Augie and Margo Rodriguez opened for the stars from the '50s to the '70s. In New York, they were living legends while in Las Vegas they stared in shows with the Rat Pack. Sammy Davis Jr. Sammy performed with them for twelve years, taking them to Hong Kong, Japan, Europe, and Australia as his 'Supporting Stars'. Their close relationship reveals the quality and complexity of great entertainers. They remained close friends until Sammy’s death. Augie and Margo’s flourished at New York's Palladium, rocketing to fame with the “dueling bands” of Tito Rodriguez, Tito Puente, and Machito. Their “hot” music was the mambo, inspiring passion in adoring fans, from all backgrounds, colors, and ethnicity. The music and dance steps resounded in uptown Manhattan when the bold move of Max Hyman at the Palladium turned segregation and New York nightlife upside down. Harry Belafonte the first black entertainer to perform at the Starlight Roof of the Waldorf Astoria included Augie and Margo as the opening act to a furor of acclaim. The sell-out got rave reviews and soon Liberace, Judy Garland, Petula Clark, Johnny Mathis, Lena Horne, Patti Page, and Jack Benny became other stars for whom Augie and Margo opened. They showcased the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, for Dick Clark, Perry Como, ten shows with Steve Allen, and eleven with Ed Sullivan. On President Kennedy’s birthday, Augie and Margo danced at The White House and performed for President Nixon, the President of South Africa, and Queen Elizabeth II. Surviving at the center with the world's top stars was hard. Their poor Latin backgrounds and tumultuous childhoods were overcome by hard work and training with Rudolf Nureyev, rejecting gangs and drugs, the common route when growing up in Spanish Harlem and Brooklyn. Augie's childhood was split between New York and the Dominican Republic. His father left Spain as a young seaman, who experienced the Caribbean, and married a girl from Santo Domingo. He took her to live in New York, but she was homesick and went back and forth with her four sons to Santo Domingo for years. Despite this turbulence, his father was strong and guided Augie through life's pitfalls. Margo was from Puerto Rico. Her grandfather from Corsica and her mother were concert pianists in New York in the '20s. Margo grew up with racial tensions, drugs, and gangs in El Barrio. Her handsome father, a successful accountant, had a lady's eye. He did not stay long but remained close to Margo, the eldest of 4 daughters, teaching her valuable lessons to make her strong and focused. Against all odds, Augie and Margo marched to the beat of their drums while siblings and friends succumbed to the evils in the neighborhood. While Grease, Saturday Night Fever, and West Side Story are memorable, they are fictional. Augie and Margo Rodriguez lived that life and triumphed. Hailed as sensational, the most exciting dance duo, Gene Kelley said 'the best dancers he saw' they became the highest-paid dancers of all. Their fascinating story is touching told by Christine Hamer-Hodges in The Opening Act, The Love Story of Augie, and Margo Rodriguez, now available on Kindel and Audible. A love story of hard work and dedication, packed with fascinating, funny, surprising, sometimes sad, or hilarious stories of their road to stardom. It includes their long-beloved friendships with Xavier Cugat and Liberace. The story covers crazy and dangerous incidents, brushes with the Mafia, and for Steve Allen on the roof of a hotel in Havana, Cuba as the gunfire of Castro's rebels pierced the night air sharpening to the sound of their feet to the music. After thirty years, of performing live on stage, Augie and Margo formed a successful global production company but their dancing did not end. This incredible couple danced into their eighties by closing the show ZUMANITY for Cirque du Soleil, once again back in Las Vegas!