Thursday, April 21, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

1955-2005: RIVIERA CELEBRATES 50 YEARS

Hotel has had its ups and downs over the years, yet it has managed to find a way to survive

Liberace was the first entertainer to play the Riviera, earning $50,000 a week. One of his pianos is on display in the casino through May 25. Photo by Isaac Brekken Free cake is served in the Splash Casino. The sweet treat will be available through April 30.

The opening of the Riviera on April 20, 1955, was hailed with the kind of fanfare typical for a new Strip resort.

Liberace played the showroom in spectacular fashion, while Joan Crawford served as hostess, personally mingling with and greeting guests.

Over the years, big stars -- Orson Welles, Mickey Rooney, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and others -- either drew huge crowds with performances in the showroom, or bought a piece of the property. Martin, as well as Harpo and Gummo Marx, each owned shares of the Riviera at varying times.

But, 50 years later, the most remarkable part of the resort's history is not its star power. It's that it's managed to survive at all, says local historian and Community College of Southern Nevada professor Michael Green.

When the $7.5-million resort opened, it was part of a building boom on the Strip, joining the Dunes, New Frontier and the Royal Nevada in vying for a piece of the tourist pie.

But from the beginning, the Riviera faced money and management problems that seemed certain to end its run on the Strip. Still, somehow, it always managed to survive, even thrive. Today, it's considered a strong hotel with solid niche markets, according to Strip experts.

"I think it's safe to say the Riviera has not led a charmed life," Green said. Over the years, "rumors that it would be sold and torn down and made into something else (have persisted). I think its survival is one of the most interesting parts of its story, just because 50 years later it's still there and geographically it's on a part of the Strip that hasn't done as well as the part south of The Mirage."

Throughout the years, management struggled to make the Riviera the top Strip resort, booking headliners such as Sinatra, Martin, George Burns and others. Liberace was hired to open the resort because he appealed to the wives of the gamblers the resort wanted to attract, Green said. In 1969, Martin purchased 10 percent of the Riviera and began performing in his namesake lounge, Dean's Den. He featured Engelbert Humperdinck in his first Las Vegas performance the same year. Variety shows, celebrity tennis tournaments and roasts were hosted at the Riviera. But even a member of the Rat Pack's visibility couldn't give the Riviera the mystique of other hotels.

"It never quite had the pizzazz of the Sands with the Rat Pack," said Hal Rothman, University of Nevada, Las Vegas history professor and an expert on Las Vegas history. "There was never a moment when it was a signature property. It was a good, solid hotel, but it was never the leader of the pack."

Overall, the Riviera is known for several historical firsts. The nine-story hotel was the first Strip property to go vertical and, in retrospect, foreshadowed Strip design, Rothman said.

It was also the first Strip resort to feature a headliner, Liberace, earning a $50,000 weekly paycheck. Previously, he had been drawing $750 a week at another casino. That set the bar for future headliners, Green said. In 1983, it also became the first Strip property to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy, emerging 18 months later. The Riviera was also the first to attempt a real theme, even though it failed miserably in its execution, Green added.

"If you call your hotel the Riviera and simply name your theater the Versailles, it doesn't mean that people will think they're transported to the French Riviera," Green said.

Perhaps its greatest legacy is the production show. The Riviera was the first Strip property to turn from the top and expensive headliners to full-fledged production shows, setting a standard other casinos later followed, Green said. In the mid-1980s, the resort began featuring shows such as "Splash!," "La Cage" and "Crazy Girls," often with well-known acts as part of the shows. All of those shows are still going strong.

"The Riviera got away from the star policy. They were not spending tons of money on the biggest names, and that ultimately helped serve the hotel, I think," Green said.

Today, the Riviera is a hotel "for people who want the traditional gambling, food, entertainment, swimming pool for not a lot of money," Green said.

It has several "very good niches," said Dave Schwartz, coordinator of UNLV's gaming studies and author of "Suburban Xanadu." With its large convention space, the Riviera is the site of hundreds of annual conventions. It also appeals to the more value-oriented customer.