Entertainment has long been a key component of the lure of Las Vegas. In the post-war era, Las Vegas hotel showrooms and lounges offered the ultimate in entertainment.  High rollers from around the world were drawn to this desert oasis that offered music, showgirls and gambling across a five mile strip of highway that would become famously known as the Las Vegas Strip.

 

The Las Vegas Lounge scene began at the El Rancho Vegas, the first hotel built on the Strip. The lounge was where the wives and girlfriends of the high rollers could listen to music while the men gambled the night away. The original lounges were staid; the music offerings leaning towards pianos and violins. Groups such as the Mary Kaye Trio and the Treniers pioneered a new sound featuring high energy contemporary music and the hotels quickly made changes to offer more varied acts.

 

By 1954, entertainment director Bill Miller wanted to reshape the lounge scene. He believed that good, late night entertainment would help not only bring more gamblers into the Sahara Hotel but, more importantly, keep them there.

 

He hired a rollicking New Orleans group to anchor the Casbar Lounge and Louis Prima, Keely Smith, and Sam Butera- along with the Witnesses- quickly turned the Casbar into the hottest room in town.  Unlike the showroom acts with their two shows a night, the Casbar kept the good times rolling from late evening until dawn. The group performed five sets a night, five nights a week, rotating nightly sets with comedians such as Don Rickles, Buddy Hackett, and Shecky Greene. 

 

Greene’s act quickly became famous for its unpredictability. One night, he performed in a bathrobe while lying on the stage. Buddy Hackett, slack-jawed in the audience, stripped down to his boxers and joined Greene on stage. The audience went wild.

 

Over at the Sands Hotel, Jack Entratter was creating an all-star roster of entertainers that still stands the test of time. With his background of booking the famed Copacabana, Entratter brought that same sensibility and style to the Copa Room, which helped make the Sands a legendary hotel in Las Vegas history.

 

The formats that these two men helped establish quickly became the standard from the Strip to Fremont Street. From dusk ‘til dawn, the lounges offered an unpredictable blend of music  and comedy, while icons such as Frank Sinatra, Liberace, Lena Horne and Judy Garland graced the larger showrooms and Las Vegas quickly became known as the Entertainment Capital of the World.