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Madame Tussauds

 
Travel Guide: Madame Tussauds
 

  • Location: London, England

Is it real or is it wax? Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference when you're at Madame Tussauds Wax Museum.

Located on Marylebone Road, the museum is home to an eclectic collection of wax effigies of famous figures from the worlds of politics, entertainment, music and sports, both living and long gone. Take tea with Princess Diana, gaze into Paul Newman's eyes, sing along with the Spice Girls, huddle with Shaquille O'Neal or compare muscles with Arnold Schwarzenegger.

In addition, a ride called "The Spirit of London" takes visitors on an animated journey through London's history, and The Stardome offers a 360° show called "The Wonderful World of Stars," taking a look at celebrities through the eyes of extraterrestrials.

How to get there:

The best way is by tube: the nearest stop is Baker Street (Bakerloo/ Jubilee/ Metropolitan/ Circle/ Hammersmith & City lines). Leave via Marylebone Road exit and turn left (east) to Madame Tussauds.

Four other cities boast a Madame Tussauds Wax Museum: New York, Las Vegas, Amsterdam and Hong Kong. Madame Tussauds New York is located at 234 West 42nd Street (between 7th and 8th Avenues) in the middle of Times Square. Madame Tussauds Las Vegas is located in the heart of the famed Las Vegas Strip on the moving walkway between the Venetian Resort·Hotel·Casino and Las Vegas Blvd. In Amsterdam, Madame Tussauds can be found on Dam Square in the center of the city. And Madame Tussauds Hong Kong is located at one of the famous Asian tourist attractions, The Peak.

Best Time to Visit

Madame Tussauds is open year-round (except for Christmas Day) 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. on weekdays and 9:30 a.m.-6:00 p.m. on weekends. In the summer the museum opens earlier. Madame Tussauds is noted for very long lines, which are very difficult to avoid. Come early. You can jump the line by booking your reservation online; it may also be less expensive. Price for an adult ticket ranges from £14-25; children under 16 pay £9-21; seniors pay £14-25 depending on the time of visit.

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Wikipedia: Madame Tussauds
 
Madame Tussauds and the London Planetarium

Madame Tussauds is a famous wax museum in London with branches in a number of major cities. It was set up by wax sculptor Marie Tussaud.

Contents

History

Marie Tussaud (1761–1850) was born Marie Grosholtz in Strasbourg, France. Her mother worked as a housekeeper for Dr. Philippe Curtius, who was a physician skilled in wax modelling. Curtius taught Tussaud the art of wax modelling. In 1765, Curtius made a waxwork of Marie-Jeanne du Barry, Louis XV's mistress. A cast of that mould is the oldest work currently on display. The first exhibition of Curtius' waxworks was shown in 1770, and attracted a large audience. The exhibition moved to the Palais Royal in Paris in 1776. He opened a second location on Boulevard du Temple in 1782, the "Caverne des Grands Voleurs", a precursor to the later Chamber of Horrors.

Tussaud created her first wax figure, of Voltaire, in 1777. Other famous people she modelled at that time include Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Benjamin Franklin. During the French Revolution she modelled many prominent victims. In her memoirs she claims that she would search through corpses to find the decapitated heads of executed citizens, from which she would make death masks. Following the doctor’s death in 1794, she inherited his vast collection of wax models and spent the next 33 years travelling around Europe. Her marriage to Francois Tussaud in 1795 lent a new name to the show – Madame Tussauds. In 1802, she went to London. As a result of the Franco-British war, she was unable to return to France, so she travelled throughout Great Britain and Ireland exhibiting her collection. For a time, it was displayed at the Lyceum Theatre. From 1831 she took a series of short leases on the "Baker Street Bazaar" (on the west side of Baker Street between Dorset Street and King Street). This became Tussaud's first permanent home in 1836.[1]

By 1835 Marie had settled down in Baker Street, London, and opened a museum. One of the main attractions of her museum was the Chamber of Horrors. This part of the exhibition included victims of the French Revolution and newly created figures of murderers and other criminals. The name is often credited to a contributor to Punch in 1845, but Marie appears to have originated it herself, using it in advertising as early as 1843.[2] Other famous people were added to the exhibition, including Horatio Nelson, and Sir Walter Scott. Some of the sculptures done by Marie Tussaud herself still exist. The gallery originally contained some 400 different figures, but fire damage in 1925, coupled with German bombs in 1941, has rendered most of these older models defunct. The casts themselves have survived (allowing the historical waxworks to be remade) – and these can be seen in the museum’s history exhibit. The oldest figure on display is that of Madame du Barry. Other ancient faces from the time of Tussaud include Robespierre, George III and Benjamin Franklin.In 1842, she made a self portrait which is now on display at the entrance of her museum. She died in her sleep on 15 April 1850.

