(Chris Jason Rossi) Three pictures in the house.

We had the Pope, Jesus, and Frank Sinatra.

That was exactly what my life was growing up.

(David G. Schwartz) The Rat Pack in the '60s really represented Las Vegas at its libertine best.

(Angelo A. Cassaro) Well, the club had a reputation, like all of Las Vegas did, you know?

There's no denying that there was some mob influence in Las Vegas.

(Drew Anthony Carrano) Hey, pally, I'm Dean Martin.

(Kyle Diamond) I'm Sammy Davis, Jr., baby.

(Chris Jason Rossi) And I'm Francis Albert Sinatra.

This is the Copa Room in the Tuscany Casino, and we're The Rat Pack is Back.

♪♪ -My name's Dick Feeney.

I'm the producer, director, and owner of The Rat Pack is Back show here in Las Vegas.

I'm originally from a little town called Rockland.

When I was young, my mother always had me sing, and I did a couple talent shows.

And then I just fell in love with the trumpet; I had to have a trumpet.

So they got me a trumpet, and I started playing.

And I always had a natural ability to pick stuff up quick.

And I got into this local band, did my first high school dance, and I was hooked.

Then I moved on to a band called Lewis and Clarke Expedition, which is a 10-piece band with two singers, and we toured around the country.

At one time, we were the highest paid show band, nightclub band in the country.

We recorded some records, never had a hit.

♪♪ ♪ Here comes that sweet little devil ♪ ♪ Tempting me to lose control ♪♪ So I came to Las Vegas in 1978 for my first trip and just fell in love with it, made $24 on the blackjack table.

It was Wow!

And I lost that.

In the late '90s, Frank, Sammy, and Dean actually got together in their older age to do a world tour, and they called it Together Again because Frank hated the name Rat Pack.

Right around that time, several groups around the country sprang up that called themselves Rat Pack.

How it really triggered into the '60s recreation of it, Hollywood writer Don Reo actually wrote a script and created The Rat Pack Is Back, their version of it.

He opened his show in 1999.

When he closed the show, I'd realize there was a lot of call for it.

There was sort of a gap there, and it was a product that could sell.

David wasn't doing the show anymore.

I contacted him and we made a deal and I bought the trade name and wrote a new script and did a new concept with it.

-Hey there, folks.

I'm Chris Jason Rossi.

-Hey everybody.

I'm Drew Anthony Carrano.

-My name is Kyle Diamond, and I know you think, why am I not playing Frank?

But I play Kyle-- I don't play Kyle Diamond.

I play Sammy Davis Jr. in the show.

(Drew Anthony Carrano) And I play Dean Martin.

-I play Frank Sinatra in The Rat Pack is Back.

-Ah, The Rat Pack is Back is a show that originated in the '60s with the guys.

-It's like a time capsule back to the 1960s, to when Frank, Dean, and Sammy and the live big band took over Las Vegas.

-The people can expect a recreation of all of that humor and singing and kibitzing.

-We're talking about dancing, sweetheart.

It's okay.

It's all right.

-I'm sorry.

I misunderstood.

I was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio.

My childhood was great, filled with music and sports.

-I am from New Haven, Connecticut.

Grew up Italian American, so what it's like for me growing up is a lot of food, a lot of talking, a lot of music.

-I grew up in Providence, Rhode Island, Little Italy, predominantly all Italian family.

Three pictures in the house.

We had the Pope, Jesus, and Frank Sinatra.

That was exactly what my life was growing up.

-I found Chris Jason a very unusual way.

It was at San Gennaro Feast.

-There's an opening in Las Vegas, San Gennaro.

I'll fly you down.

You do an hour and go back home.

-And I looked over, and I saw this guy.

-I'm singing.

I wasn't singing to that many people.

I can't do this.

No one even knows I'm here.

-And I heard this Sinatra voice.

This was dead on.

-Mr. Tony Sacca, he was the ambassador of music entertainment.

He walked me to the end of the stage, and he said, I want you to meet somebody.

-I immediately went over and found out who he was.

-I said, Oh, sure.

And it was Mr. Dick Feeney, who's the producer of this show, The Rat Pack is Back.

-The clearest Sinatra voice I've ever heard.

-But that's pretty much how I got here, because of two people, Tony Sacca, Mr. Dick Feeney.

-So how I discovered the one and only Drew Anthony playing Mr. Dean Martin-- -Some friends told me to go see The Rat Pack is Back.

