Question of the Day - 13 June 2023

Yesterday, we discussed the colorful and extravagant life of Wladziu Valentino Liberace. Today, we answer part two of the question, about the Liberace Museum, long one of the most popular non-casino-related tourist attractions in Las Vegas.

Liberace founded the Liberace Foundation for Creative and Performing Arts in 1976; three years later, he funded it by donating $4 million and a sizable percentage of his collection of pianos, art, automobiles, costumes, and memorabilia. The purpose of the foundation was "to return his good fortune to musicians starting on their careers." 

The Foundation bought an entire little strip mall on the southwest corner of E. Tropicana and Spencer Ave., renamed Liberace Plaza. The museum occupied part of the plaza and Liberace also opened Tivoli Gardens there, an Italian restaurant. It was designed and operated by Liberace himself, a decent chef who loved to cook for friends, to the extent of hauling around his pots and utensils on tour and having stoves installed in hotel-suite bathrooms. 

The Liberace Museum opened in several buildings in April 1979. George Liberace, Lee's older brother, was the first director (George was also Lee's business partner, violin accompanist, and orchestral arranger). Admission was $3.50. It was an immediate smash attraction, with upwards of a half-million admissions at its height and third as a visitor destination; only the Strip and Hoover Dam drew more tourists. 

The main building housed galleries for the pianos, cars, and awards. More than a dozen of Lee’s rare pianos were on display, including one encrusted in 50,000 rhinestones. The coolest cars were the mirror-tiled Rolls Royce, a custom rhinestone sedan, and a 1940s' English taxi. A second building held the costume and jewelry galleries. Also on display were the world’s largest rhinestone (50 pounds) and a recreation of the opulent master bedroom in Liberace’s Palm Springs mansion.

A victim of the recession and waning interest in its subject, less than 40,000 people per year were visiting the museum by 2010, when it closed. Tivoli Gardens restaurant also closed, but it was recently announced that the owner of Pancho’s Vegan Cantina, which is next door, has taken over the space with plans to bring it back to its former glory. The date of the grand opening will be announced in a month or so.

The collection is now on display in two locations in Las Vegas. The Liberace Garage is a museum that opened in April 2016 and houses the automobiles and related artifacts. It’s located at 5115 Dean Martin Drive, Suite 905, just south of Tropicana across I-15 from Luxor. 

The collection from the museum itself is housed at Thriller Villa, located at 2710 Palomino Lane, a little north of Charleston and a little east of Rancho. This is the former Las Vegas residence of Michael Jackson; Jackson and Liberace were friends and, in a way, kindred spirits. Three-hour tours of the Thriller Villa are by appointment only.

But there's a recent development in this space. "Liberace: Real and Beyond" is a new exhibit at the Nevada State Museum that will open on June 24 and "explores his life away from the bright lights" with rarely seen costumes, historical photographs, and Lee's collection of religious items. It will run through the end of the year. The museum is located in the northwest corner of Springs Preserve at 309 S. Valley View Blvd.; tickets are $19 plus tax and fees.