The spontaneity of these shows became a blueprint for acts in Vegas for generations. “Dean Martin, Maybe Frank, Maybe Sammy,” read a marquee at The Sands in 1963, according to an archived photo. The draw of the Rat Pack was so high, marquees would play off the group’s notoriety for crashing the shows of one another. He would perform more than 30,000 shows in his new hometown over the next decades.Īt the same time, Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack – Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop – were turning the city onto its head. Las Vegas, Wayne Newton, then a high school student, booked six shows a day, an engagement that stretched out for five years. The shows often included drinks and a dinner menu.Īt the Fremont Hotel and Casino in 1958, the future Mr. Visitors could catch stars like Liberace, Elvis Presley and Don Rickles for as little as $5. In 1950s Las Vegas, then a city of less than 50,000 people, rapidly became the destination to see the world’s top entertainers.

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