THE D
 TRIBUTE KEEPS SPOTLIGHT ON 'RAT PACK'
By David Batterson
The d
Memories of the "Rat Pack" will endure in Las Vegas and Palm Springs for a long time.
Though Frank Sinatra lived in Palm Springs and later Rancho Mirage, his home-away-from-home in the 1960s was the Sands Hotel & Casino on The Strip. The remembrance of Sinatra and the Rat Pack is even more assured with a popular show, "The Tribute to Frank, Sammy, Joey & Dean" at Greek Isles Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.
Last year the show was honored by the Las Vegas Guide with a Visitor's Choice Award, nabbing second place in the category of "favorite production show." In a city filled with marvelous shows, it was quite a coup for the show produced by Dick Feeney and Sandy Hackett (son of the late Buddy Hackett), who also portrays Joey Bishop.
After a recent show Hackett talked about his father and Sinatra, who were friends.
"When Frank's father passed, my father wrote a poem called 'Father' for Frank," Hackett said. "My dad spent a lot of time in Palm Springs. He liked to golf. My mom just went to the Frank Sinatra golf tournament, and still keeps in touch with Barbara." He said his father was once offered the job to open for Sinatra.
"But he turned it down, saying: 'I would rather be his competition across the street than be his opening act.'"
Why is there such nostalgia for the Rat Pack today? Hackett said that they "represented Vegas at that time, just as Elvis represented it at a later time. I mean, how many people had Sinatra's music in the background during their dating and lovemaking?"
He added, "What you remember most is what he left behind - this incredible music. There is so much sentimental stuff attached to all that."
The 86-year-old Bishop named the show, even though he has not seen it, Hackett said.
"He and my dad were great friends; he was 'Uncle Joey' to me," Hackett said.
To prepare for the show, Hackett "watched a lot of Rat Pack footage from different sources." He said Bishop actually wrote most of the comedy material for the group at that time.
Asked how Bishop and Sinatra became estranged, Hackett said that "Frank ran hot and cold, and if you did something he didn't tike, he wouldn't talk for awhile. Joey was one of those people Frank loved, but one day he disappointed him, and Frank didn't talk to him for awhile."
The show venue is the former Debbie Reynolds Hotel & Casino, where the star once housed her famous Hollywood collection. In addition to Hackett, the tribute features Henry Prego (Frank), Louie Velez (Sammy) and Pete Willcox (Dean).
Does the new show plan to come to a Palm Springs-area casino?
"If someone is interested, we're more than happy to talk to them," Hackett said. "We have taken the show a lot of places, doing phenomenal business."
He put it all in a nutshell, saying, "Anyone who wants a taste of old Las Vegas, they seem to find us real easy and want a piece of it." |
