David Cassidy in the News
'Rat Pack' is back out on the street
July 6, 2000
By Mike Weatherford
The Las Vegas Review-Journal
Frank Sinatra's Rat Pack once had the run of the Strip. But a tribute show called "The Rat Pack is Back" will be homeless for a second time after it closes at the Sahara Aug. 13.
Sahara officials said Wednesday the show co-produced by entertainer David Cassidy will leave so it won't compete with an upcoming production starring magician Steve Wyrick, in which the Sahara has a larger financial interest. Both shows are priced in the $35 to $40 range, noted John McManus, the hotel's executive vice president and general counsel.
"We want to focus on Wyrick and building his show," McManus said.
The Congo Room inhabited by "Rat Pack" will house a "value-oriented" afternoon or evening revue, with a low ticket price to generate foot traffic, McManus said.
Cassidy is on vacation this week. His publicist, JoAnn Geffen, said the entertainer and co-producer Don Reo are already in discussions with other hotels about a new home for the five-member cast and 12-piece band.
"The Rat Pack is Back" first played at the Desert Inn from July to early December 1999, during which time it came under legal fire from Sinatra's heirs in a trademark infringement suit that's still pending.
The show reopened March 25 at the Sahara. Though the Sahara venue is called the Congo Room, it's actually a retrofitted banquet room far removed from casino traffic. The original Congo Room was demolished in hotel renovations.
"The room was wrong and the hotel was wrong, but even in a bad place it did business," "Rat Pack" music director Lon Bronson said.
