'The Rat Pack' plays Gateway Playhouse

Gateway Playhouse takes a chance by presenting just the second summer show in its 62-year history that wasn't created in-house. But producer Paul Allan doesn't regard this as a gamble. Direct from Las Vegas, "The Rat Pack Is Back!" makes its Long Island debut with Friday night's official opening following three previews.

In 14 years and 5,000 performances, "Rat Pack" -- a re-creation of the legendary 1960s Sand Hotel "summit" performances by Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and Joey Bishop -- has sold more than 1.5 million tickets. That doesn't include tours, such as the one playing in Bellport through July 14, that have taken "Rat Pack" to 40 states and three countries.

The only question, says Allan, was "Which 'Rat Pack?' "

The Gateway producer found there are competing touring shows, including one produced by a former member of the Vegas cast. Rather than booking a "Rat Pack tribute," Allan said he decided to go for "the real thing," still playing at the Rio Hotel near the Vegas Strip.

"Rat Pack" producer Dick Feeney says of his show: "You can relive the glory days of Vegas, when Frank, Sammy, Joey and Dean reigned supreme as kings of cool." (Actor Peter Lawford was another Rat Pack compadre, but he was no song-and-dance man. So he didn't join the Sands act. Bishop, the last of the Rat Packers, died in 2007.)

Among the songs from the Sands you'll hear in "Rat Pack," are Martin's "That's Amoré," "That Old Black Magic," one of Davis' signatures, and several Sinatra favorites, among them "Luck Be a Lady" and "The Lady Is a Tramp." While Bishop joined in the Pack's big-finish choruses, he mostly supplied the show's laughs.

At the Sands, the quartet was accompanied by the Count Basie Orchestra. Gateway brings back the big-band sound with Long Island's 15-piece Black Tie Affair.

The only previous show Gateway imported for its summer season was a circus, 2007's "Cirque Dreams: Jungle Fantasy" -- also from Vegas.