'Rat Pack Show' brings classic '60s icons alive

<p>LAKELAND — During the early- to mid-1960s, The Rat Pack was known as an informal entourage of actors, comedians and singers assembled under a name that still elicits a timeless aura of toasts, roasts, song and spirits. </p><p>The core group was made up of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and Joey Bishop, and they brought their act up and down the Las Vegas strip, namely the Sands Hotel and Casino. </p><p>Although Bishop, the last Rat Pack member, died in 2007, the kindred stylishness of the "Kings of Cool" lives on. </p><p>At 6:30 p.m., Feb. 23, in The Lakeland Center, the Pack comes alive when "Sandy Hackett's Rat Pack Show" bring the suaveness of the early sixties to those who lived the time and to those who experienced the era through reflections of their parents, grandparents or maybe episodes of TV's "Mad Men." </p><p>Sandy Hackett is the son of late legendary comedian Buddy Hackett and plays the role of Joey Bishop in the current show. His wife, Lisa Dawn Miller, also produces and plays the role of Ava Gardner, the actress and singer who was Sinatra's wife from 1951 to 1957. Sandy Hackett is also the daughter of late legendary Motown songwriter Ron Miller, who composed several songs for the show.</p><p>From Los Angeles, Hackett, who made his first television appearance on "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In" at 11-years-old, said the "Rat Pack Show" is the "next best way to see the actual 'Rat Pack' in person." He said the current version of his Rat Pack show began in 2009, was re-launched with Miller and has since been performing about 100 shows per year around the United States and Canada, with 17 "holiday versions" of the show produced in Dec. 2015. </p><p>Miller's father, the late songwriter Ron Miller, wrote many of the songs Sinatra, Martin and Davis recorded, including the hit “For Once in My Life," made famous by an uptempo Stevie Wonder recording in 1968. </p><p>Bishop was an entertainer who appeared on television as early as 1948 and went on to star in his own weekly comedy series playing a talk show host, "The Joey Bishop Show." Hackett said the 1998 HBO movie "The Rat Pack" special prompted he and Miller to create a show where he'd be able to play Bishop's role and Bishop, who died in 2007, had asked Hackett, Bishop's friend, to be the one to portray him.</p><p>"I couldn't be more honored. Before he passed away, he's calling me saying 'You'd be great to play me.' It couldn't get any more complimentary than that," said Hackett, who hosts his own podcast and resides with his wife and two children in Los Angeles. </p><p>During the Rat Pack shows throughout the year, various actors play other Pack members. For the Lakeland show, besides himself as Bishop, Hackett said Kenny Jones would be Davis, Tom Wallek portrays Martin and Angelo Babbaro takes the stage as Sinatra. He said each of them specializes in the nuances of the real Rat Pack members — the debonair aura of Martin, the hip sweetness of Davis and the straightforward sincerity of Sinatra. The show, he added, is a literal trip back into time.</p><p>"We take you back to 1960, but we also keep it current, relevant," he said. "We have all the gang in there and no other show I know of has the character of Joey Bishop in it." </p><p>Hackett said although the aura of the act comes from over 50 years back, he's noticed an appeal and appreciation for it from even the 18- to 20-year-old crowd. He said he sometimes asks them, "Did your parents make you go?" and the parents would say, "No, they brought us!"</p><p>And that's part of the "universal appeal" The Lakeland Center administration is looking for when deciding on what acts to book, said Erica Smith, marketing director. She said this show has varying elements, from comedy, to singing, musical performance to style.</p><p>"It's not just pure impressionism; it's also representative of the performances and personas of the Rat Pack," she said.</p><p>— Paul Catala can be reached at paul.catala@theledger.com or 863-802-7533. He can be reached at Twitter @pcat0226.</p>