By 1883 the restricted space and rising cost of the Baker Street site prompted her grandson (Joseph Randall) to commission the building at its current location on Marylebone Road. The new exhibition galleries were opened on 14 July 1884 and were a great success.[3] However, the building costs, falling so soon after buying out his cousin Louisa's half share in the business in 1881, meant the business was under-funded. A limited company was formed in 1888 to attract fresh capital but had to be dissolved after disagreements between the family shareholders, and in February 1889 Tussaud's was sold to a group of businessmen lead by Edwin Josiah Poyser.[4] Edward White, an artist dismissed by the new owners to save money, allegedly sent a parcel bomb to John Theodore Tussaud in June 1889 in revenge.[5]

Madame Tussauds in New York City
New Washington, D.C. location

Madame Tussaud's wax museum has now grown to become a major tourist attraction in London, incorporating (until recently) the London Planetarium in its west wing. It has expanded with branches in Amsterdam, Berlin, Las Vegas, New York City, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Washington, D.C., with an additional location scheduled to open in Hollywood in 2009. Today's wax figures at Tussauds include historical and royal figures, film stars, sports stars and famous murderers. Known as "Madame Tussauds" museums (no apostrophe), they are owned by a leisure company called Merlin Entertainments, following the acquisition of The Tussauds Group in May 2007.

In July 2008, Madame Tussauds' Berlin branch became embroiled in controversy when a 41 year old German man brushed past two guards and decapitated a wax figure depicting Adolf Hitler. This was believed to be an act of protest against showing the ruthless dictator alongside sports heroes, movie stars, and other historical figures. However, the statue has since been repaired and the perpetrator has admitted he attacked the statue to win a bet.[6] The original model of Hitler, unveiled in Madame Tussauds London in April 1933 was frequently vandalised and a replacement in 1936 had to be carefully guarded.[7]

Some of Tussauds wax figures

Sculpture of Shakespeare, London
Sculptures of the Beatles, London
Sculpture of The Queen Mother, London
The wax sculpture of Andy Lau (劉德華), Hong Kong.


Sports stars

Musicians

Actors and actresses

Others

World leaders

' * According to news reports, the Adolf Hitler wax figure was beheaded by one of the first patrons to enter the new Berlin museum on 5 July 2008. The figure was temporarily removed for repairs and will be returned "as quickly as possible".[9]

Madame Tussauds in popular culture

  • Madame Tussauds is the focus of Steve Taylor's song "Meltdown (at Madame Tussauds)" in which the song talks about someone turning up the thermostat (and claims it never did work) and causing the wax figures to melt.
  • The Doctor Who episode, "Spearhead from Space", features a scene at Madame Tussauds.
  • This year the London Madame Tussaudes will appear in an episode of LivingTV's paranormal programme Most Haunted.
  • The museum is featured on the History Channel's series, Life After People: The Series.

Trivia

  • In 1894, Tussauds were sued by Alfred John Monson.[10][11] Monson was tried for and acquitted of the murder of Cecil Hamborough. Tussauds placed a waxwork of Monson near to the Chamber of Horrors. Monson sued for libel and won, although the damages awarded were one farthing.[12]
  • Bollywood actor Aamir Khan is the only actor who has ever declined the offer of Madame Tussauds.[13] This was because he didn't want to feel 'special'.

See also

References

  1. ^ Pilbeam, Pamela (2006). Madame Tussaud: And the History of Waxworks. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 100-104. ISBN 1852855118. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=0XN85Rm85jEC&source=gbs_summary_s. 
  2. ^ Berridge, Kate (2006). Madame Tussaud: A life in wax. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-052847-8. 
  3. ^ Pilbeam, ibid. pp. 166, 168-9
  4. ^ Pilbeam, ibid. pg. 170
  5. ^ "POLICE (20 July 1889 page 6, column 6)". The Times: p. 6. 1889-07-20. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Tussauds_story_The_Times_Sat_July_20_1889.jpg. Retrieved on 2008-11-12. 
  6. ^ "Adolf Hitler returns to Berlin museum after beheading". www.meeja.com.au. 2008-09-14. http://www.meeja.com.au/index.php?display_article_id=211. Retrieved on 2008-09-14. 
  7. ^ Pilbeam, ibid. pg. 199
  8. ^ Lewis Hamilton - MadameTussauds.com
  9. ^ "Madame Tussauds to repair beheaded Hitler". Associated Press. 2008-07-07. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25540602/. Retrieved on 2008-07-07. 
  10. ^ Monson v Tussauds [1894] 1 QB 671
  11. ^ Deakin, Johnston and Markesinis (2008). Markesinis & Deakin's Tort Law. Oxford University Press. p. 757. ISBN 978-0-19-928246-3. 
  12. ^ Pilbeam ibid. pg 211
  13. ^ [1]

Notes

Bibliography

External links

Coordinates: 51°31′22″N 0°09′19″W / 51.52278°N 0.15528°W / 51.52278; -0.15528


 
 

 

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