-And I got a tap on my shoulder, and he said, Mr. Feeney.

-I had told him who I was and that I sang a lot of Frank Sinatra.

-I looked at him, I said, I don't think so.

You don't do Frank in my show.

-And he said to me, you can't sing Frank Sinatra in my show.

-He says, What do you mean?

I said, Well, you look just like a 35-year-old Dean Martin.

-Well, whatever, whatever Dick Feeney says, that's it, that's the way it was.

I said, Okay, I could do that too.

That'll be fun.

-I said, if you could sing Sinatra, you can sing Dean Martin.

Practice your Dean Martin and come see me again.

-And that's how I got here.

♪♪ -We actually found Kyle Diamond working in a very popular lounge band here in Las Vegas.

-I was part of a duo, actually.

I sang with a female, and I played keyboards.

We used to do this short segment of caricatures of the Rat Pack.

-We needed someone who could sing and who could dance, be Mr. Entertainment in the show.

-And which is why he thought of me, because I would do the, Hey, man.

Hey, babe.

-I found out throughout the years that people who had lounge training were the best entertainers.

-Dick Feeney came in, gave me a CD and said, Learn these songs by Friday.

-He was at that age where he said, Yeah, I'd like to get out of the lounge.

[applause] -You know I don't like pictures when I'm working, fellas.

-So Frank was a storyteller.

It wasn't just the song, it was a story.

Examplewise, I would say like, "The Best Is Yet to Come."

♪ Out of the tree of life I just picked me a plum ♪♪ And then you see him singing on stage, and his phrasing is completely different.

♪ Out of the tree of life ♪ ♪ I just picked me that plum ♪♪ And he would just do these dips and these valleys with the lyrics.

And just-- no one ever did that before.

♪ Fly me to the moon ♪ ♪ Let me swing up there on the stars ♪♪ -I like to sing and dance.

-Look, I-- Look, Peter, I don't mind you singing.

That's not under my jurisdiction.

-Something about the way Sammy spoke.

He enunciated everything.

It was a little more nasally.

And, "Hey there."

I mean, you, I dig you.

You dig me.

We digged each other.

♪ I should stay away ♪ ♪ what can I do ♪ ♪ I hear your name I'm aflame ♪♪ -It's about my turn to speak, ain't it?

[laughter] -Get outta here.

-There's a big difference between Dean and Frank.

They're both great singers.

You know, Dean had a very fast vibrato, which is very hard to actually recreate.

He crooned more than Frank.

It was softer.

So an example would be, you know, Frank might sing ♪ Come fly with me ♪♪ He might sing that out like that, and Dean would be like, ♪ Come fly with me ♪♪ ♪ When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie ♪ ♪ That's amore ♪♪ -I told you it'd be a fantastic audience tonight.

-You were right, Frank.

You have been a lovely audience.

Thank you and good night.

-No.

-No, no, no.

There's more.

There's more.

(Dick Feeney) This is Lon Bronson, the musical director for The Rat Pack is Back.

My buddy forever and ever and ever.

Come on, we'll sit down talk a little and tell the story.

-Good idea.

-So Lon and I met in 1984.

(Lon Bronson) Got to stop you.

It was '82.

1982.

-So he worked in the show in Hawaii.

Then we brought the show to Atlantic City at the Tropicana.

La Cage was coming to Las Vegas, and I asked Lon if he wanted to come and work with the show.

-I got to jump in here, because I love this story.

So he basically had to beg me to come to Vegas.

I was living in New York City, having the time of my life.

He calls me up.

He goes, You know, there's no live music on this, this show.

It's a drag show.

It's La Cage.

And I'd really like you to just come and help me get the show open.

Come out for two weeks.

I guarantee you come for two weeks, you can take off, whatever you want to do.

I never left, never went back to New York.

All my stuff was in storage.

Somebody got all my vinyl, a black leather couch.

But it's a true story.

I thought I was coming for two weeks to open La Cage for him, and I never left.

-And the two of us collaborated on what kind of songs we should pick and change and different script ideas and what worked, what didn't work.

He knows all the musicians.

He's got the famous Lon Bronson All-Star Band here in town that started, what?

-35 years this year.

-35 years.

So he knows who the players are, who the good guys are that you can count on to hire.

And that's, you know, one of the real big strengths he brings to this whole endeavor.

And you've seen a lot of guys come and go, and somehow we managed to stay together, support each other.

