The Entertainment at the Dunes

Entertainment is embedded in the history of the Dunes Hotel & Casino, from its earliest stages of planning. One of the original owners of the property, Alfred Gottesman, was a prolific movie theater entrepreneur active during the Golden Age of Hollywood. Gottesman, alongside partners Joe Sullivan, Milton Gettinger, and Bob Rice, opened the Dunes on May 23, 1955, as a vision of glamour the likes of which was largely unprecedented in Las Vegas prior. Upon opening, the property’s Arabian Room theatre offered two shows: the Magic Carpet Review, featuring an ensemble of over 70 performers—among them, groundbreaking Chinese-American dancer Jadin Wong—and New York-Paris-Paradise, a high-tech production starring Vera-Ellen and John Brascia. Additionally, the Arabian Room’s orchestra was conducted by Jaye Rubanoff, musical director of Los Angeles’ iconic Greek Theater.

Despite this high caliber of entertainment, the Dunes struggled in its first months of operation, seeing a change in ownership that included entrepreneurs such as Jack Entratter and Major Riddle. During these early periods of transition, entertainment offerings at the property were often scaled back or cut altogether. Under the ownership of Riddle, which began in 1956, the Dunes turned heads with its production of Minsky Goes to Paris (later, Minsky’s Follies), the first show in Las Vegas to feature topless performers.

Subsequent shows followed in the headline-generating tradition of Minsky’s, including the Jayne Mansfield-starring House of Love in 1961 and Casino de Paris in 1963, the latter representing an estimated $1 million investment from Dunes owners and investors. An import from Paris, Casino de Paris starred Line Renaud, star of the original production, and a cast of over 100 performers all singing and dancing atop a moving, sci-fi-inspired “Octuramic” stage. Renaud split her time between both productions of Casino de Paris in her native Paris and her adopted home of Las Vegas, often performing two to three times per night throughout the week. Renaud’s popularity in Las Vegas introduced her talents to new audiences in an emerging entertainment capital of the world, while her performances in Paris helped popularize the glitz and grandiosity of Las Vegas abroad.