David Cassidy on the Web
Biting The Hand
July 2000
www.gamingtoday.com
The Congo Room (albeit a terrific theater) as well as the location in the hotel (next to the buffet instead of the casino) may be wrong for this excellent little tribute to Vegas' Golden Era of Entertainment. The room is a little large for this type offering and the theater-style seating doesn't fit the look and feel of the '60s (an original intent of this show, according to its producer David Cassidy).
The Desert Inn's smaller, more intimate, cocktail-table room, in the middle of the casino, was more true to the Rat Pack era.
Well, I heard loud and clear from Cassidy's camp, the cast and some in the Sahara (who, themselves, may no longer be employed at the hotel) that I was all wet.
But, now that the show has been given the heave-ho, there, in black and white in the local daily, is a quote from the show's musical director that the "room was wrong and the hotel was wrong, but even in a bad place it did business."
Geesh, what was Lon Bronson (who happens to be a guy whose talents as a musician and director, I admire) thinking with that quote?
It does go to show that David and his people knew the room wasn't really right for the show all along, but calling the hotel a bad place hits a sour note.
Cracks that burn bridges or bite the hand that supplies the showroom, is not smart. Not many other venues are going to give "Rat Pack" a home, if they know that when it's time to move on, folks connected with it are going to rag on the hotel to the media.
Not being able to market the show using Cassidy's name or any of the Rat Packers' images might have been an insurmountable obstacle.
If anything, the Sahara should be applauded for giving this quality little offering a stage, despite the potential (though improbable) legal ramifications and the marketing handicaps.
