The Room That Made Vegas
The Copa Room was a 400-seat showroom tucked inside the Sands Hotel & Casino, and for four decades it was the most important entertainment venue in Las Vegas. Named after New York's famous Copacabana nightclub, the room was run by Jack Entratter — a former bouncer at the original Copa who understood better than anyone that the right entertainer could fill a casino floor. Entratter booked every major act in American entertainment: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Nat King Cole, Lena Horne, Danny Thomas, Jerry Lewis, Tony Bennett, Ella Fitzgerald, and dozens more.
The Copa Room was intimate by design. With just 400 seats arranged around small cocktail tables, every patron was close enough to make eye contact with the performer. The lighting was low, the drinks were strong, and the cigarette smoke hung in the air like fog. It was the kind of room where a singer could whisper and the back row would hear every word. This intimacy is what made the Copa Room different from every other showroom on the Strip — and why the biggest stars in the world wanted to play it.
The Summit at the Sands
In January 1960, something happened at the Copa Room that had never happened before and would never happen again. Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford, and Joey Bishop performed together every night for three weeks in what the press called "The Summit at the Sands." During the day, they filmed Ocean's 11 at the hotel. At night, they took the Copa Room stage for shows that were never the same twice.
The performances were improvised, boozy, and irreverent. Sinatra would interrupt Martin mid-song. Davis would do impressions of both of them. Martin would pretend to be drunker than he was — or maybe he wasn't pretending. They mocked each other, mocked the audience, and occasionally remembered to sing. Senator John F. Kennedy sat in the audience during the summit, running for president and soaking up the reflected cool. The Copa Room was so packed that the fire marshal threatened to shut the shows down. People offered hundreds of dollars for a seat. It was the hottest ticket in the history of live entertainment, and nothing has ever quite matched it since.
Key Facts
Jack Entratter
The former Copacabana bouncer ran the Copa Room from 1952 until his death in 1971. He personally recruited Sinatra to the Sands and built the most prestigious talent roster in Las Vegas history.
400 Seats
The Copa Room's intimate size was its secret weapon. In an era of 1,500-seat showrooms, the Copa Room's small capacity created an electric atmosphere where performers fed off the crowd's energy.
Ocean's 11 (1960)
The Rat Pack filmed the original Ocean's 11 at the Sands during the day and performed Copa Room shows at night. The movie's premiere was held at the Fremont Theatre in downtown Las Vegas.
The End
The Copa Room was demolished with the Sands Hotel on November 26, 1996. Sheldon Adelson built The Venetian on the site. No plaque or memorial marks where the Copa Room stood.
What's There Now
Visiting the Copa Room Site
Address: 3355 Las Vegas Blvd S, Las Vegas, NV (now The Venetian Resort)
Status: Demolished with the Sands Hotel in November 1996. The Venetian Resort now occupies the entire site.
What to See: Nothing remains of the Copa Room or the Sands Hotel. The Venetian's convention area roughly occupies the footprint where the Copa Room once stood. The Neon Museum on Las Vegas Boulevard North preserves signs and artifacts from the demolished casino era.
Nearby: Caesars Palace (where Sinatra moved after leaving the Sands), the Flamingo, and the LINQ Promenade are all within walking distance.
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