Story by Lynn Goya   
Photography courtesy of Phyllis McGuire Productions Inc.

And although I wouldn’t exchange what Las Vegas has become, there is something to be said about the era of the “Old Las Vegas.” The live performances, the camaraderie and respect between entertainers, and everybody had what we called “their stall.”When you came to Las Vegas, you always knew that Frank, Dean and Sammy were at the Sands, Jack Benny was at the Flamingo, Andy Williams was at Caesars Palace, Jimmy Durante or The McGuire Sisters would be appearing at the Desert Inn, and on and on.

Whatever you saw, whatever you heard was pure and it was real, no gimmicks. We didn’t have synthesizers, but live musicians. There were no pre-recorded songs, so if you danced, you were out of breath, but you still sang. Everything was straight out and straight on. I am not criticizing technology, but there was something to be said about just getting out there and doing it!

There was such spontaneity in all of the performances. It was not unusual for all of us to do our shows and then run out to catch the other acts. When the Ratpack got on stage, you never knew when the show was going to end and it didn’t matter because the performance was hilarious.

In those days, my sisters and I had the opportunity to work alongside the greats of our industry such as Danny Thomas, Ed Sullivan, Steve Allen, Red Skelton, George Burns, Johnny Carson, Bob Hope, etc. Everyone cared for each other. Whenever a colleague got sick, we would automatically fi ll in. We would fi nish the engagement and it was simple. It was one big happy family. That’s just the way it was done in those days.

This is my home and has been since the ’60s. I loved it then, even more so now, and I actually feel like a self-appointed ambassador for this exciting city. We must always have newcomers, old-timers and everything else in-between. Variety entertainment is, in my opinion, the key to the most fabulous city of all!