SEDONA MAGAZINE
 LOS ABRIGADOS HOSTS HILARIOUS RAT PACK!
Sedona Magazine
For one great evening, Los Abrigados Resort recently was the scene of legendary antics made world-famous by Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and Joey Bishop, members of the historic 1960s Rat Pack in Las Vegas. For this wonderfully entertaining performance, however, the Rat Pack was composed of extremely talented actors Henry Prego, Pete Willcox, Louie Velez and Sandy Hackctt, who very convincingly imitated Sinatra, Martin, Davis and Bishop, respectively. And a fifth quintessential 1960s Hollywood icon, Marilyn Monroe, was portrayed by beautiful Stacey Nicole, who immediately captured the attention of a large outdoor audience with her mesmerizing charm, pretended naiveté and sexy one-on-one rendition of the famous President Kennedy birthday song.
Interestingly and quite contrary to what usually happens in show business, formation of the original Rat Pack was not planned; it spontaneously evolved when Sinatra, Martin, Davis and Peter Lawford were staying in Las Vegas while filming a 1959 movie, "Oceans' Eleven," which recently was re-made with George Clooney starring in the Sinatra role.
As it happened more than 40 years ago, Sinatra, etc. were staying at The Sands; Frank, Dean and Sammy took turns doing shows at night; they began interrupting one another. telling the audience that it was time for bed because they had to film "Oceans' Eleven" the next day; and before long, they all were on stage together - "winging it." And drinking, of course!
Subsequently, Joey Bishop became a kind of emcee of the unorganized show; the "act" became the talk of Las Vegas, then the nation; and when it became known that big-time Hollywood celebrities almost always made guest appearances - well, the rest is history.
On the night at Los Abrigados Resort, "A Tribute to the Rat Pack," a 90-minute show that also featured musical director Jeff Greenberg and his nine-piece orchestra, was presented in a spectacular creek-side setting by ILX Resorts Inc. And what a night it was! An unusually enthusiastic audience hooted and hollered throughout the entire show, which was directed by Billy Karl and produced by Sandy Hackett, son of famed comedian Buddy Hackett, and Dick Feeney.
"We were extremely pleased with the attendance at the first of what undoubtedly will become a series of Vegas-style shows presented creek-side at our resort," stated Dennis Morrissey, popular manager at Los Abrigados. "Having the performance on a Wednesday night gave many visitors and local residents an opportunity to enjoy a mid-week event of the quality ordinarily reserved for weekends."
Indeed, this great show did just that, and according to the audience's enthusiastic response, Sedona visitors and residents anxiously are waiting for an encore. Thanks, Dennis - thanks to Edd Zielinski and Joe Martori, too - for bringing Vegas entertainment to Sedona! |
