Seeing Rat Pack is Back (Christmas Special)

15 Feb, 2026

To mark special occasions, my family gets together to take a trip to a location of our choice, and for the last one-and-a-half years, it's been to visit Las Vegas. Many legendary performers have come and gone through the city, and perhaps Vegas' most famous and enduring staple (Elvis excluded) is, well, the Rat Pack. As a person greatly interested in old Vegas, it felt incomplete seeing shows/tributes to ONLY a single Rat Pack member up until then.

For obvious reasons, finding an ensemble Rat Pack tribute is a lot harder to find than most. By far the most readily available Rat Pack tribute I've been able to find had been Rat Pack is Back in Vegas' Tuscany Suites & Casino, so it was always in the back of my mind to see them one of these days.

For a year and a half we tried, but the timing just didn't work out. The one time it did, they were out of town the exact days we were visiting! It was like they were mocking me while swirling their martinis or whatever the Rat Pack does (I haven't seen them yet!!)

Well at last, at long last, during our Christmas trip last year, my wish was granted. It would be on the last day of our visit and I was ecstatic.

Before The Show

The show was in a place within the hotel called the "Copa Room." When they said "room," I didn't know they were serious. It was larger than many intimate venues I've been to, but it was still quite humble in its size. That meant that when we took our seats in the back, it still had an amazing view of everything.

As we waited for the show to start, I could feel myself shaking with barely-contained excitement. It's funny because I'm not someone who knows much about them, but I mean, do you have to?? Not only was the Rat Pack a huge deal, seeing this show was also the culmination of over a year of near-misses. It all came down to this.

We were second to come in, which meant there was a lot of time to observe the other audience members who'd come in after us. The crowd was more mixed than what I'd come to expect, but it still overwhelmingly leaned older. I think we were the only family there actually, though with general admission being $89 a seat (minus service fees) at minimum, I don't blame other families for not going. That adds up big time.

There was a projector screen covering the stage and I kept trying to see if I could catch a glimpse of what was going on behind it. I saw some of the crew and the backing musicians getting seated, and yet no Rat Pack, not even a single Rat. Where were they?

The Show

Before we begin, while this has always been the case in what I write, this is all being recounted to the best of my memory. It was particularly difficult for this show because there was SO much going on at once! Felt like trying to drink from a fire hose.

The ambient music they had in the background briefly swelled, then retreated into an eerie silence, broken by an announcer introducing the show. Somewhere in there, he mentioned that it's Frank's birthday.¹ That was news to me!

(After the fact, I looked it up and it was actually quite a bit before then, but I guess we're pretending it IS his birthday for the sake of the show.)

And then the lights dimmed. I held my breath, and my attention was brought to another, smaller projector screen to the left. The band started to play as it displayed footage of the famous Sands Hotel's demolition playing in reverse. Videos and photos of showgirls, lights, casinos, and Vaudeville performances flashed and panned around, and between looking at the reverse montage, I kept trying to glance at the stage to see if I could see anything.

And finally, FINALLY, the projector screen came up, revealing Sinatra as he broke out into his rendition of "Luck Be a Lady."

I heard ahead of time that this would be an interactive show, I just didn't know immediately there would be interaction. As he sang, Sinatra bent down to shake the hands of the audience members at the front, then finishing the song with a pantomimed rolling of the dice.

Before I continue further, I should mention that the lineup I saw was made up of Chris Jason (who plays Frank), Drew Anthony (Dean), and Kyle Diamond (Sammy).

Now with Chris, my parents would make comment that he didn't really look much like Sinatra visually. That didn't matter to me as a good impression has more components to it than just looks, and vocally, I'd say he was very good. In fact, I'd say it was the strongest aspect to his performance, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Sinatra introduced the band, calling for a round of applause before launching into Fly Me to The Moon.

During the song, he pointed at one of the elderly women by the front. "…And this chick's coming with me!"

The song would end, and at that last "I love… You!" he pointed to the audience, though as I sat smack dab in the middle, I was where he happened to point. I was still processing that when I heard muttering to my right. It was coming from a man with distinctively styled hair stumbling toward the exit and trying to push the door open.

Sinatra tried to get his attention. "Dean… Dean! Where are you going? The show's just getting started, get up here."

"In a minute… I need to go to my room to freshen up," what ended up being Dean Martin slurred, leaning against the exit door for support.

"Turn around, Dean," Sinatra commanded in exasperation.

