SILVER SLIPPER
Casinos come and go leaving behind a rich history of showbusiness.
Casinos come and go leaving behind a rich history of showbusiness.
The Silver Slipper opened in September 1950 and closed its doors November 29, 1988.
The casino was built on the grounds of the Last Frontier Village of the Hotel Last Frontier, and was originally named the Golden Slipper Saloon and Gambling Hall. The owner originally wanted to call it the Silver Slipper, but there already was an existing establishment with that name. The problem was solved when that small operation was purchased and closed, and the Golden Slipper became the Silver Slipper. The casino was known for its rotating slipper that sat atop the casino.
On April 30, 1968, the Silver Slipper was purchased by billionaire Howard Hughes for $5.4 million in his famous spending spree of buying Vegas properties, which included the Frontier next door. Legend has it that he purchased the casino because the lights from the rotating slipper bothered him. This was a time when Mr. Hughes feared for his safety, and because the toe of the slipper always stopped and faced the window of his Desert Inn penthouse before rotating again, he feared a camera could be planted in the toe either by the government or someone else. After several attempts at requesting that the slipper be turned off, Hughes purchased the casino, had the slipper filled with concrete and dismantled the rotating mechanism.
The casino was purchased for $70 million in 1988 by Margaret Elardi, who by this time owned the Frontier. It was demolished several months later and turned into a parking lot.
The showroom in ths Silver Slipper was called the Gaiety Theater
Harold Minsky and The Minsky family became synonymous with burlesque in the first decades of the twentieth century. Harold brought the lavish production show "Follies" to Las Vegas for a six-year run at the Dunes beginning in 1957. Subsequently, he moved productions into other landmark casinos such as the Silver Slipper
Producer Barry Ashton opened a revue show called THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF BURLESQUE. Showtimes where 10pm and 12.30 am with three shows on Saturdays ( the third how at 2.45 am !! ) Tickets where a whopping $3.95 later the cover charge was dropped for free admission
In 1977 with a clever title making a play on the established Burlesque theme the Silver Slipper had embraced a new show called Boylesque opened.
Starring Vegas legend Kenny Kerr as "Mr. Barbra Streisand, Mr. Marlene Dietrich, Mr. Carol Channing, and Mr. Diana Ross." The show set a new standard for female impersonation productions, and soon becomes a Las Vegas institution.
Herb Kaufman -- then the owner of Wonder World discount stores -- decided to bankroll the Silver Slipper operation.The low-dough ($3.95) cabaret revue became a secret for Las Vegans to share with out-of-town visitors.
"We turned it into a locals hangout," Kerr says, "and sold out three shows a night."
By the early 1990s when the Silver Slipper was no more Kerr and his company of female impressionists moved across the street to the Sahara Congo Room
Boylesque paved the way for the hugely successful la cage at the Riviera staring Frank Marino and Kerr -- who made no secret of his dislike of Marino once said "I'm considered the innovator and he's considered the imitator."
If you have any information about the history of entertainment at this property please do contact us, we aim to update this section of the site as frequently as possible so that we can ensure as accurate as possible correct historic information.
| Hotel Name : | THIS HOTEL IN NO LONGER STANDING |
| Address : | Las Vegas Blvd |
| City/Region : | Las Vegas |
| State : | Nevada |
| Zipcode : | 89103 |
