Pat Merl is a highly acclaimed, experienced speaker who has audiences continually begging for more. She started her entertainment performance career in 1968 as a Radio City Music Hall Rockette in New York City. Her life was high kicks and sequins highlighted by a cast of characters she met both on and off the stage.

One learns a lot while waiting for a cue. Or at least Pat did. After a few legendary years with the Rockettes, her performing career continued over the following years as she worked for such notable producers as Harold Minsky, Barry Ashton, Tibor Rudas, and Miller-Reich Productions.

Eventually she transitioned from a dancer into entertainment management working as company captain first for the world renowned “Lido de Paris” at the Stardust Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas and then for Miller-Reich Productions, a company with shows on major cruise lines and in showrooms in major U.S. and Canadian cites including Atlantic City, Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe, Miami and Montreal. Later, as Director of Show Operations, working for Resorts International Hotel Casino, she stage managed 52 headliners shows a year.

Pat was in love – with an industry and its challenges, energy and glamour. She was also fascinated by the people. These were the days of Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Johnny Carson and Jerry Lewis. This was also a time when “the boss” was not necessarily someone you worked for. Oh, the stories Pat can (and does) tell.

Running her own entertainment booking company, marketing a circus, vice president of marketing and operations of one of the largest entertainment production companies in Las Vegas (think The Rio’s “Show in the Sky”) – this has been Pat’s life. She has seen all of the good and bad of an industry that can be both fascinating and frightening.

Pat uses the stories of her life to educate and entertain. Funny, articulate and blazingly honest, Pat Merl selflessly shares her exciting past – relating it to everyone’s present and future. Each member of the audience will take away at least one gem from Pat’s presentation to ponder, laugh over, or share with a friend.

Most Requested Topics:

• Las Vegas – The Entertainment Capital of the World.
  This is a history – yes – but one colored with interesting characters, spiced with lively anecdotes and made real by one who was there.
  
• Old Showgirls Never Die, But Exactly What Do They Do?
  It’s very difficult being a showgirl. It’s even more difficult to stop being one. This is a story of transition – the kind everyone goes through at one time or another.
  
• Entertainment Trends – “Everything Old Is New Again”.
  In Rome they fed people to lions. Is today’s entertainment any different? This is a fast and furious romp through the development of live entertainment.
  
• A Showgirl’s Retrospective
  This story-filled talk is Pat’s biography. There’s an “underworld” in every industry – and every town. Pat shares her experiences.

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