My Credentials:
1. I have TWO accredited degrees from TWO DIFFERENT respected Las Vegas Universities regarding the Field of Libercian Science.
2. I have BEEN INSIDE the Liberace Museum!
3. My Grandma (with my "Oma" ) saw Liberace preform live and endlessly regaled me with stories of the concerto when I was a child. Part of me feels like I've seen him preform Live even though I have not....
4. When I close my eyes ... I can sometimes SENSE the Legacy, and the Legend of the Luminaire himself ... like a gentle wind whispering through the leafs of the trees.
Okay, so with the formalities now out of the way let's get started shall we?
Part One: Conceptualizing His Place in Human History and What Mark He Left on It
Before we can even begin to understand the Legacy of Liberace and the Legend of this Luminary in any tangible terms that today's society can grasp, we must, describe the generation which proceeded The Man, The Myth, The Icon ... Liberace. We must dive into a world slightly before Liberace was born and witness, nay FEEL, how sucky and boring it was.
Liberace was born 100 years ago on May the 16th of 1919 ... and the world changed forever that day but what was the era right before he was born like? Was it great or did it suck? Let's take a look...
-The Pre-Liberace Era (1,000,000,000,000,000,000 BC to 1919 AD)
The World started a couple billion or trillion or whatever years ago ... it was a rock hurling throughout space. The first life on it was microscopic worms that lived under the Ocean. These worms mutated one day into bigger weirder looking things. Some whacky off-shoot of the base proto worm things got bored eating moss and muck so it started eating the worms instead of the water gunk and it grew bigger. The cycle then kept going for a few million years with worms mutating and becoming bigger weirder worms until many species of worms were crawling around the bottom of the Sea...
Then, it got really really hot. A star blew up or our space-rock hurtled through some hot-zone where the Sun's radiation hit us better with less obstruction. The rock got super hot and in turn the Ocean got super hot... and the myriad of Worm Monsters at the bottom of the sea got super hot.
When Worm Monsters get Hot they do what anyone does ... they do sex and mate with one another. So with all the heat, radiation from the sun, and dirty worm sex going on at the bottom of the sea... WEIRDER-ASS MONSTERS started to off-shoot out of Nature's Gene Pool and cooler variations of Worm Monsters started cruising along the bottom as the aeons progressed.
Sadly, some of the Worm Monsters got really big and some of them ... the bigger ones ... couldn't eat the small ones anymore so a big famine hit. They simply mutated into genres of worms that were just too big to stay fed with the food supply available at the time. Some of these big hungry wormies noticed there were these green leafy Tree-like things on the other side of the top of the ocean ... so they tried to get on Land but couldn't because their fishy-worm-gills couldn't breathe oxygen.
Some mutant worm monsters eventually were born with lungs that could handle living off oxygen and these Amphibious Worm Monsters ventured unto Land... thus becoming Earth's first land-dwelling sea monsters.
Another big heat-wave hit ... and some Land Monsters died ... some lived ... some got heat-mad and sex-mad and went on a mating spree ... and after the heat wave ended EVEN WEIRDER MONSTERS WERE RUNNING AROUND. Some looked like Dinosaurs now! Big marauding beasts with little rhyme or reason.
Alright so we've gone through a few trillion years of Earth's history so far and nothing cool has happened yet. Keep this in mind, friends, the world was gross, boring, and covered with Worm Monsters for most of its existence. People think Dinosaurs were cool ... but they weren't. They were just murderous, mindless, over-sized, Monsters. Who cares? Let's fast forward through the Lizard-Led era of Earth and get to the Monkey part. HUMANS!
Humans came about at some point and started making tools and villages and castles. Which is cooler than anything any dinosaur ever did. So to all you Dinosaur coo-coos out there who are all the time "dinosaurs this" and "dinosaurs that"... how come not ONE dinosaur in millions of years couldn't invent one thing? Not even a hammer ... or a telephone ... or a boat .. or an 8-bit video game entertainment system? Why? Because they were not all that great. They really weren't.
Humans weren't all about inventing and being fun though .... this era of humanity was SUPER VIOLENT! A caveman couldn't walk a mile in cave town without some other whacked-out caveman, who was probably whacked-out on rotten naturally-fermented lizard's-blood, kicking his damned head in. Cave men might have invented sticks and stuff but they mainly used them to hurt other people ... which is DUMB and NOT NICE.... at all.
Early humans were smelly and bad. Eventually they invented newer stuff like bath tubs, guns, and ice cream makers along the way but right up to 1919 ... right up until before Liberace was born ... they were still pretty lame.
