During the Glick/Rosenthal regime at the Stardust, in 1977, the hotel underwent a renovation.  The galactic theme was abandoned though according to Alan Hess "the roadside sign remained, and the facade was covered with animated red and blue neon tubing and trimmed with mirrored finish facets."

A new porte-cochere was built and illuminated with a thousand small incandescent bulbs. This trend would continue when the Sands updated their porte-cochere as well.

The interior was modernized, too.  

Bobby Berosini and his Orangutans were hired to replace Siegfried and Roy in the Lido show.  His act consisted of three orangutans and two chimpanzees.  Like Siegfried and Roy, he had prominent billing on the marquee and on the show programs.  According to Rinella and Weatherford, the "little primates brought an air of levity and, some say, much needed comic relief to the show."

Berosini, who had been born Bohumil Gerousek in Czechoslovakia, came from a family of circus performers.  He had trained his primates and included gestures designed "to poke fun at their human audience as well as Berosini himself."

"You have to make sure everything they do is perceived as fun, not work and never give them a task to perform that they will come to resent after awhile." Berosini told Las Vegas Review Journal's Pete Mikla shortly after joining the Lido.

Outdoors, there were four tennis courts open daily from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.  There was no fee and the entrance was located near the Camperland RV park.  You could rent a racquet for $1.00.

When Rosenthal was finally banned from the casino and the Boyds took over, Scotty Schletter became the manager of the Race and Sports Book. 

In 1988, the Boyds spent $50 million renovating the interior of the hotel.  In 1991, they added the 32-story purple tower "which were very modern rooms at the time."  The old garden-style rooms were still on the property and history buffs loved walking around the hotel looking for remnants of the Royal Nevada and pieces of the original Stardust building.

Berosini and his orangutans reinvigorated the Lido Show.  Unfortunately, a video was released that showed Berosini beating one of the orangutans.  Berosini claimed that the tape had been doctored but it led the nightly news for weeks.  People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sued Berosini over his treatment of the animals.  Berosini ended up leaving the Lido due to all the bad publicity.

By the early 1990s, the Lido show had been running for almost thirty years and was losing its edge.  Over the years there had been a few mishaps on stage.  In one of the versions of the Lido,  showgirls and dancers paraded on stage in medieval costumes and then would go sit in a box with other cast members.  Two male performers would then appear on horseback to entertain the cast members in the box.  One night there was a replacement for one of the horses.  The horse was to run around a partition on the stage.  This particular night the horse slipped on the concrete backstage.  There was a long table in the showroom, perpendicular to the stage.  "It plowed into the table.  It got to the end of the table and stood up.  Then the horse ran up the center aisle." (Source, showgirl Rena Warden).

On another night, a performer named Gloria Tiffany rode down from the rafters on a large disc.  She slid off the disc and onto a guest table.  A guest was hurt and so was Tiffany.  According to Warden, "You could see an imprint of a Stardust ashtray on her thigh.  You could see the little part where the cigarette goes." 

The Boyds decided that it was time to bring an era to an end.  The Lido had its final performance on February 28th, 1991.  In its place would be a new show for a new audience, "Enter the Night".  Boyd executive Robert Boughner explained the plans for the new revue to journalist Michael Paskevich:

"It's not going to look like the old typical burlesque or vaudeville format where it's production number, curtain act, production number, curtain act."

Ted Lorenz, a newcomer to the Las Vegas Strip, sold Boyd on the idea of a showgirl revue with a Broadway sensibility.  Lip synching was out and headset mics were in.  "We're committed to real singers, singing real songs and real dancers dancing." he told the Las Vegas Review Journal (Source, "The Stardust of Yesterday")

"Enter the Night" had a 62 member cast and cost $10 million.  It required a complete overhaul of the showroom's lighting and sound system as well as new upholstery for the booths.  It's one link to the Lido past, it included Bobby Berosini and his performing orangutans. 

The show opened in August 1991 to mixed reviews.  Reporter Paskevich "found it an awkward mix.  By updating the production show genre with Broadway style theatrics, producer Ted Lorenz and company have come up with the best show of the year." (Source, "The Stardust of Yesteryear")  The awkwardness came from Berosini.  His act "just doesn't mesh with the contemporary, stylized look of the rest of the show.  Depending upon your viewpoint, Berosini and his furry buddies either lift the affair with welcome humor or nearly wreck it in a 27-minute tour de force of bad taste."  (Source, "The Stardust of Yesterday").

