Museums, Las Vegas

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What I remember was seeing him at times on TV specials and the attention he received once he began his Vegas career. I will never forget the costumes and jewelry he wore and the extravagant cars he would drive right up on the Vegas stage before he began a concert. I remember him playing like it he was born to play a piano. He had talent, character, and humor and mostly he was a humanitarian. You can say anything about him, but he gave to his community, family, and to those less fortunate. Since 1976, The Liberace Foundation for the Performing and Creative Arts has awarded more than 5 million dollars in scholarship grants to more than 2200 students at over 110 colleges and universities. That to me says so much about the man, son, and entertainer.

The Liberace Museum is open:
Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sunday from Noon to 4 p.m.
Closed Mondays.

The Museum is Closed on New Year’s Day, Easter Sunday, Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Admission

Admission prices are $15 for adults and $10 for seniors 65+ as well as students with a valid school ID. Liberace Foundation and Museum members - free admission. Children age 10 or under are admitted with no charge and must be accompanied by an adult. Second Sundays free to Nevada residents.

Admission includes a one hour guided tours on Tuesday - Saturday at 11:00am or 2:00pm; Sunday 2:00pm. No tours on Second Sunday.

If you arrive at the Museum by taxi or bus, show your receipt or transfer ticket at the register desk to receive $2.00 off the adult ticket price. This discount may not be used in conjunction with any other coupon or offer.

Museum Store and Café

The Liberace Museum Store and Café operate during normal business hours.

This is building 2, which consist of his customs, jewelry, his private collect, awards, cafe, and gift shop. So you get to see a lot!

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Ethel M is a great chocolate, as many of those who have been to Vegas will attest to. They operate out of Las Vegas, and we decided to go take the free tour one morning. Attached to the factory on the grounds is a neat cactus garden, and you can walk around that for a while and take in a number of specimens from the desert life around the country. Once you are done, it's time to enter the factory, where you can walk along the production line (behind glass) at your own pace, and learn about the history of Ethel M. At the end, you are treated to a free piece of chocolate, then it's time to hit the gift shop and the many types of candy and chocolates that they offer for sale. The tour is free and doesn't take too long - this is a great diversion from the casinos!

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Sadly, it has been announced in Oct of 2010 that they have closed the doors to this wonderful museum and tribute to a very interesting and giving soul. Yet, hopefully in the future people may still be able to see these wonderful museum pieces.http://www.liberace.org/UserFiles/File/LiberaceMuseumClosure_Sept2010.pdf

Liberace (born Wladziu Valentino Liberace) was the most flamboyant, popular easy listening pianist of the '60s and '70s by a wide margin. His campy, theatrical appearance and performances often disguised his prodigious talent. Liberace chose to be a showman. At encores at his concerts, he began playing novelty songs like "Mairzy Doats." To ensure that he had widespread appeal as an entertainer, he took elocution lessons in order to mask his Polish accent.

In the late '40s, he signed with Columbia Records and, under the direction of producer Mitch Miller, recorded an over-the-top rendition of "September Song." Along with a live concert album, the single helped bring Liberace to a national audience.

Liberace became a star in the '50s, both through his records and assorted television and film appearances. His appearance and repertoire was becoming increasingly campy, as he dressed himself in rhinestone, gold lame, furs, and sequins while playing everything from Gershwin and show tunes to lounge jazz and light classical pieces, with a candelabra placed on his piano. Liberace's star rose rapidly in the early '50s, as he had his own television show, appropriately titled The Liberace Show. His celebrity reached a peak in the mid-'50s. Not only did he star in the 1955 film Sincerely Yours, a movie about a deaf concert pianist, but he was mentioned in "Mr. Sandman" by the Chordettes and he published his own cookbook. In 1956, Liberace celebrated his 25 years in show business with an extravagant concert at the Hollywood Bowl. That same year, he made some headway in the U.K. market, playing three Royal Command Performances.

Liberace didn't have any more pop hits in the '60s,'70s, and '80s, yet he continued to sell out concerts around the world and sell a number of records, even though he never earned the favor of the critics. Liberace remained a celebrity and a popular performer until his death in 1987. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

What I remember was seeing him at times on TV specials and the attention he received once he began his Vegas career. I will never forget the costumes and jewelry he wore and the extravagant cars he would drive right up on the Vegas stage before he began a concert. I remember him playing like it he was born to play a piano. He had talent, character, and humor and mostly he was a humanitarian. You can anything about him, but he gave to his community, family, and to those less fortunate. Since 1976, The Liberace Foundation for the Performing and Creative Arts has awarded more than 5 million dollars in scholarship grants to more than 2200 students at over 110 colleges and universities. That to me says so much about the man, son, and entertainer.

This museum has some many interesting faucets of his life. The first building consists of family history in photography. Flashy automobiles and a wonderful piano exhibit of his collection and some really rare pianos that were contributed to this collection.

The Liberace Museum is open:
Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sunday from Noon to 4 p.m.
Closed Mondays.

The Museum is Closed on New Year’s Day, Easter Sunday, Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Admission

Admission prices are $15 for adults and $10 for seniors 65+ as well as students with a valid school ID. Liberace Foundation and Museum members - free admission. Children age 10 or under are admitted with no charge and must be accompanied by an adult. Second Sundays free to Nevada residents.

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We booked this tour before we went to Vegas from the UK online. It cost next to nothing $7.50 each. we were picked up from hotel before 8am and got back about 6.30pm. It was about 2 hours to Laughlin which is a town situated on the Colarado river. We were given a very good buffet lunch voucher on arrival to be used in the Colarado Belle casino. It was excellent and included free with unlimited soft drinks. To buy the lunch was more expensive than the whole inclusive trip cost us. We went on a boat along part of the river which was nice. The whole day was really nice and well worth the money. i would highly recommend this trip to anyone.

