Did you know that there’s a Mob Museum in Vegas?!
The Mob Museum, the National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, announces its lineup of March events, including Museum programs and the entertainment lineup for The Underground speakeasy and distillery. Inside the historic Museum courtroom, two separate programs will delve into the lore and legacy of prominent Las Vegas figures; one will focus on Jimmy Chagra and the other, Howard Hughes. Downstairs in The Underground, St. Patrick’s Day revelers can look forward to imbibing a celebratory specialty cocktail and an Irish whiskey flight, while National Cocktail Day will coincide with the launch of a new menu.
The Dark Side of a Las Vegas Legend: Jimmy Chagra’s Life of Gambling, Drugs and Murder
Date: Thursday, March 5
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Inside the historic courtroom on the second floor.
Cost: Free for Museum Members or with Museum admission.
Description: When Jimmy Chagra arrived at Caesars Palace in the 1970s, his companions carried footlockers stuffed with millions of dollars in cash. Chagra’s high-rolling exploits—and his generous tips—were the stuff of gambling legend. But while Chagra was beloved in Las Vegas, he was also a Mob-connected drug trafficker and accused killer of a federal judge. Chagra has been a more than 20-year obsession for journalist Jack Sheehan, who recorded exclusive interviews with Chagra late in his life. Sheehan will chronicle the Chagra story as no one else can and share excerpts from his rarely seen interviews.
Speaker: Jack Sheehan has been a professional writer in Las Vegas for more than 40 years. He has written more than 1,000 magazine articles on a range of topics and has published 18 books. His subject matter ranges from sports and entertainment to business and politics, and his books include biographies of Las Vegas industry icons E. Perry Thomas and William Bennett.
Billions in the Balance: Howard Hughes and the High-Stakes Battle over the Mormon Will
Date: Thursday, March 26
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Inside the historic courtroom on the second floor.
Cost: Free for Museum Members or with Museum admission.
Description: The eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes died on April 5, 1976—50 years ago this spring—and he didn’t leave a will. Or did he? Just weeks after his death, a handwritten will surfaced in Utah. It was soon reported that the will—later dubbed the Mormon Will—had been delivered to a small-town gas station operator named Melvin Dummar. A media firestorm ensued, and a seven-month trial was held in Las Vegas to determine the will’s validity. This panel discussion, led by The Mob Museum’s own Vice President of Exhibits and Programs and Howard Hughes biographer Geoff Schumacher, will explore the details of the Mormon Will case and its profound implications for Las Vegas.
Speakers:
- Geoff Schumacher, The Mob Museum’s vice president of exhibits and programs, is the author of “Howard Hughes: Power, Paranoia & Palace Intrigue.” Schumacher interviewed Melvin Dummar extensively, probing his story about picking up Hughes in the desert and later finding the Mormon Will.
- Harold Morse is a third-generation Las Vegas lawyer. He was a member of the legal team representing the heirs of Howard Hughes in the seven-month trial over the validity of the so-called Mormon Will. He also served as lead counsel for a major defendant in the litigation resulting from the MGM Grand fire in 1980 that claimed 85 lives.
- Paul Winn, a lawyer and longtime Summa Corporation executive, is one of the last remaining people who worked directly with Hughes, serving as the billionaire’s personal secretary in the early 1960s. After Hughes’s death in 1976, Winn participated in the search for a will.
- Paul Rhoden is a son of Harold Rhoden, lawyer for Noah Dietrich and lead proponent attorney in the Mormon Will case. Rhoden visited Las Vegas several times during the trial in 1977-78 and vividly recalls the heady days of his father’s “high-stakes search for the truth.” He taught social studies in public school for many years. Today, Rhoden is an aspiring writer in Eugene, Oregon.
The Underground Live Entertainment Calendar
Dates and Times: Friday and Saturday 8 p.m. to midnight; Sunday 7 to 11 p.m.
- Sunday, March 1 | Cheyenne Adams & The Dirty Business
- Friday, March 6 | Mimi & The Rivieras
- Saturday, March 7 | Coco & The Sidecars
- Sunday, March 8 | The Syn-Phonics
- Friday, March 13 | Red Penny Arcade
- Saturday, March 14 | Dixie Flats
- Sunday, March 15 | Coco & The Sidecars
- Friday, March 20 | Michael Ross Nugent
- Saturday, March 21 | Amanda King and her Prohibition Three
- Friday, March 27 | Katrina Bree’s Blue Note Trio
- Saturday, March 28 | Mr. Nobody with Michael Grimm
- Sunday, March 29 | The Ramblers
Location: The Underground speakeasy and distillery.
Cost: Free entry is available through the secret side door for visitors who know the daily password, published on Instagram Stories @MobMuseum_Underground.
Description: Revel in the sounds of the Jazz Age with live music inside Las Vegas’ most authentic speakeasy while enjoying expertly crafted cocktails, zero-proof libations and bar bites. Featuring a rotating roster of talented performers surrounded by Prohibition-era artifacts, The Underground delivers Las Vegas’ only immersive 1920s-inspired nightlife experience.
St. Patrick’s Day Specials in The Underground
St. Patrick’s Cocktail – The Railway Man
Dates: Friday, March 13 – Tuesday, March 17
Cost: $15
Description: After mass immigration from Ireland starting in the late 19th century due to famine and rising farmland costs, nearly 10,000 new Irish Americans found work building the rail lines of the transcontinental railroad. By the 1920s, the railroads had become a regular part of American life. The Railway Man blends Irish whiskey, absinthe, amaro, orange and grenadine, paying homage to these workers whose efforts helped transform America’s transit system.
Irish Whiskey Flight
Dates: Friday, March 13 – Tuesday, March 17
Cost: $45
Description: Toast St. Patrick’s Day with a flight of four Redbreast Irish Whiskey specialty pours: Redbreast 12-year, Redbreast 15-year, Redbreast PX and Redbreast 18-year.
National Cocktail Day
Date: Tuesday, March 24
Description: The Underground speakeasy and distillery will mark this spirited calendar date with the debut of an imaginative new cocktail and shareables menu. More information will be announced soon.
The Mob Museum, the National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, provides a world-class journey through true stories—from the birth of the Mob to today’s headlines. The Mob Museum offers a provocative, contemporary look at these topics through hundreds of artifacts and immersive storylines. Numerous interactive exhibits include a Crime Lab, Firearm Training Simulator and Organized Crime Today exhibit.
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