LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — When you think of "Old Vegas," the icons that probably come to mind are names like Elvis, Sinatra and Wayne Newton.
However, there were many Asian American and Pacific Islander performers then, too, who played an integral role in shaping entertainment on the Las Vegas Strip in the mid to late 1900s.
I got a look at how two UNLV faculty members are working to bring those long-forgotten names back into the spotlight, and what it means to the daughters of one AAPI performer who was once prominent.
Su Kim Chung says their research project began with simple curiosity and snowballed into something much bigger.
"I noticed there was a folder on a dancer named Gia Mo, who appeared in the Magic Carpet Revue, which was one of the very first revue shows at the Dunes Hotel," Chung said.
As they looked through material in UNLV's Special Collections and Archives, she and her colleague, Tammi Kim, started finding more and more shows featuring AAPI performers.
"As an Asian American myself, I was particularly interested in representation in Las Vegas entertainment, because you'd only think of the Rat Pack, you think of showgirls, French showgirls, you think of Elvis, Liberace, but you don't think of Asian Americans particularly," Chung said.
But Asian Americans were there, blazing a trail — performers like the Reycard Duet, the Kim Sisters and the Sunspots, and productions like "China Doll Revue," "Flower Drum Song," "Holiday in Japan" and "Geisha Rella."
"There was 'Holiday in the Orient,' there was 'Hong Kong Scandals,' just a wide variety of shows," Chung added.
"Why do you think it's important that we uncover and bring the spotlight back onto these folks who were AAPI entertainers back in the day?" I asked Chung.
"Well, I just think representation matters and we don't want people to become invisible that were once so prominent on the Strip in terms of entertainment," Chung replied.
Su Kim Chung and Tammi Kim's research project, which they're calling "Hiding in Plain Sight," holds personal importance for sisters Rachelle Basso and Rhonda Okurowski.
The two Las Vegas natives are the daughters of Rey Ramirez. He was one-half of the Reycard Duet, a Filipino comedy-singing duo that performed in Las Vegas starting around the 1960s and continued on for more than two decades, until Ramirez's death in 1997.
"They were recruited from the Philippines to come out and perform at the Casino de Paris at the Dunes Hotel," Okurowski said.
The sisters fondly reminisce on growing up watching their father perform.
"It was a fun childhood to grow up seeing my dad and uncle onstage. For us, the norm was Papa would go to work at night because the gigs were in the evenings, and he would come home in the wee hours of the morning," Okurowski said.
"Sometimes teachers would say, 'Oh, I heard your dad plays on the Strip,'" Basso said.
The sisters say the Reycards were incredibly special.
"They would focus in on making people laugh and feel good, and a lot of people would come to Vegas just because they knew if they watched the Reycards, they would leave feeling happy and smiling," Okurowski said.
"Still, when I hear my dad sing, it makes me tear up," Basso said, as she recalled her father's beautiful voice.
They added, their father shared his extraordinary musical knowledge with others, teaching family members how to play instruments so they, too, could come to America and build a better life.
While these doting daughters think of the Reycard Duet often, how many people can say the same? The duo, who once opened for the Beatles in Manila, probably don't have the same name recognition now that they did back then.
"I think there are a lot of AAPI entertainers that kind of made their way to Las Vegas to create these unique experiences of entertainment and they absolutely have been forgotten," Okurowski said.
The sisters said it's time to tell the stories of performers like their father, and they're thrilled to see the work Su Kim Chung and Tammi Kim are doing at UNLV.
"I'm just so proud as a Las Vegas native that we are officially telling more stories and documenting the history," Okurowski said. "Let's celebrate the stories and talk about it more and learn about it."
Su Kim Chung said this research project about AAPI performers of the past is one of the most fulfilling things she's done in her career.
"We feel so grateful to be finding this and be the ones bringing this to attention, not only as Asian Americans ourselves, but as archivists," Su Kim Chung said.
If you'd like to learn more about Su Kim Chung and Tammi Kim's research, they'll be doing a free presentation at the Gibson Library in Henderson on Monday, May 19 at 5:30 p.m.
