The Casino File By Chuck Darrow
For the first couple decades of Atlantic City’s legal-gaming era, Caesars Atlantic City was an entertainment flagship, constantly hosting many of the top stars of the day, among them Tony Bennett, Bill Cosby, Joan Rivers and Jerry Seinfeld, as well as the world premiere of Barry Manilow’s book musical, “Copacabana.” More recently, however, it has ceded that status to Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City, Ocean Casino Resort and Borgata Hotel, Casino & Spa.
And while the 47-year-old, midtown adult playpen doesn’t necessarily have the facilities to compete with those properties, an upgrade is definitely in the works, according to its recently appointed general manager and senior vice-president
“When you think of Caesars Palace [in Las Vegas], it’s still an entertainment-driven, highly engaged property. When you think of Caesars Atlantic City, it has to be in a similar vein. And I think you’ll see that coming down the pike,” declared Jacob Witmer, the Galloway Twp. native who is now running the show there, during a recent sit-down. “When you look at competing in a market like Atlantic City, entertainment is huge. So, we have to get back into building entertainment that caters to our customers. We’re going to start competing [for acts]. We don’t see ourselves taking our foot off the gas anytime soon.”
Witmer, whose resume includes positions at what is now Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City (where he began his gaming-industry career as a poker dealer), Ocean, Horseshoe Casino in Baltimore, Caesars Entertainment corporate, Parx Casino in Bensalem, Pa. and a stint in Florida with slot-machine manufacturer AC Coin & Slot, declined to get into specific names he hopes to lure to the gaming hall’s 1,500-seat Circus Maximus theater (affectionately know as “C-Max” among casino employees). But he made it clear that he and his team — with the blessings of Caesars Entertainment Regional President Barron Fuller and corporate chief Anthony Carano, whose family sits atop the Caesars Entertainment gaming empire — are ready to rumble when it comes to acquiring talent.
“One of the scary things about me is that I’m not afraid to throw punches,” warned Witmer, whose humor-inflected, shoot-from-the-hip style is a refreshing change from the many conservative, corporate automatons who populate casino C-suites across the country.
Witmer suggested that one way for his casino to up its showbiz game is to leverage the buying power of his corporate parent. “We’ve never really leaned into that,” he noted. “When you look at the Coliseum [the showplace at Caesars Palace that helped pioneer the megastar casino residency concept] and then you look at the 50-55 properties we have, we can leverage different things with artists.”
A new look at ‘The Hook’
Witmer is particularly high on “The Hook,” the almost-three-year-old, adults-only program that is AyCee’s first and only, year-round resident production show (it’s also the name of the multi-million-dollar venue constructed to house the presentation). As such he expects it to be a key to Caesars success as an entertainment destination.
“‘The Hook’ is a hidden gem,” he said of the program that has evolved into more of a variety show after starting out as a comedic raunch-fest. “I think a lot of people don’t realize that there’s a lot of talent rotating through there.
“‘The Hook’ is a great entertainment experience. You go in there one day and it’s one show, and a couple weeks later, they make a slight change, whether it’s an act or whether it’s a twist [in the script]. I think there are a lot of people in the South Jersey area that don’t really know what they’re missing, but it’s a really fun show. It’s immersive. It’s just a great experience.”
Perhaps the biggest twist of all was Witmer’s announcement that on April 23, the venue will host comedian-podcaster Josh Adam Meyers (tickets available at ticketmaster.com). The booking represents the first time something other than a performance of “The Hook” will be presented in the room. It’s assumed that if it proves to be successful, there will be more such events there, providing the casino a venue for acts not quite popular enough to headline the big room.
“It’s a really fun, creative way for us to use the space and to see if there’s an appetite for a little bit of a different experience,” he reasoned.
Back to the beach
Also on Witmer’s to-do list is the warm-weather opening of what will be known as the Caesars Beach Club. The debut of the al fresco saloon will mark the casino’s return to the beach-bar concept after some 20 years.
Getting ‘aggressive’
The bottom line is that Caesars — which, over the past few years has seen almost a quarter-billion-dollars’ worth of additions including The Hook theater and the ultra-swank Nobu Hotel-within-a-hotel, and capital improvements like standard-room renovations — is ready to reclaim its former status as a top-tier Atlantic City property.
“The reason why you’re going to see all these changes is that this is a far more aggressive management team,” Witmer insisted. “We’re not taking that laid-back approach. We love this property; we love what we do.
Chuck Darrow has spent more than 40 years writing about Atlantic City casinos.