And I've told you this before, how much I appreciate you and what you've done, and I'm extremely proud of your career.

-Thanks, man.

-I really am.

And the fact that I started it all, okay, makes me even prouder.

-Of course.

[laughter] -This guy's always figured out how to do a quality commercial product and sell tickets, and that's an amazing thing.

Like I was saying, go back to '85, all the guys that were, quote/unquote, big producers then, they're all gone.

Nobody's left but one guy, this guy.

So you're the only one.

♪♪ ♪ You are nobody till that somebody loves you ♪ ♪ So find yourself somebody to love ♪♪ -Frank, Chris, you bring in food.

You bring in booze.

-All the time.

-It's you're easy to work with.

-Yeah.

-You sing well.

It's a pleasure to be here with you.

You, what's your name again?

-Bob.

-Kyle?

-What?

I love working with you.

-He's the most kindhearted person I know, and it's a pleasure to work with him.

-It's a pleasure to work with both of you guys.

-It's the most fun.

It's the most fun.

I actually look forward to leaving the house and coming here to laugh, period.

-We do.

-You're married, right?

Of course, you're looking forward to leaving the house.

There's different personalities.

These guys are really good guys.

-Excuse me.

-Yes.

-Excuse me, you guys.

Where's the drinks?

-Oh.

So there is-- -You know, this is what happens when security is not around.

-Toast.

-Yeah, toast.

-Thank you for everything you guys do nightly.

-No, thank you.

-It's a pleasure working with you guys.

-Going on 10 years next year.

Whatever you expect to see in the show, it ain't gonna happen.

Here's to Dick Feeney for having us and the show run as long as it has.

-Thank you guys.

-Thank you, man.

-Salud.

-Thank you.

-Cheers.

-Salud.

-Salud.

-I actually love Las Vegas since the first time I came here.

The action, the excitement, the entertainment was here.

This is my favorite place.

♪♪ -Hey, my name is Dave Schwartz.

I'm the author of At The Sands, which is about the history of Sands Hotel and Las Vegas.

Now, I'm not gonna jump up on stage with Frank, Dean, and Sammy, but I can walk you through a little bit of their story and how things got to where they are today.

The Rat Pack in the '60s really represented Las Vegas at its libertine best.

It was all about having a good time.

The term "Rat Pack" originally came around in the 1950s from a group of people associated with Humphrey Bogart.

His wife Lauren Bacall said they looked like a pack of rats at one point.

Later on, it was given to Frank Sinatra and his friends by a gossip columnist named Dorothy Kilgallen.

And Sinatra never really liked that title, but it did eventually stick.

The Sands hotel is where the Rat Pack came together.

Frank Sinatra started playing there in 1953.

Dean Martin started in 1955.

Sammy Davis Jr. started in 1957.

And it was during the filming of the movie Ocean's 11 that the Sands publicist Al Freeman got the idea to put them all on stage together, and that was when the Rat Pack came together in January of 1960.

The thing about the Rat Pack is they liked to spend time together, they liked to have fun off stage, and that really translated well on stage.

They were always joking and bantering.

And it really felt, for people who went to the Copa Room and saw the Rat Pack perform, it felt like they just walked into their living room and were watching them joke around and pal around.

And that was what made it so appealing.

It's interesting to think how, you know, maybe they didn't have as many performances as Elvis did or other folks did, but the Rat Pack had such a huge impact on how Las Vegas views itself and how other people view Vegas that they really do deserve a ton of credit.

So now you know a little bit more about the story of Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack.

And to learn a little bit more about Frank Sinatra's relationship with the Italian American community, let's head down to the Italian American Club and talk to Angelo.

-Benvenuta.

Welcome to the Italian American Club.

I'm Angelo Cassaro.

I'm the president of the Italian American Club, and we welcome you here.

The star entryway, coming into the famous club.

From 1960 we've been here.

Well, I'm originally from Buffalo, New York.

My wife and I, we've been together since 1963.

We were together for eight years before we got married, and we decided to come to Las Vegas for our honeymoon.

We had no idea people lived here, but we had such a great time.

And we saw, you know, Jimmy Durante and Jerry Lewis, and we went to a matinee show and a dinner show every night while we were here.

We just loved it.

We would have never thought eight years later we'd be living here.

When we came to the club, it was fun.

It was nice because we were young and everybody else was a lot older.

I joined the club immediately after that, and we've been members ever since.

We've got a wonderful Wall of Fame, is what we call it, so many pictures of some of the entertainers and famous people that have been in their club.

