'The Rat Pack is Back' and appearing in Las Vegas

Category: Travel



In 1960 a group of friends got together in Las Vegas to make a little movie. The script for Ocean’s Eleven was brought to Frank Sinatra by his pal Peter Lawford who knew it was a good script and a way for all their friends to work together. Along with Sinatra and Lawford, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., and Joey Bishop (the 5 members of the group known as “The Rat Pack”), along with an impressive gathering of actors made an iconic film. But what happened when they were not shooting was what has become a Las Vegas legend. “The Summit” as it was referred to, happened at night. The cameras were shut off, the scripts put away, and the five rat pack members took to the stage for plenty of music and antics. Headlining the show were Sinatra, Martin, and Davis, the three singers of the group. And now they are back. Well, not exactly but as close to reality as can be. “The Rat Pack is Back” is a fun show playing at the Copa Room in the Tuscany Suites and Casino resort in Las Vegas, and is just as fun, or almost, as the original shows in 1960.

What guests get when they attend this show (Monday through Saturday nights) is a trip back to the 1960s. PC (Political Correctness) was not in our vocabulary and smoking and drinking were considered the “in” things.

This show features some of the great moments from the three entertainers reincarnated into 2018. The three singers taking the roles of Frank, Dean, and Sammy are all superb. Their mannerisms and vocal inflections are spot-on. It’s truly a blast from the past and audiences in this cozy theater get their money’s worth. The men interact with them and bring back the songs and indeed the atmosphere of the 1960s and definitely the personas of Dean, Sammy, and Frank.

Prior to the show a film is shown looking back in time, and just before the show begins the Sands hotel where the original shows took place but has been demolished, reemerges from the rubble, setting the scene for the singers to come out and take everyone on a trip back in time.

Songs like “Luck be a Lady,” “The Candy Man,” “Volare,” “That’s Amore,” and more combined with on-stage banter make this as close to reliving the original shows as possible.

These cool guys were fun individually, but when they got together, well, the entertainment went through the roof. And today’s audiences get to experience a bit of what it was like in what many people call “the good old days.” When in Las Vegas, definitely check out “The Rat Pack is Back.”

About the Author

Francine Brokaw has been covering travel and entertainment for over 20 years. She also writes about products and travel. She has been published in national and international newspapers and magazines as well as Internet websites. She has written her own book, Beyond the Red Carpet The World of Entertainment Journalists, from Sourced Media Books.

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