Dean turns around and his eyes go wide. "Woah, there's a lotta people in my bedroom!"

The audience claps as Dean leaps to the stage, and soon after came Sammy Davis Jr. from stage right.

While I had a decent working knowledge of Sinatra and Dean as a result of tributes I've seen, I had absolutely nothing on Sammy Davis Jr. and I was somewhat hoping I could learn more about him through this show. I think the big problem when it comes to tributes is that the artists I'm able to watch are overwhelmingly white, which means that a "Hey, want to see my Sammy Davis Jr. impression?" is absolutely not going to happen.

"Hey all," Sammy smooths his jacket and shows it off to the guys, "How do you like my new suit? I just got it from the tailor's yesterday."

"Yeah, very nice, very nice," Sinatra noted with a nod.

Dean gestured lower, "Nice pants, too."

"Take them off!" The person behind me shouted. She was obviously inebriated, and I thought that was very funny.

"Hey, you know Marvin Gaye?" Dean continued the bit.

Sammy tilted his head, "I don't think I know a lot about him, why?"

"Well, you know the first three letters of his last name, do you?" Dean grins.

Sammy nodded, "Sure, it's G-A-Y," He stopped and noticed Dean was giving Sammy a shit-eating grin while pointing at him. "Hold on a minute!"

Sinatra quickly cuts in for the audience. "Hey it's 1964, these jokes were okay then!"

'It's 1964!' would become a recurring bit throughout the show, and honestly, I found that to be funnier than the jokes they were covering for. Meta humor is always welcome in my house.

Those specific jokes aside, if you've ever watched sitcoms like Cheers, Frasier, or Golden Girls, the humor of that show is very much that kind of energy. Lots of rapid-fire, tightly written jokes that tow the line between respectable and risque.

They continued to banter, and the vibe was very much Sammy and Dean fighting like siblings as Sinatra looks on in mild disappointment.

Eventually, Sinatra must've ushered Sammy off, because then Dean was alone, bathed in these brilliant purple lights, yet also outlined by a brilliant golden hue. I remember being mesmerized by how it looked, and it could've added a lot of gravitas to the performance… If it wasn't for the fact that Dean was coming on to the audience HARD.

He started out singing a Christmas medley, where he'd point and wink at various people at the front of the audience and do little bits and asides.

"You better watch out… Watch out is right!"

Once the Christmas-y stuff was over, he went heavier on the crowd interaction for his next song That's Amore, and then stopped singing altogether to do some standard crowd work. A classic question is the whole "Hey, where are you from?" bit, and Texas kept popping up.

"…You know what I like about Texas?" Dean asked the crowd.

I could feel in my bones what he was going to say before he said it.

"'Cause Texas girls don't mind a 4 minute ride!"

Oof yeah, there it is…

So I think it's fair to say at this point that Dean Martin's whole shtick in this is that he's a drunk and cartoonishly horny. While this is all eye roll worthy, Drew Anthony had so much charisma that I found him incredibly fun to watch regardless. Quite frankly, he stole the show for me. I understand, however, that writing this all down, it makes him appear like a generic comic relief pervert character… Which he was, but physicality and magnetism goes a long way in making it work.

Dean playfully messes with the musicians before starting to sing again—Volare (Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu) if you were curious—of which he breached containment and went out to the front to shake people's hands. And then he SAT ON A WOMAN'S LAP and (appeared to) take a swig of another audience member's drink before hopping back up.

The reviews weren't lying when they said to watch out if you were sitting in the front row, because DAYUM.

He wrapped up his set, and Sammy would emerge. The concert pianist cleared the way for Sammy to sit and half-play a couple Christmas songs while singing with the trepidation of someone not wanting to wake their parents in the next room.

“Have yourself a muh-muh-merry little Christmaaaauuuus… Make the Yuletide…” He glanced nervously to his right. “…gay-”

The glance was actually pretty funny—a callback to the Marvin Gaye joke.

Becoming "emboldened" by the crowd's support, he'd come to eventually coherently get through a portion of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, and it didn't pay off in my opinion. The whole bit felt like it dragged on too long, even if it was probably far shorter than what I've seen of Dean or Sinatra independently.

To Kyle Diamond's credit, needing to play piano to any degree already puts him above the others in terms of skills required for the role. Plus, I do genuinely believe Kyle can play. So then why not showcase that? What we saw was more like practice session you'd do privately rather than a show-ready number/improvisation.