And our guests love to come and spend time looking at it.

We're a club that's been around a long time, and a lot of these famous entertainers loved this place and supported it and helped us.

And of course, when you have pictures like this, and people, real people like this, support the club and patronize and come here and enjoy it, they tell other people.

And it gives you a little bit of credibility.

We're proud of that.

The Italian American Club was founded back about 1960.

There was no Italian neighborhoods back in the day, and ultimately they decided, after a little bit of time, to get a fundraiser going and start raising money to start a club.

Some of the pictures, one we're real proud of is this one on top over here.

That's our first president, and we're giving Dean Martin an honorary membership to the club for his support and recognizing how much he enjoyed the club.

We have another picture of our president, Al Bossi, giving Tony Bennett an honorary membership to our club.

This is back about 1962 or 1963 with Al Bossi giving the honorary award to Frank Sinatra for all his support he's given the Italian American Club.

Well, Nick Fiori was one of the original guys.

He ultimately was one of the presidents, and when they decided to do the fundraiser at Riviera, because of his credentials and his contacts, he was able to really pull off a great big huge ball at the Riviera.

Of course, we start with Frank Sinatra, with Dean Martin, Perry Como, and Jimmy Durante, Rocky Marciano, Joe DiMaggio, people like that.

Frank Sinatra was very instrumental in helping raise the funds.

He donated a brand new Cadillac to be used to sell raffle tickets.

It raised a lot of money to help actually purchase this piece of property we're sitting on here today.

Well, I'm very proud of a letter that Mr. Sinatra sent to me, president of the Italian America Club, back in July of 1990.

"Dear Angelo, Congratulations on 30 years of...

Very proud of that.

I have the original in my office.

Well, this is the lounge portion of our Italian American Club, and I'd like you guys to meet Nicholas Cole, who was the Best of Las Vegas award-winning lounge act for the last couple of years.

Why don't you tell us a little-- tell these guys about yourself and where you came from.

-I am a homegrown Las Vegas musician.

Las Vegas, living and breathing Las Vegas, is a huge part of my career, and performing here at the Italian American Club was just a dream come true.

There was one night I took over singing and playing some piano, and Benny Spano ran all the way into the, to the showroom and said, Hey kid, where have you been?

There was like no negotiation.

It was like-- -Well, the talent that he has, I mean, he plays, he directs, he writes his own music.

He sings unbelievable, and he brings in some of the best singers around the whole Las Vegas that comes in, and he can play with anything.

He's just fantastic, and it's such a blessing to have you here.

-Thank you, Angelo.

And the most part is the guests that come through here, because they know so much great music.

You gotta understand.

I mean, this was Frank Sinatra, Sammy, and Dean Martin's favorite place to come out and hang out, and Tony Bennett, so the guests know great music when they come in.

And you can perform any kind of music that you want to.

-No, you can, because you can accompany them.

It's so fun to watch when somebody comes up and sings and they'll say, Down a flat, and so you'll change everything.

-That happened.

Go up a little more.

-We're so fortunate to have you here.

We're so proud of you, what you bring to this room over here and the whole club.

Why don't you play something for us and give us a little taste.

-I'm gonna play an original song by my father, Alan, and it's called "Dad."

-Please do.

♪♪ ♪ Dad, now that you're gone ♪ ♪ Dad, now that I'm wrong ♪ ♪ Dad, you were all that I had ♪ ♪ I think of you when times are rough ♪ ♪ For the rest of my life ♪ ♪ For the rest of my life ♪♪ ♪♪ (Angelo A. Cassaro) Well, the club had a reputation like all of Las Vegas did.

There's no denying that there was some mob influence in Las Vegas and famous people-- infamous people, I should say, came to the club and enjoyed the food and the camaraderie and the privacy.

I was at a meeting when the board of directors was talking about some of the financial issues, and they really wanted to sub out the club, maybe even sell it.

I got up and asked a couple questions.

Next thing I know is they made me president.

I think people love to come to the Italian American Club.

You know, it's called Vintage Vegas.

It's old school, but it's nice, it's classy, it's clean.

Well, we like to do things for the community.

We like to make the community know that we're here.

We're good community people.

So we started really concentrating on doing our scholarships.

That's what we've been doing the past many years.

With the continued help and support of the community, we've donated over $1.5 million in scholarships to local Clark County Italian American students to help them with their education and fulfill their educational goals.