Berosini left the show over the furor created by animal rights activists.

Also in 1991, in a marketing idea that left mid-century modern fans, neon fans and Classic Las Vegas fans scratching their heads, the Jetson Space Age lettering on the roadside sign, letters that had been a part of the hotel's signature since it had opened over thirty years earlier, was replaced by a bland Helvetica script.

The hotel had over 100,000 square feet of casino space that included 73 gaming tables, 1,950 slot, keno and video poker machines.  The Race and Sports Book was still a popular destination for bettors.  It now included over 2,100 guest rooms, two landscaped swimming pools (one the original Royal Nevada pool), an athletic club and a shopping mall that included Ethel M's Chocolates, Marshall Russo's as well as a beauty and barber shop. 

The Convention Center was 2,500 square feet and could accommodate meetings, conferences and dinners for up to 2,000 people.  The Old-Timers Annual Dinner was held there, celebrating Las Vegans who had lived in town for more than 30 years.

In 1993, long-time Las Vegan Sam Boyd died.  His son, William, who had grown up in Las Vegas, had a law degree and gave up a lucrative practise to join the family business, became the head of Boyd Gaming. 

In 1995, Martin Scorsese's film "Casino" was released.  Based on Nick Peliggi's best-selling book, it was a fictional account of Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal, Tony "The Ant" Spilotro and the events that had brought the hotel down.  Though the story was about the Stardust, it was filmed at the Riviera because that hotel had the more vintage 1970s look that Scorsese needed. 

"Enter the Night" was ahead of the curve for the first few years.  One of the best numbers, a version of Robert Palmer's "Some Like it Hot" exploded with crimson plumage, cheeky choreography and pyrotechnics according to critic Mike Weatherford "that vindicated the producer's vision".

But a new era was dawning on the Las Vegas Strip.  The Cirque de Soliel was wildly popular and staged limited run shows in Los Angeles, New York and around the globe.  They were looking for a permanent home in the States when Steve Wynn hired them to create Mystere for his Treasure Island Hotel.

"Enter the Night" held its own for the most part throughout the decade.  But like the hotel itself, with the coming of the 21st Century, it began to seem like a dinosaur compared to the luxurious resorts such as the Venetian, the Bellagio and others that were quickly becoming the status quo of the new Las Vegas Strip.

"Enter the Night" closed in December 1999 after 4,435 performances.  Ice skater Burt Lancon, who had performed in both the Lido and "Enter" told the press "I'm a bit nostalgic, a bit sad.  I'm 39 and at that age Spandex is a privilege not a right.  It's the end of a grand era". (Source, "The Stardust of Yesterday").

As the turn of the century got closer, the Boyds approached famed Las Vegas legend Wayne Newton about appearing in his own theater.  Newton agreed to the idea and signed a 40 week contract.  The Cafe Continental was renamed the Wayne Newton Theater and the name was added to the marquee.  Newton would appear in the theater 40 weeks a year and would be paid $25 million yearly.

Newton ended his deal at the new MGM Grand where he had been performing since 1996 and he leased out his theater in Branson, Missouri. 

To usher in the new century, the Boyd Gaming spent $23 million on renovations that included upgrading guest rooms, the destruction of the old garden-style rooms that had been part of the Stardust property (the garden style rooms of the Royal Nevada remained), a 340 seat buffet-style dining room and refurbishment of the roadside sign.  They also added a 4,000 square foot multi-use pavilion.

Newton opened on New Year's Eve weekend in 1999.  He was 57 years old and had been battling vocal problems for the past decade.  But ever the old-time performer, Newton did not let his vocal troubles deter him from putting on a classic era show.  When Newton wasn't performing in his theater, Blood Sweat and Tears, Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr, the Manhattan Transfer, the O-Jays and Harold Melvin's Blue Notes with Cuba Gooding, Sr were showcased.

