Columnist Joe Delaney: Where has all of the entertainment gone?

For the first time, in 1998, more people perceived Las Vegas as an entertainment destination than as a gaming destination, according to several surveys. ... Gaming has not really fallen back. ... Entertainment, which technically might include gaming, is finally given its due. ... Las Vegas has always had gambling, now called gaming.

Casino gaming became legal in Nevada in 1931. ... Legal gaming helped the economy a bit but it took entertainment, stars from nightclubs, vaudeville and legit theater, as an enhancement in those post-World War II years, the late 1940s and early '50s, to create the unique phenomenon that Las Vegas eventually became.

This growth really started with the Flamingo, the original El Rancho, Frontier, and Bingo Club, now the Sahara, in the 1940s, followed by Wilbur Clark's Desert Inn, Sands, Riviera, those that followed in the '50s, and the stars who played those hotels. ... Las Vegas came alive.

The lounge era

The Mary Kaye Trio started the LV lounge era in the early 1950s. ... Louis Prima, Keely Smith and Sam Butera then took it to its highest plateau at the Sahara. ... Comedian Shecky Greene, in lounges at the Tropicana and Riviera, did as much or more for the casino than the stars in the main room. ... Top names played lounges back then.

Claude Trenier and the Treniers, closing Sunday at the Orleans, were early factors, as were Freddie Bell and The Characters. ... Bell, Butera and the Treniers are still active here. ... Keely Smith and Butera enjoyed a mini-renaissance in the Desert Inn Starlight Theatre a few years back, a room that has been relocated and gone contemporary.

The coming of the corporate form in the 1960s, with a philosophy that every area in the hotel must be a profit center, all but wiped out the lounges as an entertainment factor; today's lounges have little impact.

The showrooms

In the 1960s, the showrooms went from seven days a week, two shows a night, to weekends, with some major showrooms now dark 200 days a year or more. ... Four-wall lease arrangements also contributed to the current sad situation. ... This weekend finds Bally's fine Celebrity Room a sad memory, and the Caesars and Desert Inn showrooms dark with only three star-policy shows.

Wayne Newton, second only to Sinatra as a showroom factor through the years, is at the MGM Grand; the McGuire Sisters (Orleans) and Danny Gans (Rio) complete the list. ... This is in the face of the surveys that list Las Vegas as an entertainment destination first and a gaming destination second. ... This makes little sense.

Talent is out there; the facilities are still here and more are being built. ... The problem: There are too few entertainment-qualified people making the entertainment decisions at LV hotels.

Weekend suggestions

Three Dog Night and the Nelson Brothers, twin sons of the late Rick Nelson (see cover story), will perform in a special one-night concert at 7:30 p.m. (Stardust). ... One of our favorite funny fellows, Barry Diamond, is headlining at the MGM Grand's Catch A Rising Star through Sunday. ... Another column choice, Jeff Wayne, opens Monday in the Maxim's Comedy Max.

The LV Civic Symphony performs free, but with tickets to guarantee seating, 2 p.m. Sunday, Reed Whipple Center. ... Monday at 6 p.m. in the Winchester Center, members of the cast and crew of Cirque du Soleil's "Mystere" (Treasure Island) will present an evening of musical and visual arts. ... Call 455-7340.

Joe Bleeden, top L.A. PR person, writes: "Former stripper Jane Briggeman wants to contact former strippers. They can call me at (310) 858-8447 or write Jane at P.O. Box 5265, Oxnard, CA 9303l."

Friday addenda

CCSN presents "Big Band '99, The Fabulous Dorseys" at 7 p.m. next Wednesday in the Nicholas Horn Theatre on the Cheyenne Campus. ... Joe Bernard's Actor's Showcase presents scenes featuring new local talents, Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., admission is free (Winchester Center). ... The Jordanaires and Sharon Haynes will offer a new version of their popular "Patsy Cline Tribute," starting Wednesday (Gold Coast).

It was a dark, rainy night, Monday, Jan. 9, 1922, when I arrived at my grandfather's house in South Philadelphia, across from the old Moyamensing Prison, no longer there. ... Grandpa would always say that I was born on the "wrong side of the street." ... I'm grateful to be here and look forward to the next 77 years. ... Enjoy. ... See you next Thursday.

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