NOTE: Today, MSNBC reported that The Liberace Museum will close next month. Considering that last July I posted a personal account about "Liberace and his fucking twisted museum" I thought it appropriate to offer this update:
The museum’s announcement that it would end its 31-year run on October 17, 2010 was unexpected, said
David G. Schwartz, director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Jeff Koep, chairman of The Liberace Foundation for the Performing and Creative Arts, was quoted as saying
“We are not closing the book on Liberace or what he stands for. We’re trying to regenerate the brand.” This begs the same question asked last summer in my trip report...what exactly did Liberace and his museum actually stand for? Please read a reprint of my trip report (below) to get an answer to that question.
“In some ways, the museum was the last vestige of an entertainment icon,” said Jeff Koep, who added that there has been a steady decline in numbers to the Liberace Museum, from a high of 450,000 annual visitors 15 years ago to about 50,000 annually today. The museum’s real estate problems, mortgage debt and lack of a steady income stream also factored into the decision to close. This past summer, my friend Dave and myself became part of those 400,000 people who skipped going to the museum..here's my original report about our trip:
ROAD TRIP TO LAS VEGAS
For those who don't know who (or perhaps what) a Liberace was, here's a brief VGMH recap: From the 1940's until his death, sexually closeted gay piano player Liberace developed a very successful publicity machine. By the 1960's Liberace (by then a fixture in Las Vegas) made his casino performances increasingly outrageous. The Vegas joke was that while their husbands gambled and drank, their wives forked out cash to watch Liberace prance and sing. But the final joke was on everyone else...as the phrase Liberace laughed all the way to the bank also became famous.
In 1982 Scott Thorson (blue uniform in photo) sued the entertainer for $113,000,000 in a palimony case. Dismissing Thorson as a disgruntled employee who was fired for alcohol and drug use, Liberace denied in court that the two had been lovers for five years. A lot of dirt and creepy stuff was about to come out...it was reported that Liberace had sent Scott to his own plastic surgeon to have his face remodeled in the performer's own image. Ultimately, the matter was settled out of court for $95,000 (most of what Scott wanted) without Liberace (or all the sordid details of his sex life) coming out.
In 1979, Liberace himself opened The Liberace Museum in Las Vegas. In its heyday, it became the third most popular attraction in Nevada. Scott Thorson was replaced by18 year-old Cary James. James and Liberace both tested HIV-positive in 1985. Liberace died at the age of 68 in 1987. Stories circulated that the family didn't want the death certificate to suggest that he passed away from complications related to AIDS. He left the bulk of his estate to the Liberace Foundation for the Performing and Creative Arts, which now runs the Liberace Museum.
GUARDIANS OF THE GLITTERY CLOSED CLOSET?
On the way back from over eating, we passed the Las Vegas Strip returning on Tropicana Avenue and kept going, and going, and going....towards the
Liberace Museum. The museum is housed in a very dated little strip mall about 3 miles east of the Boulevard. It shares space alongside a restaurant and gay bar called
Good Times that I thought looked from the outside more like bad times someone would probably to try and forget the next morning.
I had already heard from friends who had visited that they thought the Liberace Museum was fun enough, but very noticeably played up his bling and over-the-top drag artifacts while conveniently ignoring that once the shows were over Liberace was a gay man. And if you believe his biographer/chauffeur's account, there were lots of very young men, and they weren't in his bedroom taking piano lessons. Perhaps one person said it best:
"The museum is there to bring in money. The same Kansas tourists who would never dream of shaking the hand of a gay man will pay to see Liberace's crap. By never admitting he was queer he validated that being gay was something to be ashamed of, so these old-school tourists prefer that the museum keep him in the closet as much as they can."
According to a July 4, 2010 story in the Las Vegas Sun, Matt Damon has signed on to play the role of Scott Thorson in a movie about Liberace. According to the story: "The Warner Bros. project would be a great and long-overdue boost to the Liberace Museum and Foundation, which for years has been struggling to re-introduce Liberace's singularly compelling life story to younger generations. The mind-blowing attraction is looking for a new home, moving from its East Tropicana location, where it has stood stoically and statically since 1979. A move to a more populous location closer to the Strip is in the offing, and a film adaptation starring Douglas and Damon should allow officials to start anew efforts to market the Liberace brand."
Re-market the Liberace brand to younger generations? Maybe the product isn't selling so good anymore because ignoring the 300 ton elephant in the room just doesn't work anymore? Just then, one of the free buses they run to grab the folksy tourists from the Las Vegas Boulevard hotels and bring them to this Austrian crystal closeted shrine pulled into the strip mall. Out came a few older (the bus was about 2/3 empty) tourists. That was enough for me...I put the key back into the ignition.
"Fuck you Liberace Museum!" I shouted out loud (in a 2/3 self-mockingly angry tone) with a grin.
Dave chimed in even louder wearing a broad smile of his own with "Fuck Liberace and his fucking twisted museum!" as the coffee and that huge buffet breakfast grease was beginning to kick into high gear. Then he added, "You wanna come back and try out that gay bar tonight?" (he was kidding).
Paul performed in the mainstream movie production of Perfect. The film is about New York reporter Adam Lawrence (John Travolta), who's sent to Los Angeles to write an article about a businessman arrested for drug dealing. But Adam is also collecting material for a story about "Fitness clubs as singles bars of the 80's." The movie was released in 1985 and did less-than perfect box office business. In 1990, Barresi alleged that he had previously been in a gay relationship involving Travolta. The story was initially printed in The National Enquirer. Baressi later recanted the story and allegation. 
Paul performed in the mainstream movie production of Perfect. The film is about New York reporter Adam Lawrence (John Travolta), who's sent to Los Angeles to write an article about a businessman arrested for drug dealing. But Adam is also collecting material for a story about "Fitness clubs as singles bars of the 80's." The movie was released in 1985 and did less-than perfect box office business. In 1990, Barresi alleged that he had previously been in a gay relationship involving Travolta. The story was initially printed in The National Enquirer. Baressi later recanted the story and allegation. 