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Many years ago when I was a child I remember either my great-grandmother or grandmother ooh and aah whenever Libarace would appear on television either because of his way over the top pianos or his even more way over the top costumes. As one of the first Las Vegas performers, Liberace was a fore runner for people like Elton John, who ironically is now also performing in Las Vegas.

Sue and I decided to spend a little time on Sunday visiting the Liberace Museum which is celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2009. There is a convenient Liberace Shuttle bus which picked us up at our hotel and which services Treasure Island, Mirage, Flamingo, Bally's, Bellagio and Excaliber. Check with the concierage for a time schedule. Also be certain to check out one of the many flyers available in Las Vegas. Inside several we found 40% off admission discounts to the museum. We were surprised that of the people on our bus we were the only ones with coupons, and gave one to the couple in front of us. So the normal $15 admission cost per person then got down to $9.

The museum has actually expanded in the past few years and now operates 2 separate buildings on the opposite ends of a little strip mall. On the day we went we caught the 11:45 a.m. shuttle and were at the museum a little after 12:00. The first building, has a little history of Liberace including a mention that in 1960 he was awarded not 1 but 2 stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for outstanding achievement in TV (his first TV shows were on the year I was born in 1952) and the other for Recording. The next room you enter has 8 of the most over the top cars you can imagine. (the one in the photograph here had a license plate which said 88 KEYS) From there another small room has a number of different pianos he either performed with or ones that he collected.

Leaving the first building you walk over to the 2nd, which I have pictured. This building has more pianos, a good collection of a number of his outlandish costumes. All in all as I was looking at these I thought to myself that Liberace not only was the first entertainer to probably be known by 1 name (ala - Madonna, Cher, etc), but the original King of Bling which indeed one of the signs further on said he was. There is also a small room with some of his furniture and other private collectables. Continuing on there is a room for student recitals and on the day we were there one was getting ready to start, a small place to purchase food and the obligatory gift shop.

All in all for $9 you can't go wrong ($15 may be a little over the top so find that coupon). Hey most strip table bets are $10 so look it as a lot more entertainment (about 1 to 2 hours worth) then you would get at the tables.

HOURS: Closed Mondays
Tuesday through Saturday 10:00 to 5:00
Sunday 12:00 to 4:00

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Looking for something different? The Liberace museum – its small but a great two hr diversion. The life he lead, the extravagance, and how he gives back to the musical community. The outfits were amazing and most weighed over 150 pounds! The museum gives lots of history, displays all his outlandish cars, studded pianos, and feathery garments.

Check their website before going, they offer a free shuttle service from many hotels - save yourself the taxi fare you will want it to buy a trinket here.

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If you get tired of the strip--and sometimes it happens--the Liberace Museum is a fine place to spend a surreal hour or two checking out a wide selection of the flamboyant pianist's shimmering personal effects. And if you don't have a car you can begin your Liberace adventure on the museum's free shuttle bus, which conveniently stops at several of the larger hotels on the strip (we picked it up at the Paris). Once on the bus you will be treated to a video of some of Liberace's more famous appearances, including performances at Carnegie Hall and the Las Vegas Hilton.

When you pull up to the museum on East Tropicana, some distance from the strip, you immediately notice that it is is divided into two sections, each on an opposite end of--you guessed it--a strip mall.

The first part of the museum contains Liberace's car collection, most of which he used on stage. This includes a rare Rolls Royce covered with tiny mirrors and an antique Roadster dressed up in Rhinestones. Also in this section is some biographical information on the Maestro, quite interesting if you are not familiar with him and his life. He was perhaps the most famous person in the world during his prime, often performing for Royalty, but began his life as the son of poor European immigrants.

After taking a look at Liberace's collection of rare and priceless pianos, you go outside and take a walk along the strip mall past a wedding chapel and liquor store to the other half of the museum which houses Liberace's outrageous stage costumes, jewelry and some of his furniture and dishes. This part of the museum also contains a gift shop and a small cafe. I recommend visiting the gift shop before you leave because where else can you buy a baseball hat covered in pink sequins?

Admission to the museum is $8 for adults with a slight discount for seniors. Your admission price is tax deductible, as all proceeds from the museum go to the Liberace Foundation's Music Scholarship Fund, so save your receipt!

Here are some recommendations I have made to visitors that get you off The Strip:

1) Atomic Testing Museum: http://www.atomictestingmuseum.org/. Only a few miles
from The Strip. I was just there last weekend. I cool museum about the history
of above- and below-ground nuclear testing at the NV Test Site. 755 E. Flamingo
Rd. $10. 794-5151.

2) Clark County Museum (Heritage House Museum):
http://www.co.clark.nv.us/parks/Clark_County_Museum.htm Homes from around
Southern NV have been moved to this museum and the interiors have been decorated in different periods. I love this museum. 1830 S. Boulder Highway. $1.50. 455-7955

3) First Fridays in the fledgling Downtown Arts District (on the first Friday of each month).
http://www.firstfriday-lasvegas.org/next.html . This is a big friendly hip (but
not overly hip) place to be. Don't miss it!

4) The Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort. http://parks.nv.gov/olvmf.htm See the original buildings that founded Las Vegas. Next door is the Las Vegas Natural History Museum - small but entertaining. 500 E. Washington. 486-3511.

5) The saloon at Bonnie Springs Ranch near Red Rock Canyon. This is not a
recreation, this is a true old dive saloon. A great mix of all different types
of people. http://www.bonniesprings.com/

6) Outdoor Ice Skating at the Mount Charleston Hotel.
http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Feb-10-Fri-2006/weekly/5750894.html
Mt. Charleston can be 10-20 degrees cooler than in LV valley.