This is my 40th year and 5th decade writing about Las Vegas. During the entire span the city has been referred to as "the entertainment capital of the world." Making a rare drive along the famed Strip the other night, I started wondering it the phrase meant the same today as it did when it was first coined.
I don't think so.
The entertainment of the bygone Las Vegas was the entertainers, the names on all the hotel marquees that are virtually gone today. Names such as Frank, Sammy, Dean and Joey, or Anthony Newley, Juliet Prowse, Joel Grey, Shecky Greene or Johnny Carson. The headliners and co-headliners performed two-shows-a-night, seven-nights-a-week for two, three or sometimes four weeks at a time. They started exactly at 8PM and midnight with a dinner and drink show, respectively. There were lines weaving through the casino prior to the performance with your reservation guaranteed, but your seat location depended on the toke you gave the maitre d' or captain seating you. It was part of the Las Vegas excitement that old-timers miss.
