Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. performed together in the late ‘50s and early ‘60s under the self-described moniker of the Rat Pack. Dressed in tuxedos, they sang, swilled highballs and needled each other onstage.
One night, Sinatra promised a chum that the Rat Pack would play his Vegas club one day. But both men died before Sinatra could fulfill that promise. Florida Rep Artistic Director Greg Longenhagen explains what happened next.
“God sees this young guy struggling down here in Vegas with this club and he summons Sammy, Frank and Dino and says, ‘You guys need to go back down to Earth and help this guy out,’” said Longenhagen. “So, he sends their beings back down to Earth into these bodies, these barflies sitting around the club and they become Sammy, Dino and Frank.”
Thus reincarnated, the trio regales the club with some of the Rat Pack’s greatest hits, accompanied by a three-piece band. But this is no mere jukebox musical. Florida Rep will recreate the atmosphere of an old time Vegas nightclub.
“We're hoping to have a real working bar inside the Artstage Studio where people can actually step, belly up to the bar at intermission and get a drink,” Longenhagen said.
This show is not just for the older crowd.
“That music is timeless,” Longenhagen said. “Some of those songs and how they were performed were just classics, and I think anybody who appreciates a fun time, a good show and great music is gonna have a great time at the ‘Rat Pack Lounge.’”
“Rat Pack Lounge” runs Sept. 30 through Nov. 16 in the Artstage Studio Theatre.
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“I don't want to tell you too much about the plot because part of the fun happens as things unravel,” said Florida Rep's Greg Longenhagen. “But it's a great story and, of course, the music is phenomenal.”
Longenhagen goes so far as to call the music timeless.
Written by James Hindman and Ray Roderick and with musical arrangements by John Glaudini, “Rat Pack Lounge” includes over 30 hit songs, including “My Way,” “What Kind of Fool Am I?” and “Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime.”
““No matter the decade in which you were born, if you love music, this is a show you won’t want to miss,” notes BroadwayWorld.
“Even people who are not familiar with Sinatra, Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. or that genre of music will still find themselves gravitate toward it,” Longenhagen added. “For somebody who's younger, it's just a fun story. It’s such a fantastical event that's happening. For people of that era, it's pure nostalgia.”
“The Rat Pack Lounge” is directed by Michael Marotta with musical direction by Steven Zumbrun, who also performs as pianist.
Michael Liebhauser plays William Saunders/Frank Sinatra. Alex Gossard is Jeorge Rodrigues/Dean Martin. Cole J. Campbell plays Bobby Goldberg/Sammy Davis, Jr.
Samantha Stevens is Katherine Kerr/Angie and Marc Winski plays Vic Candelino.
Ashleigh David is stage manager and is assisted by Joy Brooks and Evie Hufstetler.
Although Frank Sinatra is widely regarded as the leader of the Rat Pack, that wasn’t originally the case. The first lead was actor Humphrey Bogart. Bogart’s wife, Lauren Bacall, coined the phrase, which included attendees of his late-night parties in the mid-1950s. Sinatra was among those who partied with Bogie and Bacall, as were Judy Garland and David Niven.
When Bogart died in 1957, so did the original Rat Pack. But Sinatra resurrected the Rat Pack, not in Hollywood nor even in Las Vegas, but rather in the small Indiana town of Madison. That’s where Sinatra, newly minted movie star Dean Martin and a young actress by the name of Shirley MacLaine were filming the movie called “Some Came Running.” This new nucleus of hip entertainers embraced the drinking culture of the original Rat Pack.
The year was 1958, and some months later, original Rat Packer Judy Garland opened a show at the Sands in Las Vegas. Sinatra and his new crew attended for moral support. Frank and Dean took the stage (without being invited) and the duo’s boozy comedy and song act was such a hit with the audience that they decided to make it an act.
Soon, Sinatra, Martin, and Vegas headliner Sammy Davis, Jr. were making unscripted guest appearances at each other’s gigs, singing songs, telling crude jokes, and putting on a thoroughly drunken display.
They initially dubbed themselves the “Clan," or sometimes the “Summit.” But given their carefree attitude and reckless antics, they were given the “Rat Pack” moniker, which came to be associated with them rather than Bogart and Bacall.
Support for WGCU’s arts & culture reporting comes from the Estate of Myra Janco Daniels, the Charles M. and Joan R. Taylor Foundation, and Naomi Bloom in loving memory of her husband, Ron Wallace.
