CasiNotes: Atlantic City casinos' summer shows look a lot like last year's lineup

AS SURE as higher hotel-room rates and a busier Boardwalk mark the summer season in Atlantic City, so does the annual warm-weather proliferation of extended-run productions in the casinos.

This summer, five gambling dens are sponsoring a wide variety of presentations. However, all but one have been seen before, three at different gaming halls. That is likely a function of the prolonged economic funk in which AyCee's gaming industry has been mired since the middle of the George W. Bush administration. With casino operators still trying to keep afloat in a flood of red ink, it makes sense that experimentation and envelope-pushing would be put on the back burner while the safe and proven are emphasized.

The sense of showroom déjà vu is so great this summer that perhaps the biggest news is what isn't happening on the production-show front. Trump Plaza and Trump Taj Mahal, which have programmed revues in recent years, are staying out of the game altogether this summer. According to Steve Gietka, Trump Entertainment Resorts' entertainment vice president, the company's new management team has decided to devote its entertainment budget to headliners instead.

Below is a look at the production-show lineup:

_ Straight No Chaser, Monday through Sept. 4, Harrah's Resort Atlantic City.

The 10-man a cappella sensation, whose fresh-scrubbed members make Donny Osmond look like Marilyn Manson, must have done well for Harrah's last summer, because the unit is back. This year's program is titled "Back to the Shore," which means you can expect plenty of frothy "beach" songs.

Harrah's Resort Atlantic City, 777 Harrah's Blvd., 8 p.m. Saturday through Wednesday, $60, $45, $35 and $25, 800-736-1410, ticketmaster.com.

_ "The Rat Pack Is Back," July 1 through Sept. 3, Golden Nugget Atlantic City.

This will be at least the third AyCee tribute to that ring-a-ding early-'60s posse made up of showbiz immortals Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr.

We've been told that unlike other Rat Pack shows that feature the three legendary entertainers, this one will include a portrayal of Philly-bred comic Joey Bishop.

Golden Nugget, Huron Avenue at Brigantine Boulevard, 7 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, 4 p.m., Sunday, $26.95, 1-866-746-5336, goldennugget.com/atlanticcity.

_ "Legends in Concert," July 2 through Sept. 4, Bally's Atlantic City.