Las Vegas Weekly

December 24, 2009 · 1:06 PM

Photo Gallery: Stepping back in time with The Rat Pack at the Sahara

By Robin Leach

Sandy Hackett's Rat Pack.

Photo: Luck Media

If you close your eyes and sip that chilled martini slowly, it’s easy to imagine you have stepped back in time, and you’ll swear that the sounds of Sandy Hackett’s The Rat Pack Show at the Sahara have conjured up the golden era of Las Vegas. It’s the only show of its kind on the Strip, and it’s at the legendary Congo Room in the Sahara.

It’s historic and nostalgic because producer Sandy’s famous comedy king father Buddy Hackett played that very room during The Rat Pack days that helped shape the Las Vegas entertainment scene. In fact, Buddy’s voice opens this delightful show. He recorded the introduction for his son Sandy, who wrote and produced this new venture and plays the role of comedian Joey Bishop.

It’s a fresh and exciting take on the comedic and musical legacy of The Rat Pack. The band, led by music directors Joey Singer and Joe Spraker, is simply brilliant and sounds exactly like those golden days of Las Vegas showroom master musicians. The four guys onstage provide a wonderful evening of memories.

Doug Starks is great singing, dancing and joking as Sammy Davis Jr. My two favorites were his version of “Mr. Bojangles” and “What Kind of Fool Am I?” that my pal Leslie Bricusse wrote for Anthony Newley in Stop the World, I Want To Get Off. (Incidentally, Leslie was the first showbiz person I ever interviewed during my first local newspaper gig back when we were both in our teens living in Harrow, 20 miles outside London. I’m proud to say we’re still friends and kept in contact all through the 45-plus years!)

David DeCosta has all of Frank Sinatra’s mannerisms and vocal majesty down pat. He sings “For Once in My Life,” which was written by the late legendary songwriter Ron Miller. His daughter Lisa Dawn Miller, who is married to Sandy, is adding a holiday treat for audiences by making a guest appearance onstage in the show following that song with another of his gems, “One Little Christmas Tree.”

Check out this YouTube video of how Sandy’s Rat Pack show came together.

Tony Basile plays Dean Martin to a tee. Not only does he have the voice, but he’s got the trademark smoking and drinking to match, too. He’s a perfect comedic foil to Sammy. I loved Sandy’s humor as Joey, also with perfect voice and mannerisms. He had fast, wisecracking answers for any member of the audience he went up to who cracked back at the mile-a-minute jokes. (I remember working with Joey not long after I’d arrived in America when he was a TV talk show host in Los Angeles.)

All in all, The Rat Pack Show is a great night’s entertainment from the good ol’ days. It was fun to wax nostalgic and once again experience an era of superstar singers and comics before the stages of the Strip became inundated with acrobatics, aerialists and gymnasts. It also was wonderful to remember songs that had great lyrics and music you could hear and sing along.

It takes a while to find this hidden-away, treasured gem in the Sahara, but head through the NASCAR exhibit and hopefully the sign to the escalator up for the Congo Room is back in place.

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

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