After the terrorist attacks on 9/11, Bob Hope, who had been the face of the USO since World War II. was not able to continue in his duties due to his age and illness.  Newton was asked to take over for Hope.  With the blessing of Boyd Gaming, Newton spent less time performing in Las Vegas and more time entertaining the troops overseas.  In the aftermath of the attacks, Las Vegas hotels had declining profits as Americans and international customers were less inclined to travel in the months after the attacks.  Boyd Gaming registered an operating loss of $1.2 million.  They were not alone.

Boyd Gaming looked at the performing landscape of the Strip where the Cirque de Soleil was expanding into more and more hotels.  Also very popular at the time were magicians with Siegfried and Roy anchoring their own theater at the Mirage, Lance Burton at the Luxor and Dirk Arthur at the Union Plaza.  Boyd Gaming saw a need that wasn't being met due to the Cirquification of various showrooms.  Not wanting to compete with the Cirque due to costs, Boyd Gaming went after the Classic Las Vegas entertainers who were still drawing good audiences, performers like Don Rickles, Debbie Reynolds, Bob Newhart, Tim Conway and Harvey Korman.

The gamble paid off as the Stardust became the one place on the Strip catering to the crowd that still loved Classic Las Vegas.  It was becoming increasingly hard to find those places and those entertainers as the Strip was undergoing a transformation in the mega-resort era.  People were now coming to Las Vegas more for shopping and dining reasons than gaming.  Ultra-Lounges and the new hip crowd that had not grown up with the Strip were the target audience and many long-time, middle class visitors began to fill the pinch as room rates escalated.

The Stardust catered to those who wanted the Classic experience at the Classic prices.  Giant billboards along I-15 touted Wayne Newton, $59 a night rooms and the return of the signature space age font in advertising to drivers coming from Southern California. 

On a side note, on January 3rd, 2002, Juan Garcia better know to his fans as Esquivel! who had been a featured performer at the Stardust Lounge for many years passed away at his home in Mexico.  He was 83.  Donn Arden who had done so much to revolutionize the showroom revue had passed away in 1994.

In 2004, Boyd Gaming and the Coast Casinos owned by local gaming family scion Michael Gaughan entered into an agreement that allowed the Coast Casinos to merge with Boyd Gaming.  Boyd Gaming gained new properties specifically the Gold Coast, the Orleans, the Suncoast and the Barbary Coast but it also assumed $460 million of Coast Casinos debt as well.

Once the agreement was in place Boyd Gaming owned The Stardust, Sam's Town, the Eldorado, Joker's Wild (both in Henderson), the California Hotel, Fremont Hotel and Main Street Station in addition to the Coast Properties.  In Atlantic City they were partnered with the MGM/Mirage on the Borgata Hotel and Casino. 

The hotel made political news in 2004 when its new revue Havana Night Club (financially backed by Siegfried and Roy) performers exit visas were delayed.  When the show finally opened, in the audience that night were Siegfried and Roy.  Roy Horn was making his first appearance since the almost fatal tiger attack in October 2003.    The revue played until February 2006.  Three months before the show was set to close, all 43 performers asked for political asylum rather than return to Cuba. 

But the changing landscape of the Strip and the escalating cost of prime real-estate combined with the opening of Steve Wynn's new mega-resort, Wynn Las Vegas, heralded that the changes that had engulfed the middle and southern ends of the Strip were now coming to the northern end.  As Turnberry Towers were added and Wynn began building Encore and Sheldon Adelson began building the Palazzo tower of the Venetian, Boyd Gaming saw the writing on the wall.

Las Vegas had high-rise fever.  MGM CityCenter was going strong and would ultimately be a community within a community.  The older properties were struggling to keep up.  The Stardust sat on some of the biggest prime real-estate on the whole Strip.

On January 4th, 2006, Boyd Gaming announced the inevitable.  They were going to tear down the Stardust and in its place would rise Echelon Place.  Echelon Place would be a $4 million mixed-use resort that would utilize the 63 acres that had been the Stardust.  Boyd Gaming also bought the property next door where the little Westward Ho and Slots-o-Fun had once been.  The new resort would incluce 5,300 rooms, 1 million square feet of convention space, 140,000 square feet of casino space and in acknowledging the new trend of the Las Vegas tourist, 350,000 square feet of retail store space.  In terms of cost and size, it is second only to CityCenter.

