Saturday, July 17, 2010

Ricci Martin


A few weeks ago I put up a few pics taken on my vacation in Las Vegas with my Mom. We saw three shows while we were there, but only one of them I quite liked, the other two I found a bit disappointing. These were smaller shows, not featuring the big name headliners. Although in my opinion, Vegas headliners sure aren't what they used to be, as I really had no great inclination to see any of the name performers who are currently playing there. I sure do wish I'd seen Vegas back in the day when Frank, Dean, Sammy and all of their contemporaries held court. I reckon I was born too late.

Ironically, though, just several days after returning home from vacation, Mom and I went to see an entertainer at Mississauga's Stage West dinner theatre that would be a terrific choice to see headlining a show in Vegas. Ricci Martin is the son of Dean Martin, and for a few years now he has been doing a really lovely tribute to his famous Dad on stage, singing many of Dean's big hits accompanied by a small band. Don't misunderstand, though, as he's not attempting to impersonate his Dad in any way, like you see in those Rat Pack tribute shows. Ricci is blessed with a fine singing voice that is uniquely his own, and so his interpretations of Dean's songs are not trying to compete with his memory.

This was the third time that Ricci had performed here, and so I've also gotten to know Tony Busseri of ARB Productions who is the fellow who has brought in not only Ricci Martin, but other terrific performers I've gotten to see like Bobby Rydell and the legendary Al Martino. Thanks to the generosity of Tony and his business partner Stan, I was able to go backstage after the show to present Ricci with the caricature I did last year of his Dad. I know Ricci was quite thrilled with the gift and was kind enough to pose with me for a photo. We were able to chat for awhile about Dean, Frank and that Golden Age of entertainment that I love so well. I really hope Ricci will come back to perform for us again here in Mississauga, and I heartily recommend his show if he plays in your area too!

7 comments:

Steven M. said...

I hope he comes to New Jersey.

Bãpp said...

congrats Pete,
jan :)

Eric Noble said...

That's a wonderful story. Now I want to see Ricci Martin in concert. It must have been nice for him to know that there are still people out there who appreciate the greats like Dino and Frankie.

dino martin peters said...

Hey pallie, likes how cool Mr. Peter that you were able to meet and greet our Dino's boypallie Ricci and present him with you great 'toon of our great man!

Pete Emslie said...

Hey Dino!
I just noticed that you linked back to this post on your own blog. Much thanks! Yes, it was great to meet Ricci and see him in concert here again. By the way, here's some trivia for you. The day I headed out to Las Vegas for my first visit there, it was on June 7th, which coincidentally is Dean Martin's birthday! I didn't plan that, but it was a neat surprise when I found out after my flight was booked.

dino martin peters said...

Hey pallie, man you are most welcome Mr. Pete...just calls it part of true Dino-palliedom....what Dino-magic that you jetted to our Dino's playground on our Dino's date of birth....truly Dino-inspired!

Jojobean said...

I took this photo for you! ;-)