{"id":1179,"date":"2020-03-11T18:57:50","date_gmt":"2020-03-12T01:57:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/?p=1179"},"modified":"2026-08-30T22:45:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T05:45:21","slug":"liberaces-second-act","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/liberaces-second-act\/","title":{"rendered":"Liberace's Second Act"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This article was printed in the<\/em>
\nSpring 2020 issue of Chic Compass Magazine<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

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\"Above:<\/span><\/div><\/div>

Above: The Playel piano, c. 1885, was used in the film about Chopin in 1945 called \u201cA Song to Remember.\u201d The film inspired Liberace\u2019s use of the candelabra.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>

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Liberace's Second Act<\/h1>\n

BY STACEY GUALANDI<\/p>\n<\/div>

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The late, larger-than-life Liberace once famously said, \u201cYou can have either the Resurrection, or you can have Liberace. But you can\u2019t have both.\u201d<\/p>\n

Well, it appears Liberace is having a resurrection of his own.<\/p>\n

\u201cMr. Showmanship,\u201d as he was known around the world, would be celebrating his 100th birthday if he were alive today. But the master pianist never let anything like mortality keep him from taking center stage: As of this writing, there are efforts toward naming a Las Vegas street after him; a \u201cLiberace Grill\u201d restaurant is in final stages of completion in Southern California; and a reality television show called Finding Liberace is in development.<\/p>\n

But the crowning jewel of the Liberace legacy is his recently revived eponymous museum collection in Las Vegas, the city he called home for years. It is magnificently on display throughout the \u201cThriller Villa,\u201d a sprawling Hacienda-style estate that was once home to Michael Jackson until his death in 2009.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe collection was curated by Liberace himself. This is the holy grail,\u201d says Jonathan Warren, Chairman\/CEO of the Liberace Foundation. \u201cWe\u2019ve expanded it, and it\u2019s a far bigger collection than it\u2019s ever been.\u201d<\/p>\n

The museum boasts thousands of iconic pieces\u2014from Liberace\u2019s pristine pianos and captivating candelabras to his showy self-portraits and flashy feathered frocks, curated throughout the former residence of the King of Pop, once a friend of the King of Bling.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>

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\"Artists<\/span><\/div><\/div>

Artists Vault - an iconic 1969 Liberace costume by Frank Acuna stands guard.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>

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The reunion of these two former child prodigies is quite a coincidence. As I learned on the two-and-a-half hour tour, they crossed paths several times during their careers; they once roomed together at Trump Tower; and Liberace was a tremendous early influence on Jackson\u2019s stage style (hello sequined glove!)<\/p>\n

Warren is masterful at sharing the stories and myths surrounding these legendary artists during daily and evening tours for fans of all ages. \u201cIt\u2019s all public history. I\u2019m just regurgitating it,\u201d he jokes.<\/p>\n

But his first memory of Liberace goes back to his childhood growing up in Las Vegas. \u201cEvery day after school, I\u2019m watching TV and there\u2019s Liberace over and over again in these ads that were hilarious\u2026my brother and I used to make fun of the ads with all these Midwestern ladies running down to the stage to touch [him].\u201d<\/p>\n

Now Warren is credited with saving the museum that Liberace once built. In 2013, the original foundation was forced into bankruptcy, and the collection was nearly donated or sold off.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo lose that nucleus of Las Vegas artifacts that are Las Vegas culture would have been a nightmare to me,\u201d says Warren.<\/p>\n

But as a board member at the time, Warren stepped in, and within 5 years, the Glitter Man was back for good.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll we have to do with Liberace is get out of his way, draw back the curtain, sit down and he\u2019d do it himself,\u201d admits Warren. \u201cAnd that\u2019s exactly what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

In its new home, the museum collection thrives on original pieces as well as artifacts on loan. Recent donations include one from a family who used to build Liberace\u2019s stages. They donated a valuable piece of history: a concert jacket that once belonged to a former stage manager from Liberace\u2019s final Radio City Music Hall show in 1986.<\/p>\n

Says Warren of their ongoing success: \u201cWe at this moment have virtually no overhead, no payroll, and no debt. It\u2019s completely stabilized, and now we\u2019re about to go launch into the next stratosphere.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>

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\"Susan<\/span><\/div><\/div>

Susan Liberace of Philadelphia with sculpture of Liberace by artist Marcos Marin of Monte Carlo, at Monte Carlo Fashion Week, 2019. Photo by Jonathan Warren<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>

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And that includes a soon-to-be-announced new board of directors (\u201ca Who\u2019s Who of Vegas\u201d); the aforementioned reality TV show to find the next Liberace (in the unlikeliest of places); and the restaurant chain licensing the Liberace name.<\/p>\n

But Warren says he won\u2019t rest until the Las Vegas marquees all go dark and a \u201cLiberace Boulevard\u201d is officially proclaimed for the once highest-paid entertainer on the Strip, preferably before Liberace\u2019s 101st birthday in May.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know it\u2019s possible, and I hope somebody decides that they\u2019d want to go down in history for having done it rather than going down in history for not.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the meantime, there\u2019s no doubt the King of Bling is here to stay, and his influence will continue to make a mark on the city for years to come. Just like he planned.<\/p>\n

\u201cLiberace is the reason why Las Vegas looks like Las Vegas,\u201d says Warren. \u201cThe reason why it\u2019s known for glitter is because he literally invented it here. His influence is so extensive. I think we\u2019ve been successful at getting that across, at least according to the reviews on TripAdvisor.\u201d :)<\/p>\n<\/div>

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\"The<\/span><\/div><\/div>

The gold leaf Wendl double keyboard piano, c. 1910, was probably made for Austrian royalty, acquired by Liberace in 1952.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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