Gauche to show: Flamboyance still on parade at revamped Liberace Museum

By Jerry Fink (contact)

Wednesday, May 29, 2002 | 8:24 a.m.

Liberace would have applauded.

The newly remodeled museum that bears his name at the East Tropicana Avenue and Spencer Street reflects the flamboyance of the man who still attracts large crowds 15 years after his death.

"The corner was a plain-looking retail center," Sandra Harris, executive director of the museum, said. "Our goal was to give it a facelift, to upgrade it in the style of Liberace."

After almost two years, the million-dollar project has been completed and the public is invited to a grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday afternoon.

Among the celebrities expected to attend the event are three of Liberace's close friends Charo and Siegfried & Roy.

Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt and Clark County Commission Chairman Dario Herrera will be among the political guests.

Siegfried & Roy will arrive at the ceremony in Liberace's mirror-covered "Volks Royce" convertible, and cut a rhinestone-encrusted ribbon.

A highlight of the ceremony will be a member of the Flying Elvi parachuting team landing in the shopping center dressed as Liberace.

Architect Francis Xavier Dumont, with the Leo A Daly engineering firm, designed the new look of the center, which is more in keeping with Liberace's eccentric personality than the former, drab facade.

The new front also reflects Mr. Showmanships' love of music.

"The architect turned the sheet music from The Beer Barrel Polka,' which he often played, into a wall," Harris said.

A cylindrical glass entrance foyer is topped by an oversized pink-neon piano and a giant rendition of Liberace's signature.

"The new facade reflects more of what is inside the museum," Harris said. "The old building didn't speak for what it was."

The Daly firm upgraded the plaza, which is owned by the Liberace Foundation for the Performing and Creative Arts. In addition to the museum, the center includes foundation offices, a new coffee shop, a gift shop, a restaurant and property leased to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, for its Master of Fine Arts program. The building contains studios for the art students.

The revamped museum has been divided into five major galleries: the Car Gallery, Piano Gallery, Costume Gallery, Awards Gallery and Grand Gallery, which features special and traveling exhibits.

"Our first traveling exhibit will open next week," Harris said.

The traveling exhibit, "Legends are Born: Liberace and Las Vegas from the 1940s Through the '60s," will be open for a year. Harris said details are uncertain, but it is possible the special exhibit could go on tour within the state or beyond.

The museum, which opened in 1979, houses Liberace's collections of rare and antique pianos, classic cars, sequined-and-jewel-covered costume wardrobe, glittering stage jewelry, rare antiques and his private papers and memorabilia.

Exhibited is a re-creation of Liberace's master bedroom suite from the Cloisters, his Spanish-style home in Palm Springs, Calif.

David Millman, curator of the Nevada State Museum and Historical Society in Las Vegas, says the Liberace Museum is a significant entity.

"It's certainly pop culture, and you can have differences of opinion about pop culture," he said. "But it is a legitimate museum.

"There's no denying that it covers a significant part of Las Vegas history. Liberace and other entertainers were critical to Las Vegas' success. It's really a worthy facility, and it's an interesting place. I like it."

Harris says with the passing of time, fewer and fewer people are familiar with Liberace.

"When the museum started, it was a family run place for the fans to go to," she said. "Visitors had to know Liberace, or to have seen him, to appreciate the way things were displayed back then.

"But with the newer, younger audiences -- who maybe never saw him perform and maybe only heard about him -- they weren't getting enough out of the museum."

To prepare newcomers for a tour, the museum shows a 10-minute video about his life.

"It has highlights of who he was and what he was about and a little bit about his scholarship foundation," Harris said.

And the exhibits that are on display -- such as the classic car collection -- may be appreciated by visitors even if they know nothing about Liberace.

The museum is the key funding arm for the Liberace Foundation, which awards scholarship grants to art and music students. Since 1976 $4.5 million in scholarships have been given away.

Harris said the Liberace Museum is the third most popular tourist attraction in Southern Nevada -- behind the Strip and Hoover Dam.

While tourism suffered a decline for some sites in recent months, Harris said business at the museum is up 20 percent from the same period last year.

"We get about 100,000 visitors a year," she said.

Harris said this year's numbers were boosted by a television special, "The Legendary Liberace," which premiered March 1 on PBS (Channel 10 locally) to kick off the public channel's annual membership drive.

The hourlong show was filmed at the museum. It featured film clips of performances by Liberace from his popular syndicated television series, which aired from 1952-57. It was carried by more than 217 American TV stations and in 20 foreign countries.

Liberace (Wladziu Valentino Liberace) was born in West Allis, Wis., on May 16, 1919. His father played the French horn with the Milwaukee Philharmonic Orchestra. His Polish mother played the piano as a hobby.

Liberace was a prodigy on the piano. He started playing the instrument by ear at the age of 4. He was a soloist with the Milwaukee Symphony at age 13, and with the Chicago Symphony at age 16.

In 1940 he began appearing in nightclubs in New York City, and in 1950 made his film debut as a honky tonk pianist in the movie "South Sea Sinner."

Liberace's final performances were at New York City's Radio City Music Hall Oct. 16 through Nov. 2, 1986. After the concert, he returned to his Palm Springs home where he died of AIDS on Feb. 4, 1987.

"He left his estate to the foundation," Harris said. "That is the endowment for the scholarships -- about a quarter of a million dollars a year."

The museum relies on ticket sales, retail sales and donations to fund its annual $1.2 million budget.

Harris says the museum is not finished growing.

"We're looking at corporate sponsorship to open another gallery," she said. "We need more room.

"Our goal is to become more of a community resource. We rely on tourists, and that's great, but we think a lot of people here in the city can benefit from the museum."