They also announced that the hotel would close in early November 2006 and that classic-era performers Steve Lawrence and Edyie Gorme, who had closed the wonderful Circus Maximus showroom at Caesars Palace, would close out the Wayne Newton theater.

Boyd Gaming will be the sole owner and will mainly operate the new resort but the company plans on bringing in separate well-established companies to run the hotels, restaurants, ultra-lounges and some of the entertainment.  Echelon Place will be developed in phases.  The 5,300 guest rooms will be spread out over 1 major hotel tower and 3 boutique hotels.  Boyd Gaming will own and operate the main hotel tower, Echelon Resort (we hope this is a working title) that will include 2,600 room tower and a smaller 700 all-suite tower.  Both hotels will connect with the public areas as well as the casino. 

They have entered into a agreement with Shangri-Lai Hotels and Resorts to operate the Shangri-Lai Hotel, Las Vegas.  This boutique hotel will include 400 guest rooms and suites, a 20,000 square space spa and two restaurants.  They also have inked deals with the Morgans Hotel Group for the construction of two smaller hotels within Echelon Place.  To be called the Delano and the Mondrian, they will cost $700 million and be managed by the Morgans group.  Boyd Gaming is contributing the land for these hotels.  Morgans will contribute $97.5, according to public documents, in cash.

In addition there will a 4,000 seat theater with stadium seating for concerts and production shows.  There will be a 1,500 seat theater for smaller productions.  

Also on the property (as if that wasn't enough) will be the Las Vegas ExpoCenter at Echelon Place.  This will feature 650,000 square feet of exhibit space with an additional 175,000 square feet of meeting and conference space.  Combined with the meeting facility planned for Echelon Resort (we suspect that Echelon Resort will undergo a name change so that guests don't get confused by all the different Echelons) this will bring the Convention facilities to over 1 million square feet and this is just on one property!

In addition there will be parking garages near all major parts of the resorts.  Ultimately there will be parking for nearly 8,000 cars and valet service at each garage.  Boyd Gaming is talking with various companies about a 50-50 joint venture in the giant retail space being called Echelon Promenade. 

After moving the date a couple of times, the Stardust closed her doors forever on November 1st, 2006.  Two and a half weeks later one of the biggest casino/hotel auctions was held.  It took five days to complete.  Everything from plasma televisions to serving ware to interior neon signage and more was auctioned off.  One day was devoted to memorabilia, photos, graphics, paintings, chandeliers and such.  Another day was devoted to the restaurant equipment.  The last day was devoted to the landscaping, maintenance, generators and boilers along with the laundry facilities and room furnishings.

Head of Publicity and Marketing, Jim Seagrave, donated the historical photo displays created for the hotel's 50th anniversary to the Nevada State Museum.  He also donated boxes of files, a mock-up of the roadside sign and a mock up of the rocket from the famous photo of the Lido Showgirls.

Boyd Gaming donated the wonderful Roadside signage to the Neon Museum and helped pay for the cost of dismantling the sign and moving it to the museum's sign boneyard.  The museum also has the Space Age letters so someday perhaps they can be reunited with the sign. 

Amid a big celebration, the first since 9/11, the Stardust Hotel was demolished on March 3, 2007 at 2:33 am.

Construction on Echelon Place is progressing.  One of the truly great sights to see right now is when you are traveling east on Desert Inn where the arterial rises, you can look to your left where the Stardust used to be and get of glimpse of what the Las Vegas Strip looked like over 30 years ago when it was smaller and geared towards the automobile.  You can see the Circus Circus sign, all the  additions to the Riviera, the Peppermill and more.  Unfortunately, it does not lend itself to a photo op as the shoulder is not really wide enough, but if you take this trip at twilight time for a brief moment it is like being in a time machine.

No more space age lettering

The garden-style rooms from the Royal Nevada

The sign comes down

In the Neon Boneyard

The Remains of the day

Special thanks to RoadsidePictures and LeavingLV for allowing us to use these images. 

Also if you love the Stardust and you love the Classic Las Vegas imagery, we encourage you to check out the wondeful book by Heidi Knapp Rinella and Mike Weatherford "The Stardust of Yesterday" available from Stephens Press.

UP NEXT:

THE ALADDIN HOTEL:

FIRST THE TALLY HO! AND THEN THE ALADDIN

THE NEON SIGN, THE MOB AND MORE