Vegas Magazine - Niche Media - There is a place beyond the crowds, beyond the ropes, where dreams are realized and success is celebrated. You are invited.
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photography Courtesy of the Las Vegas News Bureau When it celebrated its grand public debut the weekend of August 5, 1966, Jay Sarno's $25 million Caesars Palace was the most expensive casino ever built. How fitting, then, that the festivities would feature all sorts of over- the-top performers, including f laxen-haired Cleopat ras and an army of Roman soldiers. And at the center of it all was Sarno himself, shown here piloting a chariot, accompanied by French singer Line Renaud. But the property's shiny veneer masked a host of preopening problems. The most stubborn of all, a nationwide airline strike that had severely dis- rupted commercial f light traffic, threatened to limit the number of deep- pocketed out-of-towners and celebrities who would give Sarno's ambitious venture the kind of patronage—and press attention—it required for success. The resort's interiors, meanwhile, remained in a state of design purgatory, with carpeting and plumbing uninstalled and furnishings sitting idle in storage facilities and empty parking lots. Nevertheless, thousands of guests—nearly 2,000 of them "patricians" who had received personalized scrolls delivered to their doorsteps by armored centurions—streamed into the venue ready to partake in all manner of bac- chanalian revelry. VIPs were greeted at McCarran Airport by chorus girls in thigh-grazing togas and escorted to the main event, a dinner where guests consumed an estimated t wo tons of filet mig non and more than 50,0 0 0 glasses of Champagne. "Eight Roman soldiers heralded the opening curtain, which was more than an hour late going up," reported the Las Vegas Sun. "A stage full of swinging Cleopatras gyrated to modern rhythm. Some chorus girls wore see-through beaded costumes, but nudes were noticeably absent from the production." Instead, Andy Williams entertained the massive crowd, which included celebrities such as freshly minted Batman star Adam West, Ed Sullivan, Maureen O'Hara, and Frank Sinat ra, as Caesars' launch set a precedent for modern Vegas hotel openings and ushered in a new era of Strip-facing megaresorts. When in Rome! V Hail, Caesar! The opening of jay sarno's opulenT roman palace in The deserT included charioTs, goddesses, and some of The counTry's highesT rollers. by tess eyrich Of the $25 million that Jay Sarno (seen here with French singer Line Renaud) spent to build Caesars Palace, $1 million reportedly went to the three- day opening celebration. 10 vegasmagazine.com FRONT RUNNER