When people hear the words “show business,” they usually think of the glamour and glory of being on the screen or onstage, and they rarely think of what it takes to pull together everything that precedes the show. 

Billy Vine, long time technical director and stage manager at Sullivan County’s Concord Hotel is one of the people who made it all possible. 

An early start

Born in 1943 in lower Manhattan, Billy’s entrance in show biz came early. Growing up with his father, Billy Vine Sr., a comedian and actor, and his mother Carol, who became a Radio City Rockette via dance lessons at Arthur Murray Dance Studio, things were busy. 

The family, which included brothers David and Carl, moved to Long Island when Billy Jr. was around five, and then to California so Billy Sr. could make a movie. He performed across the country including on Broadway, Las Vegas and the Catskills. 

Before one of his gigs at the Concord Hotel in Kiamesha Lake, Billy Sr. said to his namesake, “I want you to come with me because I need you backstage to set up before I go on.” The young man was confused. “What are you setting up? You’re a stand-up comic? You go to the microphone, and you make them laugh, and they pay you?” Nevertheless, the 10-year-old Billy Jr. came upstate with his dad. “He was very versatile, very funny, very clever,” said Jr.  

Backstage Billy would help prep his dad’s tuxedo, shoes, jewelry, etc., and sometimes be called onstage to do a little schtick. “Billy,” began his dad, “Mom called. … and she asked me if you took a bath last night, and I said, ‘Why is one missing?”

During this time, Billy Jr. went to school first on Long Island, and then to Black-Foxe Military Academy in Los Angeles. With his dad away so often, and his mom gracing Radio City Music Hall, the family thought a military academy would offer stability to the young man. 

Around the time Billy Jr. was 12, he went to camp. It wasn’t something he liked, so he met his dad backstage and said, “That’s not for me. I don’t want that whole camp thing. I want to be with you.” So, he wound up going with his father on all his jobs, and setting up backstage. “I got paid in a lifetime of knowledge,” said Billy. 

In 1958, at the age of 43, Billy Sr. passed away. Billy Jr. was just 15, but his father had laid the groundwork to set him up as a resourceful and reliable stagehand. 

Why didn’t he go on to be a comedian like his father? “Because I didn’t feel comfortable onstage, telling jokes. I felt very comfortable setting up, getting it right, and receiving accolades from big names.” 

The big stars

Speaking of big names, the Concord was attracting top-named performers, large shows from Vegas and big conventions, courtesy of the hotel’s 35-year Director of Entertainment Phil Greenwald, who was responsible for presenting at least 1,000 acts a year on a $3 million budget. 

So, Billy needed to join the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Union and get qualified in theatrical rigging. He learned how to fly scenery in and out of the huge Concord Hotel stage, which had a 52-line grid that flew scenery up 75 feet high.

During what he calls his “whole life” at the Concord, Billy worked with a “Who’s Who” of famous actors, comedians and dancers including: Judy Garland, Sid Caesar, Jimmy Durante, Sammy Davis Jr., Woody Allen, Milton Berle, Willie Nelson, Ben Vereen, James Brown, Buddy Hackett, Tony Bennett, Harry Belafonte, Bobby Vinton, Johnny Carson, Barbra Streisand, Joan Rivers, Paul Anka, Tony Martin, Rosie O’Donnell, Hines, Hines and Dad, and the person he calls his favorite performer, his father, Billy Vine Sr. “He gave me a real freedom and exposure. And I don’t think I would have been able to come in contact with these superstars and be comfortable in their presence without his guidance.”

Howie Mandel is an actor Billy became quite close to. “We just clicked, and we could really make each other laugh a lot and have fun,” explained Billy.

“And I can’t tell you how many times I worked with Tom Jones,” gushes Billy. “He sold out that room and when you sell out for Tom Jones, you got that person there for the weekend.” 

The Imperial Room

The “room” Billy is referring to is the 3,000 seat Imperial Room designed by noted hotel architect Morris Lapidus. It is, Billy said, in the Guinness Book of World Records as the “world’s largest nightclub.” 

“It was staggering the size of that room. You could drive cars on stage,” related Billy. And indeed they did. “When they built it, General Motors heard about it and got on board, they wanted to be able to bring their cars to the Imperial Room, drive them on the stage. Pontiac Cadillac, Oldsmobile … it was a big news thing. You come up here, you get a room, get the meals, you come down to the Imperial Room, you see the new cars presented with the spotlight and the curtains opening up …”

In addition to setting the stage scenery, lighting, sound, props and costumes for the performers, Billy also had to set up the room for conferences, markets for vendors and other things. So, he wasn’t just the “stage manager,” he was also the “house” manager, overseeing the transformation of the Imperial Room from a conference room during the day, to a theatrical showcase at night, setting up a stage in the tennis courts for other events and more. 

After the Concord

When the Concord Hotel closed in 1998, Billy worked at Kutsher’s Hotel in the Town of Thompson, and when that closed in 2013, he went to the Villa Roma in Callicoon. 

Ask Billy if he’s got a story about the Catskills, and you’ll be rewarded with funny stories, poignant stories and all sort of show biz stories. He’s got hundreds, maybe thousands, including how his dad helped Sammy Davis Jr. convert to Judaism, how Willie Nelson encouraged fans to see him after his show, how Andrew Dice Clay “didn’t know how to handle the audience,” how Billy loved announcing the performers, his friendship with Joan Rivers, how he found his stage crew, how stage managers need to know “about all the pieces of the puzzle,” how he, Sammy Davis Jr. and his manager Jolly Brown worked out Sammy’s sliding entrance, and so much more. 

Seriously, you could listen to his delightful stories all day.  

Hopefully soon, you’ll be able to read about them, too, because Billy Vine is writing a book, and he’s calling it “Backstage with Billy Vine: Do I Have a Story for You.” 

No doubt The Democrat will run a press release when the book is available, so get ready to read about Billy Vine’s 50 years at the Concord Hotel. It’s sure to be the definitive story of entertainment in the Sullivan County Catskills. 

Because as Billy likes to say, “There’s no business like show business.”