Once Sammy wrapped up his bit, Frank returns with a rendition of "Come Fly With Me" and raises a glass to us, of which those with drinks raised theirs in return... And who else but Dean comes in from the back of the aisle with a branded Rat Pack is Back apron (tied over his suit) and a small cart?

"Everyone!" He stops the cart next to the stage. "If you want to support the show, do NOT hesitate to come by after to buy some of our lovely merchandise." He reaches in and pulls out various items, "We got hats… We got shirts!"

He turns to another older woman near where he stood in the aisle. "Hey, what's your name, doll?"

"Joan," she giggles.

"Well, Joan, I've got somethin' for ya," Dean brandishes a Rat Pack is Back shirt. "I think you'd look REAL cute wearing this shirt, huh, huh??" He held the shirt up to her while egging her on.

"What a lousy sales pitch," Sinatra muses from the stage. "Say, how many did you even manage to sell so far?"

"Seven!" Dean responds smugly.

"Wait, seven?" He looks around, "I don't see seven shirts around.”

"Well, have you looked behind you?" Dean tilts his head over at the band lining the back of the stage behind Sinatra, and all at once they each playfully raised a shirt from behind their instruments and launched into I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm.

Now, I think it's important to note the absence of a certain song, a very famous Sinatra song and a Christmas classic... That's right, Baby It's Cold Outside. In the back of my head I was wondering if they'd even do it, but I mean, it's an all-male cast, right? So my hopes weren't that high we'd get to see it.

Oh I would, with the help of a young lady Sinatra would introduce as "Santa's Little Helper." She was clad in a skimpy Santa outfit that the members couldn't help but oogle in their own way. Helper was very good at holding her own without stealing the show, making her an ideal helper. (Unfortunately I was not able to find a name.)

Watching the duet between her and Sinatra, I remember her making fun of how in that costume, it's absolutely gonna be hella cold wearing that outside.

So I thought that was the extent of her role in the show, but that was not the case. Sinatra moved to sit on a stool as the band began to play a familiar tune.

Helper stepped off the stage and came to stop in front of an elderly gentleman, stooping down to his eye-level. "Santa Baby, just slip a sable under the tree, for me," She booped his nose and walked on.

Uh-oh.

"Santa baby," She sat down on another guy's lap, "I want a yacht, and really that's not a lot!" She gave him a quick hug and moved on.

She was basically walking up to men near the aisles and doing little bits with them. I was mentally freaking out, because who was sitting by said aisle but my dad and brother? It would be VERY painful to have to see that, my dad especially. He hates that kind of thing and it would absolutely ruin the show for him-

I'd sometimes glance frantically between her and Sinatra on the stage, and he was just chillin' and drinking something. I was decidedly NOT chilling! I'd grow more and more tense as she drew closer, but every time she approached, she'd stop short of our row. An absolute relief!

Once the song ended, she waved as she disappeared backstage to uproarious applause. She'd be replaced by Sammy rolling out a drink cart with a comically large martini glass on it, with Dean not far behind.

"This one's for you," Sammy gestured to Dean, and of course we were all laughing.

Dean reaches into his jacket and pulls out this equally comically large straw.

"My doctor told me to stay away from alcohol.” He explained with a wink, maneuvering it into the glass to take a sip from a distance.

That's it, that was my absolute favorite joke.

The banter that followed was all very reminiscent of that kind of classic vaudevillian humor you'd see in older media, which really made me feel warm and fuzzy as someone who grew up with them. The guys pulling up stools and Sammy's was weirdly short because they got it for "half off" or Dean and Sammy trying to get Sinatra to wear a dumb Santa hat.

The humor often got racier. For example Frank wanted to get a handkerchief from Dean, but you guessed it, it was actually a thong! And then a bra too! It was physically impossible for them both to fit, and yet they did, like a cursed version of the tied-together handkerchief trick.

"…What's this?"

"I don't have the slightest idea! I swear-" Dean stuttered, but then Helper marches in and grabs the panties in a huff before storming out.

"In my defense, the back of my car was really dark!" He called out. Looking off to the side, he wordlessly stashes the bra away as if we wouldn't notice.

They launch into Somebody to Love followed by New York, and something I distinctly remember was Dean pulling up someone's purse and rifling through it to put on some chapstick mid-song.

Much to everyone's chagrin, they announced their last song, which was We Wish You the Merriest, and all three got up to sing it as the credits rolled on the projector.

