The Latin Casino was a Philadelphia-area nightclub that first opened as the Latin nightclub in 1950 at the corner of 13th and Walnut in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Many top entertainers performed at the Latin including Harry Belafonte, Jimmy Durante, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Milton Berle, Lena Horne, Pearl Bailey, Louis Armstrong, Lionel Hampton, and Joey Bishop. The Latin was a very popular Center City nightclub for a decade.
In 1960, Owners Dallas Gerson and Dave Dushoff, relocated to nearby suburban Cherry Hill and built the plush 1,500-seat, Vegas-style dinner theater renamed from the "Latin" to the Latin Casino {Casino gambling was not included}. It was considered one of the fanciest, hippest dinner nightclubs experiences of that time featuring dinner, drinks and a showcase of top entertainment.
Following a period of strong popular success, the Latin Casino finally closed in the summer of 1978 as an indication of an end of era and a symbol of the evolutin of Pop culture. Five months later, at the height of the disco craze, it reopened as an exotic disco club, Emerald City (inspired by the Wizard of Oz fabled city Emerald City ). Success was short lived and was converted to a venue for progressive rock bands and finally closed in December 1982 and later demolished for commercial use.
Read more about Latin Casino: Background, The Menu
Famous quotes containing the word latin:
“But these young scholars, who invade our hills,
Bold as the engineer who fells the wood,
And travelling often in the cut he makes,
Love not the flower they pluck, and know it not
And all their botany is Latin names.
The old men studied magic in the flowers.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)