Patsy Cline performed with her band at the Merri-Mint Theater from Thanksgiving and Christmas before returning to Tennessee to a new house paid for by the gig.
They performed from Nov. 25 to Dec. 27, every night except for Christmas, with alternating opening acts Claude King, and Tompall & the Glaser Brothers. Jim Glaser said in an interview:
“She was thrilled as well and a bit intimidated. She had some special material written for her show at the Mint and had several rehearsals with the band we put together for her show. The Mint lounge was actually quite small. Tompall & the Glaser Brothers did four 45 minute sets and then Patsy did her four sets. I worked in the band for her show, too, and was on stage nearly 8 hours a day. Patsy had laryngitis for the first two or three days and actually had to lip sync her records on those shows.”
Las Vegas photographer Al Robertson took photos of Patsy Cline during the engagement. Cline's daughter Julie Dick says, “She hired a photographer ... A few of those photos have been around and circulated for years but there are a few that have never been published.”
While in Las Vegas, Cline also visited Wynn Stewart's Nashville Nevada Club on Fremont Street and told Ralph Mooney, playing steel pedal guitar player in the house band, that she planned to record his hit song, “Crazy Arms.” (She recorded the track in her last studio session in Feb. '63.)
The placard in The Mint reads, American's top recording stars nitely at The Mint, Patsy Cline Show. Photo by Las Vegas News Bureau.
On stage – photo by Al Robertson, courtesy TF Robertson.
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Color and black & white photos with Patsy Cline on the corner, by Al Robertson.
Photo by Al Robertson.
Notes: Annie Armstrong's photograph of Patsy Cline in front of the Mint is sometimes mis-credited to Kathy Hughes. The photo credit was explained by Armstrong's daughter on a post at a Patsy Cline Museum Facebook post which has since gone offline. Julie Dick's statement about the hired photographer comes from a post on the Patsy Cline Facebook page, 11/23/2023.
Other sources: R-J Fingertip Show Guide. Review-Journal, 11/25/62 p52; R-J Fingertip Show Guide. Review-Journal, 12/27/62 p10; Twin Bill Open At Mint. Review-Journal, 12/27/62 p9; Gary James. Jim Glaser Interview. Famousinterviews.com, archive link; Tyler Mahan Coe. Ralph Mooney: The Sound of Country Music. Cocaine & Rhinestones, 1/23/2018.
Originally published 3/27/2019. Updated 7/11/2025.
