At last, ‘Rat Pack’ show rivals reach truce

More than two years of litigation and acrimony, and it all boiled down to a joke about virgins?

That plus $100,000. But the long feud between rival “Rat Pack” shows has produced a legal settlement, and it may be the first such settlement to stipulate use of “The Plaque to Virgins Joke.”

Former partners Dick Feeney and Sandy Hackett put their countersuits to rest, with Hackett agreeing to pay $100,000 to Feeney and Arthur Petrie’s TRP Entertainment. The agreement does not restrict either side from doing “Rat Pack” tributes to Frank Sinatra and his pallies, but does prohibit the two producers from disparaging one another.

Feeney’s “The Rat Pack is Back” now runs in the Crown Theater at the Rio, while “Sandy Hackett’s Rat Pack Show” is now on tour, as well as doing one show each Tuesday at the Shimmer Cabaret in the Las Vegas Hotel (formerly the Hilton).

The litigation started about the time Hackett launched his show in late 2009 to compete with Feeney’s version, in which he was a partner and performer before the blowup.

Hackett’s lawsuit alleged that Feeney continued to use material he wrote and copyrighted. He also argued Feeney’s “bitter campaign” against Hackett’s wife and business partner, Lisa Dawn Miller, pushed the couple to the brink of divorce and caused Hackett to sell his share of the production for $40,000.

The case never made it to open court. But that Hackett is the one paying to settle suggests his case had been weakened in the deposition phase.

Feeney’s side prepared a PowerPoint presentation that broke down “The Rat Pack is Back” script line by line, in an attempt to illustrate most of the jokes were used by the real Frank Sinatra and company and/or were in the public domain, or were in a version of the show produced by entertainer David Cassidy before Hackett was involved.

After the falling out, “I took out anything that was a possibility (Hackett) wrote or if I didn’t know where it came from,” Feeney says. Because the premise and the songs are nearly identical, “There’s a perception they are more similar than they are.”

In the nonduplication part of the agreement, Feeney agreed not to use five specific bits. Of those, only a squirt gun gag was still in the show by the summer of 2010.

Feeney says Hackett is the one who stipulated the virgins joke, which — because I know you’re curious by now — goes something like this: God decides to send all virgins a plaque that would spare them from end times. Upon which, the Joey Bishop character singles out a woman on the front row and asks, “You didn’t get yours?”

The nondisparagement clause raises the issue of whether the producers will have their hands tied in touting their respective shows as the better one for people to see. “I don’t have to promote my show by comparing it to their show,” Feeney says.

“I’m just happy to be done with this and move on with my life,” Hackett says. “It’s time to move on.”

Hackett’s future at the former Hilton is in the air with the property amid foreclosure, and questions of what new management will want. “I think you give them every opportunity to want to do business with you until they decide either they do or they don’t,” he says. “I’m faithful and confident in our product. … Hopefully they will want to keep us.” …

The comedian-producer who brought stand-up to the Palms for eight years is relocating to Paris Las Vegas, where a weekend comedy shop will operate under the name Empire Comedy in Napoleon’s Lounge.

Cort McCown says the new home of the former Playboy Comedy will focus on comedians who are more famous, or at least more familiar, than those who work largely anonymously in club-formatted rooms.

“We’re coming out swinging. Most of these guys play bigger places,” he says of the 200-seat venture that launches Feb. 9 with Harland Williams, followed by Chris Franjola and Robert Kelly on the next two weekends.

McCown says he was happy during the years that George Maloof called the shots at the Palms, and he follows former Palms executive Jason Gastwirth to Caesars Entertainment Corp., where Gastwirth is now a vice president.

Paris offers two obvious advantages: It’s on the Strip — eliminating cab rides that rivaled the cost of admission for tourists — and “the room isn’t used for 50 different things,” allowing the comedy to be more strongly branded in Napoleon’s. …

Impressionist Frank Caliendo gave up on being a year-round Las Vegas headliner last year, citing the commute to his family in Arizona as being too problematic. But he returns as a visiting headliner for a few dates at The Venetian starting March 22. …

If you only read this R-J column for entertainment news, I’m flattered. But you might have missed the Jan. 21 news of the death of well-liked show producer Bill Moore.

Moore’s relatives have since picked Feb. 14 for a memorial service but were still trying to figure out how to balance Moore’s wishes against a big memorial with the growing number of people who want one.

So if you’re interested, contact Sheila Hood at sheilahood2@btinternet.com. One thing that is definitive is Moore’s wish that any financial contributions in his name be made to the Golden Rainbow organization.

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