REVIEW: Las Vegas Entertainment – Madame Tussauds

On the Las Vegas Strip in front of the Venetian Hotel and Casino sits the southwestern home of the most famous “wax” museum chain in the world! Our venture took us to the entrance of this fascinating place only two days after the death of Michael Jackson, so of course his likeness was out in front of the ticket sales counter so that fans could come by and leave cards, gifts and flowers in memoriam and pose for a picture with the full size likeness of the King of Pop.

An even more impressive likeness of Whoopi Goldberg greets visitors to the museum at the base of the escalator. And the best part: LOCALS GET A SIGNIFICANT DISCOUNT OFF ADMISSION!!! Woo Hoo! It was so much better than the $5 off I would have received from showing my “Lion King” ticket stub! So, I grabbed a souvenir program – definitely worth the $6 in my opinion – and headed toward the next figure: Wolverine! What an amazing piece of artwork – especially where the blades are coming out through the skin of his hands between the knuckles. It reminded me of the scene in the movie where Rogue (I think) asked Logan if the blades hurt when they came out and he replied, “Every time.” It hurt me to look at it.

Once inside, I took photos with some favorite stars: Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones, Mel Gibson, Daniel Craig, Johnny Depp, Julia Roberts, Elizabeth Taylor. There were entire rooms of sports figures and race car drivers. My family loved how Evander Holyfield has a scripture verse embroidered on the bottom of his robe, and how much bigger Shaq’s feet are than my husband’s. There is an area in the musical celebrities’ room where you can karaoke in front of a likeness of Simon Cowell. There is also a little haunted prison to go through and a room of politicians and statesmen. The gift shop sells an eclectic mix of items that don’t really seem to pertain to the museum except for a couple of shirts. But it’s interesting to browse.

I don’t know of anyone who hasn’t heard of Madame Tussauds, but an equally impressive number of people have no idea how she got her start. According to the souvenir program, she was in prison in France during the French Revolution. Her first assignment in the craft for which she would become infamous was to make death masks for Marie-Antoinette and Louis XVI. That’s not something I would want to do, personally. But I’m certainly glad she discovered her gifting in this area. This was a fun way for my family to spend some time together on a hot Las Vegas afternoon.