‘Rat Pack’ show taps into Internet

Small show, big video.

"The Internet is this great equalizer," says Lisa Dawn Miller, co-producer of "Sandy Hackett's Rat Pack Show" at the Riviera. "Nowadays you can't just be a show."

So after Wednesday night's live performance, the audience was to watch the debut of a 10-minute music video for "Mack the Knife," described in a promotional announcement as " 'Glee'-inspired."

The six-week shoot was "a major investment of time, but we had no budget," Miller says. The goal was to create "something unique and different."

The real goal, of course, is to go viral. YouTube already is flooded with footage of nearly every Vegas show, and I've always wondered if it helps or hurts. On one hand, an informed consumer can feel he has cut through the promotional clutter. But it's hard to sort the pro stuff from audience posts, and shaky flip-cam videos tend to flatten and diminish even a spectacular show such as "O."

Anyway, YouTube browsing already kicks up pro-shot promos for both the Hackett "Rat Pack" and its competition, "The Rat Pack is Back" at the Plaza. Will the "Mac" video add anything new?

Miller, who is married to Hackett, says she was encouraged by nearly 50,000 views of a video of their 10-year-old son Oliver singing the "Wicked" anthem "Defying Gravity."

It can't hurt the challenged production to try, given the Riviera's increasingly isolated location and the Hackett show duplicating material with its rival (Miller has been giving depositions in ongoing litigation between the two).

The video was to go up today on sandysratpack.com. ...

The martial arts troupe Sideswipe says it has been paid in full by Jay Bloom, whose Eagle Group Holdings produced the group's show at the Tropicana last winter. Matt Mullins, who heads the troupe, says "our matters are now resolved with Jay." When the show closed last month, Bloom and Mullins had different takes on why. Bloom's camp continues to maintain there was never an issue over back wages.

"We were happy we had the chance to do the show and ultimately we did get paid for what we did," Mullins now says. But he is telling his cast to scatter and "go pick up their lives" elsewhere, rather than moving the show into another Las Vegas venue without marketing support. ...

Veteran show producer John Stuart is nearly clear of an ongoing bankruptcy proceeding. U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Linda Riegle pushed Stuart and his creditors into a settlement conference after testimony cast doubt on the actions of his first attorney, and whether he should have been seeking reorganization instead of liquidation.

A brief hearing last week set a date of May 4 to review settlement agreements between Stuart and his creditors, primarily Arizona-based Mortgage Equities. ...

Spring break-conscious comedian George Wallace is offering college students free tickets to his Flamingo show for the rest of March. No word on whether beer bongs or togas are allowed. ...

And with Whoopi Goldberg at Treasure Island on Friday and the Broadway version of "Sister Act" just starting previews, what better time to add a Whoopi tribute to "Legends in Concert"?

Marva Scott, a veteran impersonator of Donna Summer and Tina Turner, started hosting the show this week as Goldberg. An opening number dresses the whole cast as nuns for "I Will Follow Him."

"It is the goofiest thing you ever laid eyes on," Scott promises. Should Goldberg cross the street?

"She is remiss if she doesn't come out to see us."

Contact reporter Mike Weatherford at mweatherford@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0288.