It was a great closer, and Dean would playfully wave at passersby visible through the glass doors.

The show would end and the lights grew bright again as the cast dispersed, leaving me rather dazed.

Wow, that was it.

Being the way that I am, I couldn't figure out how I felt seeing it after over a year of waiting. It was undoubtedly a very good time, so why?? Why wasn't I as overjoyed as I thought I would be?

My family and I gathered our things and headed towards the exit/entrance doors we came in through earlier. What I didn't realize was that the show wasn't completely over, no, Dean (Drew) was hanging out by the doors after the show in character.

Honestly I wasn't super into the idea of approaching him because I just knew it would put us both in kind of an awkward position. However, my parents knew how much this meant to me, so they did want a picture with him to remember this by.

I prematurely felt bad for him as I approached, because when his whole deal is to be aggressively flirty, it puts him in a weird spot when a young woman of indeterminate age comes up with her family RIGHT THERE.

I was wondering how he'd handle it, and it was by cracking a joke about the situation as we stood for the photo. At least the feeling was mutual.

Looking back, I wish I was able to better appreciate how spot-on Drew looked, because looking up the OG Dean with the coiffed hair, yeah the resemblance was pretty strong.

Afterwards

I'll admit I didn't feel elated like I have with other shows, but that didn't particularly bother me as it wasn't the first time I've felt that way. When I get feverish about something, even if it's really good, nothing can live up to those immense expectations. In those cases, I'd eventually come to appreciate them on their own merits rather than what I was hoping for it to be going in.

However it wasn't the case for this one, and I hate to say that because it WAS an enjoyable show. I'm glad I came and that basically "completed" everything I wanted to see in Vegas, but revisiting my time there for this post, my feelings for it have since grown more complicated.

While I do take issue with the pricing, I can forgive that because it's a production with a lot of live musicians, crew, and multiple tribute artists who work daily. I get it, you need to make the prices higher to keep the lights on, but what I can't ignore is the fact that they gloss over what you miss as a person in "general seating."

Looking at the seating chart and thinking back to all the times the artists interacted with the crowd, all of them were confined to the VIP section. When Santa's Helper sang at people and stopped short of us, it's likely because we were the first row of general admission.

So basically if you want to be interacted with in any way, you needed to pay the VIP pricing. It surprisingly was not that much more expensive at $10 higher than the general pricing, but it just felt very… In bad faith to me, almost insulting. You're telling me that because you don't spend $10 extra on an already expensive ticket, you'll just be ignored?

I mean it worked out for me and my family because we didn't want interaction in the first place, but what about the people who did? There was no disclosure or anything, and audiences deserve to make informed decisions. This opaqueness plagues these "experiences" and unfairly puts paying customers in an antagonistic position for calling it out. ²

I worry I'm being too hard on this show, but the Rat Pack is a classic Vegas institution. It hurts to see them overtaken by the insipid nickel-and-diming we’re seeing all over modern Vegas. It's like nothing is safe anymore, and it sucks.

Another major point of note was the general feel of the show. I didn't want to break the flow attempting to articulate it earlier, so I'll talk about it here:

You know when sitcoms start getting a little weird past a certain point? Even without seeing them at their peak, you can identify that something's off with how characters are flattened (flanderized) and dynamics are exaggerated.

I use sitcoms as an example because I can pretty much map them to this production: Dean is your Urkel/Fonzie breakout character who eclipses the main cast, Sinatra the undisputed leader becomes the tired babysitter, and Sammy gets overshadowed to where I still don't know what he does and I want to know what he does!

However, unlike a sitcom where it happens as a natural (d)evolution, I believe this was a calculated move from the start. A lot of history needs to be crammed into a comparatively short amount of time, all the dynamics and quirks shown and legible to the audience. That requires a certain level of caricature or it risks not being "Rat Pack" enough. It's ultimately a balancing act with no "right" answers.

Regardless of how true it is to the originals, I could buy that the tribute artists were friends, which is what matters to me. Authenticity is important, sure, but it's secondary to whether these people seem like they actually like each other.

Conclusion

This was a hard piece to write because it just left me deeply conflicted. Up until now I've had generally positive experiences, and it was no problem singing their praises, but it's far harder expressing a mixed-to-positive one.

Ultimately, if you like the Rat Pack, you're going to have a GREAT time, but just keep in mind what you're getting!

#show-notes