Liberace Museum, The Largest Display Of Gay Sparkles, Will Close
Officially, the Liberace Museum in Las Vegas is closing because the foundation wants to focus more on scholarships. But in reality, it’s closing because it’s run out of cash. So Oct. 31 is your last chance, after 31 years (which the last 12 yielded fiscal losses), to see blazingly homosexual costumes on display. And to think, Elvis has been dead 10 years longer and he got a full-blown Cirque du Soleil show.
It was a very strange museum when I visited–in two unconnected parts of the same strip mall–although it was a fun visit for all the camp. Absolutely none of the reverent staff would discuss anything about sexuality or AIDS, though. One crazy old bird who worked there said she got sick and tired of people saying he was gay, and I wanted to just take her by the arm and say, “Oh, honey.”
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“I wish my brother George was here.” There’s a fairly comprehensive biography here with lots of references.
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@averageguy40: This place should have been the gay Graceland. Sadly, I didn’t have much hope for this museum being profitable. Mention Liberace to the younger generation and you’ll get blank stares. He has little to no respect in classical music circles because they found his style of playing too affected. But the man had talent and personality. He wasn’t just some run-of-the-mill fey boy. He was Mr. Show Business.
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This is too bad. I’ve actually been there. For some reason, I became obsessd with Liberace in the early 2000′s, and made a pilgrimage to Las Vegas to see the museum. A big piece of Las Vegas queer history will end on October 31st.