♪♪ -Hi, Angelo.

-Looks like you ordered some of our house specialties tonight, Jackie and Sophia.

We have the sole parmigiano, which we sell a lot of.

People love it.

Over here, we have the homemade braciole, which is pounded ribeye, loaded.

It's just wonderful.

It's Ben Spano's mother's recipe.

The same with the homemade lasagna, it's also Ben Spano's mother's recipe.

It's homemade.

And of course, the famous double pork chop.

Our portions are big, but people, they don't leave here hungry.

-That's the best.

-Buon appetito.

-[in Italian] -Looks so-- (Jaclyn Marfuggi-Caprio) This looks so good.

I'm not gonna lie.

We have to dive in.

-Start with that one?

-Start with the lasagna.

Oh, my gosh.

I wish you guys could smell this.

It smells so good.

-Amazing.

-All right, shall we?

I gotta get all the layers.

I feel like there's a thousand layers.

-Are you gonna eat it right out of the plate?

-I'm gonna go for it.

Oh, my God.

-Oh, my God.

-You know what?

Honestly, I feel like all the ingredients are so fresh.

(Sophia Sabino) It's rich and warm and yummy.

-All right, should we do protein next?

-Did you ever have pork chops at home?

-Did I have pork chops at home?

We did.

I'm not gonna lie.

Growing up, pork chops weren't like my favorite thing.

It's become more of my favorite now as I get older.

And I feel like this pork chop definitely reminds me of like old school, grandparents, out.

-Yes.

My dad, my dad was a big pork chop guy.

Making a mess.

Oh, my God, help!

[laughter] -We're making a mess over here.

Oh, wow.

-Here you go.

-See, this is perfect.

This, I bet you, honestly, my entire Italian family is very jealous they're not here right now.

Salud.

-Mmm.

-That is cooked to perfection.

All right, let's move on.

Let's-- I feel like we want to do the Parmesan encrusted sole, yes.

-I like it's very light.

And do you mind if I put some lemon on it?

All right, are you ready?

-Let's do it.

-Oh, my God.

That's so good.

The Parmesan crunch, oh, my goodness.

-All right.

Are you ready for the star of the show?

-It's beautiful.

It really is.

-All right, let's bring the braciole over here.

-I used to see my grandma in the kitchen pounding it out, pound the meat out, put the little Parmesan, you know, all the parsley, and then, you know, they did it-- they ran-- they used to do it with string.

They do it with a string.

My mom did it with a toothpick.

-All right.

-Everybody puts something different in there.

-Would this literally taste like it's coming from our grandparents in Jersey's kitchen?

-Yeah.

-And it's light, and the sauce is perfect.

The amount of Parmesan on it's perfect.

-Sophia and Jackie, what'd you think about this meal?

-Oh, my gosh, can we move in?

I never want to leave.

-Looks like you did a pretty good job.

-We did.

Well, Angelo, I just want to say congrats at how amazing this is.

Like you guys have been around for decades.

-64 years.

-64 years.

-It's on point, like on point each time, every time.

-And you have two Jersey Italians here, and we have a tough palette.

-Food critics, food critics.

-We want to say thank you so much for having us.

We love this place so much, and I am a member for life now.

Thank you.

-We're very pleased you came and enjoyed the food, and I know we're going to see lots more of you.

Thanks for coming in, okay?

-Thank you for having us.

-Stay well, stati buone.

Well, my hope is for the Italian American Club, that we're going to be here another 60 years.

The young people that are moving into this position, they're coming in and enjoying the club.

It's a beautiful thing.

It gives me faith and confidence that they're the ones going to be taking over from us older people.

When you saw Nicholas Cole earlier, he can turn this place any Friday or Saturday night as well.

I think one of the great things about this club being in Las Vegas is we weren't even open to the public for the first nearly 30 years, and here it is 40-something years later, we're open to the public and people are recognizing.

Vegas is one of the greatest cities in the world, if not "the" greatest city in the world.

As far as I'm concerned, this is my home.

My whole family's here.

My kids are here, my brothers, my sisters, my first cousins.

There can't be a better place in the world that I know of.

-That's the show.

Watch more Vegas All In stories and moments whenever you want to.

Go online and search Vegas All In PBS, and we'll see you there.

♪♪ -I'm all in.

-I'm all in.

-I'm all in.

-I'm all in.

-You know, we're talking about Las Vegas, so, yeah, yeah, I'm all in.

♪♪♪