“Salute to the Rat Pack & Friends" at the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse -- October 19.
Thursday, October 19, 1 & 7:15 p.m.
Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse, 1828 Third Avenue, Rock Island IL
On October 19, fans of classic pop hits and iconic ballads are invited to the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse for the Rock Island venue's eagerly awaited return of Salute to the Rat Pack & Friends, a thrilling concert event that will take audiences back to the showroom of the Sands Hotel circa 1960 through beloved standards including “Fly Me To The Moon,” “Volare,” “Mr. Bojangles,” and many more.
Historically, the Rat Pack was an informal group of entertainers, the second iteration of which ultimately made films and appeared together in Las Vegas casino venues. They originated in the late 1940s and early 1950s as a group of A-list show business friends, among them Errol Flynn, Nat King Cole, Mickey Rooney, Frank Sinatra, and others who met casually at the Holmby Hills home of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. In the 1960s, the group featured Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Joey Bishop, and (before falling out with Sinatra in 1962) Peter Lawford, among others. They appeared together on stage and in movies in the 1950s and 1960s, including the films Ocean's 11, Sergeants 3, and Robin & the 7 Hoods with Bing Crosby. After Bogart's passing in 1957, Sinatra, Martin, and Davis were regarded as the group's lead members.
Over the years, several explanations have been offered for the moniker "Rat Pack." According to one version, Lauren Bacall saw her husband Humphrey Bogart and his friends returning from a night in Las Vegas and said, "You look like a g--damn rat pack." But "Rat Pack" may also be a shortened version of "Holmby Hills Rat Pack," a reference to the home of Bogart and Bacall. Visiting members of the group included Errol Flynn, Ava Gardner, Nat King Cole, Robert Mitchum, Elizabeth Taylor, Janet Leigh, Tony Curtis, Mickey Rooney, Lena Horne, Jerry Lewis, and Cesar Romero. Christmas with the Rat Pack, a collection of holiday tunes sung by Sinatra, Martin, and Davis, was released in 2001, while The Ultimate Rat Pack Collection: Live & Swingin' became available in 2003, with a concert featuring the three men, Live from the Sands in Las Vegas, also released.
The touring Salute to the Rat Pack & Friends concert event comes to Rock Island for two performances on October 19, with the 1 p.m. show preceded by a noon lunch and the 7:15 p.m. production featuring a 6 p.m. plated dinner. Admission to the matinee is $62.50 while evening admission is $65.65, and more information and tickets are available by calling (309)786-7733 extension 2 and visiting Circa21.com.
