Atlantic City Weekly

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Don Rickles is one of several performers who have played in Atlantic City from the inception of legalized gambling to today.

I call it, simply, “The List.” I can’t remember how, when or under what circumstances I acquired it, but it’s proven to be an invaluable tool over the past decade.

“The List” contains the names of every headliner that worked Resorts Atlantic City from opening day in 1978 through the end of 1998. So when Atlantic City Weekly editor Jeff Schwachter told me the theme for this week’s special edition was “Then and Now” — looking at the past and comparing it to the present — I immediately consulted “The List.”

It didn’t take long to determine an approach. The answer lay hidden within the hundreds of names on “The List.” So, using the oldest and newest casinos (Resorts and Borgata) as our measuring stick, let’s take a look at entertainment in 1978, when Atlantic City broke Nevada’s monopoly on legal casino gaming, and today, when Atlantic City is one of the many dozens of American cities, towns, hamlets and unincorporated areas (read: Indian reservations) where gaming is just another leisure-time activity.

Then: Of the 28 “name” acts that worked the former Resorts International Hotel Casino during the second half of 1978 — gaming began in late May of that year — I was surprised that, more than 32 years later, 19 of them are still with us, including the grand dame of comedy Phyllis Diller, who’s still cracking wise at 93. Some of the greats have left us, though, including he who went by the moniker “The Great One” — Jackie Gleason — along with “The Great Dane,” comedian and concert pianist Victor Borge, Danny Thomas and one of my personal favorites, comedian Flip Wilson.

Now: I wonder how many of today’s casino headliners and concert attractions — Lady Gaga, Aaron Lewis of Staind, Fergie of the Black Eyed Peas and comedian Lisa Lampanelli — will have the staying power of four members of the Class of ’78 who still rotate in and out of the casinos on a fairly regular basis, like Don Rickles, Bill Cosby, Frankie Valli and Neil Sedaka?

Then: In the early years of the gaming era, catching two shows in one night was not only possible, it was easy. Resorts (and the first few casinos that followed) usually offered shows at 8 and 11:30pm. So seeing a show at Resorts and then moseying on down to the former (Caesars) Boardwalk Regency left plenty of time to enjoy a drink and catch a lounge act in between.

Now: In 1981, former Golden Nugget owner Steve Wynn pretty much forced the state to revise the regulation that required casinos to present some form of main showroom entertainment seven nights a week all year long. Wynn’s contention that allowing the casinos to determine when entertainment should be presented — and not the state — would ultimately lead to more shows in Atlantic City, not less, and he was right. Some casinos began presenting shows on weekends only and saved the full-week gigs for the busier summer months. Others ran fixed-cost revues during the week and saved the stars for weekends. When Borgata opened in 2003, it adopted — with a few exceptions — an entertainment policy built largely on one-night-stands. Instead of presenting the same act for two or three nights, it virtually guaranteed itself a fresh customer turnover each day by presenting two or three different acts in its Music Box and Event Center venues. Today, most of the headliner shows in town are one-nighters.

Then: No “then and now” comparison would be complete without mentioning a price tag. In 1979, when I began speaking to community and civic groups about Atlantic City’s born-again entertainment scene, I regularly got gasps when I pointed out that a night on the town in Atlantic City — dinner and a show — could easily approach $100. In ’78, Resorts occasionally offered dinner shows. For one price — usually $35 to $50 per person, depending on the act — guests could enjoy a prix-fixe meal in the Superstar Theatre and wash it all down with a big-name act without leaving their seats. (While I never had time to sit through an entire dinner show, I wish I had the recipe for the chocolate mousse that a friendly server used to slip me when I came in to catch the show. No way was that a mix!)

Now: One hundred bucks for a night on the town? Chump change; you could spend that, and more, on tips alone today. Two summers ago, when The Eagles tore up the Event Center at Borgata with one of the best casino shows I’ve ever seen, the best seats in the house went for a cool $500 each; the cheap seats were only $195. So let’s say it was date night, and you wanted to impress your lady or your guy. The show alone would have set you back a grand. Dinner for two at chef Michael Mina’s SeaBlue restaurant could easily top $300, especially if you sprung for drinks, appys, the lobster pot pie and the Kobe steak and dessert. (More — a lot more — if the appy was a flight of Beluga caviar.) Then, just to keep the party going after the Eagles show, let’s say you visited mur.mur, the Borgata’s subterranean nightclub. There, bottle service is almost de rigueur and a full bottle of Belvedere vodka is $340. As of right now, you’re all-in for about $1,700.

Oh, don’t forget to save five bucks for parking.

Casual conversations with the stars. Watch the Emmy-winning Curtain Call with David Spatz, Saturdays at 6pm on WMGM-TV NBC40.