to $85.50, but the production includes live music by the Lon Bronson Band, an 11-piece ensemble considered one of the top groups in the city.

Though the budgets for the two productions may be low, the talent level is relatively high. Feeney and Hackett have good eyes and ears when it comes to finding talent.

“Viva Las Vegas!” debuted at the Sands in 1991 and moved to the Stratosphere five years later. Its final performance at the Stratosphere was on Dec. 30, 2006. Feeney shopped for a new home for several months and finally reopened the show at the Plaza in October, complete with the popular comedian Bruce “Big John” Mickelson, best known for his ode to the barbecue grill: “the last bastion of manhood, where men can burn meat.”

The Plaza and “Viva!” proved to be a nice mix. So on March 1 Feeney and Hackett brought “The Rat Pack Is Back” downtown from the Greek Isles.

The show has run through a number of titles since debuting five years ago. Initially it was “The Tribute to Frank, Sammy, Joey and Dean.” Two years ago it was retitled “The Rat Pack Is Back,” the name of the show David Cassidy had at the Rio from 2000 to 2002. Now the official title is “The Rat Pack Is Back (The Rat Pack Returns in The Tribute to Frank, Sammy, Joey and Dean).” But the marquee isn’t large enough to hold all of that, so it’s simply “The Rat Pack Is Back.”

Feeney and Hackett plan to keep “The World’s Greatest Magic Show” running at the Greek Isles.

“A lot of kids go to the magic show, and I haven’t seen a kid walking around Fremont Street yet,” Feeney said.

They still hold the lease on the showroom at the Greek Isles, so they’re shopping around for another show to replace “The Rat Pack Is Back.”

And Feeney says they have the potential to bring other shows into the Plaza. “We’ll think about that after we get everything smoothed out with these two shows,” he said.

In terms of production, there isn’t too much to smooth out, especially with “The Rat Pack Is Back,” which recently held its grand opening.

There is a rotating cast, with performers in different roles on different nights. For the recent show Hackett was Joey Bishop, Johnny Edwards was Dean Martin, Brian Duprey was Frank Sinatra and Kyle Diamond was Sammy Davis Jr.

No one will ever be able to re-create the charisma of the real entertainers, but the tribute artists capture the carefree spirit they embodied.

To complete their coup at the Plaza, Feeney and Hackett are also booking bands into the casino’s long-dormant Aqua Lounge.

“I remember this gorgeous lounge they had there when I first arrived in town 20-something years ago,” Feeney said. “It had a real nice stage, but somewhere along the line it was boarded up and they made a keno room out of it — but they never took out the stage.”

Feeney said when they discovered the stage was still there they remodeled the room and reopened it, with bands performing Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. He says in the near future they will start having an audition night on Thursdays.

“Bands are struggling in lounges in this town,” Feeney said. “We want to give them a place to play.”

The way they did in old Las Vegas.