Rat Pack re-born

Dinner show featured at Summerlin Bistro

You could croon along with Frank Sinatra. You could toast a friend with Dean Martin. You could even cut up with Sammy Davis Jr.

The Rat Pack takes people back to old Vegas, but this is no show on the Las Vegas Strip. It's in Summerlin, at Benedict's Garden Bistro & Terrace in Trails Village Shopping Center, 1916 Village Center Circle, Suite 7.

Benedict's started hosting jazz nights and recently added the "New Rat Pack & Friends Dinner Show" to the lineup.

Using live music mixed with pre-programmed on a sophisticated sound system, the "New Rat Pack & Friends Show" proves to have solid entertainment feel. This is not something to listen to while having drinks with friends. With this throwback to Sin City's early days, all conversation stops, all eyes are on the stage.

At the helm of the show is Randy Urgola Martin, who convincingly portrays Dean Martin. A cigarette in one hand and a drink in the other, Martin starts the show with, "When You're Smiling." Only his tongue-in-cheek lyrics proclaim, "When you're drinking, when you're drinking, the show's gonna look good to you."

He goes on to sing tunes forever connected to the late crooner, such as, "Everybody Loves Somebody," "You're Nobody 'til Somebody Loves You" and "That's Amore."

In between songs, there is schtick for which the Rat Pack members were famous. Martin whips them out so fast, the audience is a beat behind. Some of his quips:

"I had a special request tonight ... but I'm going to sing anyway."

"Here's a song dedicated to my ex-wife, I call it: 'Plaintiff.' "

"What I have in this glass is Scotch and carrot juice. I still get drunk, but I see real good."

Later on, the other Rat Pack performers come into the act. Ryan Baker portrays Frank Sinatra and Herb Rawlings appears as Sammy Davis Jr.

To make it even more like the Vegas of yesteryear, the show pulls a celebrity, Barbra Streisand (impersonator Coren Zai), from the audience to come up and sing with the acclaimed trio. Future shows might feature Groucho Marx or Bobby Darin.

"To see a show like this, you'd have to go to a casino," Lakes resident Maggie Saunders said. "We define our culture in Las Vegas by our casinos. You have great restaurants on the Strip. You have terrific shopping on the Strip. But it's nice to know there's something outside that, that there's something out here. And it's nice to have a restaurant where people dress up and look elegant."

The dinner preceding the show comes from a select menu. On this night, it was a four-course meal with a choice of beef Wellington, rack of lamb and cioppino, which is a seafood dish. The full menu is still available to anyone dining on the terrace. The dinner/show package, at $44.95, includes wine and dessert.

Back when he opened the restaurant in April, owner and executive chef Pat Marcy said he intended to bring a nightclub element to the area. So the interior was designed with that in mind.

It didn't take much to transform the eatery into a dinner/showroom. The heavy drapes were lowered down over the casual graphics visible at lunchtime. The lights were dimmed and the mood shifted into nightclub mode.

The "New Rat Pack & Friends Show" is booked through November. On nights when Dean, Frank and Sammy are off, Benedict's has other entertainment scheduled. Sometimes it isn't scheduled.

"We had the Scintas come in to eat the other night," Marcy said. "Frankie jumped up on the stage and all of a sudden he was singing for everyone here. Then he pulled Chrissi up there to sing. They had a ball and ended up singing until 3:30 in the morning."

Marcy said Frank Sinatra's pianist/conductor, Vinnie Falcone, was a regular patron. Plans were shoring up to have Falcone's protege, a Harry Connick type, appear at Benedict's. Another act already on the calendar is "A Swingin' Affair with Rick & Sharona."

"I wanted to create a new neighborhood joint, a place that's comfortable and casual, not pretentious," Marcy said. "I'm trying to bring as much live entertainment to Summerlin as possible. I believe there is a niche market for our neighbors where we can fill the void in entertainment without having them going to the Strip. This is a true neighborhood bistro."


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