March 2024

By: Sam Wagmeister / People & Places
The future of the Suncoast Casino’s showroom
is uncertain as plans to
repurpose the beloved local
venue loom. Speculations persist of a potential
bingo or other gambling room, but definitive details
remain elusive at press time despite efforts for
clarification from management.
Suncoast opened in late 2000. The Review-
Journal’s Mike Weatherford observed the showroom
boasted, “handsomely retro tables-and-booths
venue in the tradition of the recently departed Desert
Inn or Caesars Palace.”
Ed Mathews, a retired record industry executive
settled in Sun City Summerlin in 1992. He soon
began producing weekly shows in the community’s
Starbright Theater, benefitting from the rich pool of
talent in the community.
Michael Gaughan, Suncoast’s owner, recruited Mathews to produce
a weekly variety show. “He knew what would work for his casino and
he was right. He knew what his audience wanted and gave it to them,”
Mathews remembered. (Gaughan has since sold his interest in Suncoast
to Boyd Gaming.)
12
Dennis Bono Show
By: Dianne Davis / That’s Entertainment
The weekly Dennis Bono Show at South Point
Hotel Casino & Spa is the longest running
broadcast variety show in Las Vegas. Last month,
Dennis celebrated 24 years at the helm of this
Las Vegas treasure.
Every Thursday at 2 p.m. the 330 seat
showroom is filled. Most of the folks there are
“regulars,” the majority are senior citizens
who pay the phenomenally low price of $10
(which includes a ticket stub good for one
free drink that day.) for some wonderful
entertainment.
First comes the warm-up with giveaways. Hats, tickets for shows
at South Point, coupons for dinners at South Point or the popular
Bootleggers.
No surprise as Bono’s wife Lorraine Hunt Bono, the 32nd Lieutenant
Governor of Nevada, is part of the family owned Bootlegger Italian
Bistro on Las Vegas Boulevard, “South Strip.” Lorraine has appeared
on the show many times entertaining audiences with her singing.
Bono welcomes some of the finest talent in Las Vegas to the stage
during the 1 ¼ hour show. But first, we hear from him, the man
who is known as “the consummate interpreter of the Great American
Songbook.”
March 2024
Familiar songs such as “That Old Black Magic” put the audience in
the mood as Joey Singer and the other long time musicians back him.
The entertainers take center stage and then sit down with Bono to chat
and promote their gigs.
The first guest on his 24 th anniversary show was well known veteran
entertainer Bob Anderson. And the audience
loved seeing longtime favorite impressionist
Rich Little.
Others included Jazz vocalist Clint Holmes,
showman Earl Turner, songstress Kelly
Vohnn, the lovely Rita Lim, regular sidekick
Corrie Sachs, and the incredibly clever
Dennis Blair who serenaded Bono with an
original song related to the man who Blair
suggested worked an hour a week.
Surprise guests included tuxedo-clad entertainers Vinny Adinofi and
Chris Phillips aka Zowie Bowie with a special tribute. Frankie Scinta
sent a message and Entertainment icon Tony Orlando stopped by with
a congratulations. .
Treat yourself to a good time at the Dennis Bono Show at South Point
Hotel.
Dianne Davis specializes in “senior entertainment” and is the
Las Vegas Associate Editor of lasvegassplash.com. She hikes, works on
her stand-up comedy, and looks forward to more travels with her
husband Burt.
Ed Mathews: Memories of Suncoast Showroom
Gaughan directed Mathews that the venue “should have shows for
seniors.” He wanted to attract Sun City’s audience, Mathews remembers.
After a lifetime in the competitive record business, Mathews reflected
on his days producing a trio of weekly shows at
Suncoast, Sams Town and Gold Coast. “The only
time I loved my job was when I was working with
the casinos.”
“It was a happy time for me, a happy time for Las
Vegas,” Mathews recalled. He patterned the show after
the Ed Sullivan show. “They gave me an opportunity
to show off Las Vegas talent in a wonderful format.”
“My memories are the people,” Mathews
reminisces of his Suncoast days, citing music
directors Ned Mills and the late Bill Fayne before
rattling off a Who’s Who of local talent. Mathews
credits the Suncoast’s and other local showrooms for
allowing local talent to “show the best of themselves
in a production show.”
The days of major casinos attracting seniors by offering
complimentary transportation by the busload and other incentives
are long gone. Mathews credits Gaughan, now dedicated to the South
Point, with maintaining a venue emphasizing the senior audience.
“We had a great thing.”
Ed Mathews photo by Ed Foster