The Casino File
By Chuck Darrow
Once upon a time, when Atlantic City was the only place outside Nevada with legal casinos, thousands would ride chartered buses here for a day of gambling and related activities, from dining to, when the weather permitted, strolling the Boardwalk.
Also high on bus-riders’ to-do lists was taking in a matinee performance at their casino of choice. Tickets to what were usually variety-type production shows or turns by second-and-third-tier headliners (including the legendary Charlie Prose, whose pre-Internet mailing list reportedly boasted tens of thousands of names) were often included in the cost of the bus ride, as were, depending on the deal, food comps or discounts and rolls of coins for slot play.
The legalization of casinos in neighboring states starting in 2006 marked the beginning of the end of the era when buses accounted for more than 30 million annual visits to Our Town.
While the number of bus trips today doesn’t come anywhere near that, they still exist and originate from points scattered throughout the region. And thanks to these excursions, one gaming hall has kept alive the daytime-entertainment tradition.
Tropicana Atlantic City, in conjunction with charter bus lines including Palladin Tours, has been staging matinees in its theater for the past decade or so, but over the past few years, they have become a more important part of the Trop’s marketing strategy. There have already been five such presentations this year, with 11 more on the books between now and December.
At this point, the Trop is the only local gambling den offering midweek, daytime performances. The attractions vary, but are generally keyed to the bus riders, who tend to be older than weekend visitors. But all shows are open to the public. Not surprisingly, tribute acts are a key element and account for many of the bookings: The upcoming talent roster includes performers paying homage to Elton John, Tony Bennett and Cher, among others. However, the most noteworthy booking is that of beloved TV sitcom star, Tony Danza, who’s due Nov. 13.
The matinee concept “really brings amazing energy on property,” offered Joseph Giunta, the Trop’s senior vice-president and general manager. “It gives our customers something more to do during the day. It’s a little added value.
“You can’t find a better spot to do something like a matinee because we have so much happening here. There’s The Quarter [the Havana-in-the-1950s-themed retail, dining and entertainment complex] and The Marketplace [a casual-dining food court on the Boardwalk level].”
As such, reasoned Giunta, the shows are a perfect complement to his casino’s operations.
“We’re pretty much all-in [on matinees] now,” he said. “It’s just a great, great bit of business for us.”
The Tropicana matinee schedule:
- April 24: Bennie & The Jets (Elton John tribute)
- May 29: The Tony Bennett Songbook
- June 26: The Bronx Wanderers (early rock tribute)
- June 30: The Songs of Smokey Robinson
- Aug. 28: The Doo Wop Project
- Sept. 25: Stayin’ Alive (Bee Gees tribute)
- Sept. 29: Country Jukebox
- Oct. 23: The Jersey Tenors
- Nov. 13: Tony Danza: Standards and Stories
- Nov. 17: Blockbuster Broadway
- Dec. 4: Dance to the Holidays
For info and tickets, go to caesars.com/tropicana-ac/shows
S&G tribute a hit at Ocean
I am grateful to Mrs. Casino File for suggesting we check out “The Simon & Garfunkel Story” last Friday at Ocean Casino Resort. It turned out to be a wonderful 90 minutes of music–and musical history.
Unlike the overwhelming majority of tribute shows, the scripted program wasn’t a mere recital; it also included a fairly deep dive into the lives and careers—together and separately–of the two native New Yorkers who collectively rank among the most successful and beloved acts in pop music history. Interestingly, there are multiple productions running simultaneously in North America and overseas, making this more of a theatrical affair than a concert.
The two principals at Ocean (Jonah Bobo as Paul Simon and Brendan Jacob Smith as Art Garfunkel) were quite impressive, with Bobo’s facility as an acoustic-guitar fingerpicker and Smith’s near-perfect recreations of Garfunkel’s tenor harmonies especially noteworthy. Backed by a versatile trio (bass, drums and a guitarist-keyboardist), the pair ably and accurately surveyed the breadth and width of S&G’s sonic legacy, from iconic signatures (“The Sound of Silence,” “Scarborough Fair,” “Mrs. Robinson,” “The Boxer,” “Bridge Over Troubled Waters”) to deeper tracks like the 1960s protest song, “He Was My Brother” (inspired by the murder of Simon’s college friend, Andrew Goodman, one of three civil rights “Freedom Riders” murdered by Ku Klux Klansmen in Mississippi in 1964) and “For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her.”
A video presentation chock-full of archival film clips from the 1960s enhanced the show’s historic aspects.
The individual elements added up to a delightfully entertaining evening. Here’s hoping “The Simon & Garfunkel Story” returns to Atlantic City in the not-too-distant future.
Chuck Darrow has spent more than 40 years writing about Atlantic City casinos.