World War One started in 1914 ... and the Entire WORLD of pre-Liberace humans began to murder each other in record numbers. You know how many people died in World War One? This many:
From Violence: 40 million
From Disease Pandemics: 50 million
From Displacement, Famine, and general Degradation: Unknown Figure
So it's 90 million confirmed deaths in 1918 post-war totals and I'd tack on another 20 million from other things that I don't think were totaled back then. I'd say in 1918 when the War ended about 110 million people just died terrible terrible deaths...
...So the World in 1918? It was not very good at all. It was a place of terrible violence and horrendous degradation.
But then in 1919 .... Liberace was born and that all finally changed forever.
Liberace is Born.
-The Beginning of a Legacy ... A Legend is Born! (1919 to 1936)
(Note: this portion is historically dealing with the era of 1919 to 1936, okay? Great piano players like Mozart aren't going to be compared to Liberace because Mozart's era was the 1700s. Yes, Mozart was maybe a slightly better piano player than Liberace but he doesn't qualify for the Era being dealt with in the following portion.)
Liberace's hometown was West Allis, Wisconsin. His father was an Italian and his mother was a Polish lady. With such average origins who would have imagined he would become not only the Hautest Culture of the Midwest but of the World?
He was a prodigy at a young age ... and even at age five was already probably the best piano player in society. His teachers at music school were so jealous of him it wasn't even funny, really. They were extra mean to Liberace because they knew at his age he was already better than they were ... and they were Music Teachers! They scorned him and slapped him with rulers. They forbade Liberace from playing experimental and fun music on the piano ... he was limited to the "classics" and not allowed to even deviate from them an inch!
Liberace's parents, were supportive of the prodigy, and told him ... "Liberace you should defy the teachers and play whatever you want on the piano!" .... and he did!
At music school, at age 11, under the supportive bulwark of positive-re-enforcement by his parents, Liberace played a classic but with a MODERN twist, with an unfamiliar sound signature, and a creative finishing tempo!
.... and guess what? You'll never guess. Did the teacher hit him? Did the teacher faint? No! The teacher openly wept at how great it was! It was at that very moment that Liberace knew he had a gift that could not be contained! He had a Heavenly-Adorned ability that the World needed to See!
Liberace left Wisconsin.....
-Becoming the Era's Most Greatest Pianist! (1936 to 1955)
(As stated above, when we refer to the Greatest Pianist of the Era, we are only including living and active ones from the years 1919 to 1955 ... Mozart and Beethoven can't be considered ... and I know many of you are saying that they are better than Liberace, guys like Mozart and them ... but that's not fair. Those guys just played piano all day. I think one of them was BLIND too and couldn't go outside even so he just played piano non-stop in the 1700s. When annointing the Greatest Pianist of the Era we are only including living/active ones of said era ... keep that in mind before saying things like "Ya, but what about Beethoven??")
Liberace after bringing his stuck-up teacher to joyful tears through sheer brilliance was ready to bring his pianistmanship to the World ... but was the World ready for his pianistmanship? No, it wasn't.
Critics ripped his interesting new pieces to shreds in the papers and it really took its toll on Liberace .. but it didn't deter the Legend at all. He kept playing sold out shows with his New Interesting Music and everyone loved it because it was really amazing ... especially the ladies!
Young Liberace, under his stage name "Walter" !
He rose the ranks of the Piano world like a surging bolt of incredible lightning! He was whippin' it loose on every big venue in the USA, slappin' the keys like an out of control wild fire, and meeting all the finest ladies!
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| Biggs (left), MacMillan (right) |
At the time, his contemporaries who were considered "Great" and possibly in the poll position of the piano world were E. Power Biggs and Ernest "The Canadian Pianist Knight" MacMillan. E. Power Biggs was probably number One at that point and Ernest MacMillan was number two. They were good at it, no doubt ... but with a soaring Liberace getting better and better at piano by the second ... how long could either E. Power Biggs or Ernest MacMillan lay claim to being the greatest pianist of the era? Not long. Their time as being considered the greatest at playing the piano was fleeting and was soon to come to an abrupt end.
E. Power Biggs? Ernest MacMillan? Sorry fellas but there's a new kid in town and his name is Liberace! By 1950 he was hands-down better than either E. Power or Ernest ... here he is playing as fast as anyone else had ever played:
The Era's Most Greatest!!
By 1955 it was sewed up, sealed, and delivered ... it was official and undeniable .... Liberace was the greatest pianist on earth, yet, that was only the beginning of the Legend's journey into Legacy. The road to the top was now without obstacles... just smooth sailing into outright Fame.
For Liberace would become the Most Famous Person in the Entire World....
-Becoming the Most Famous Human in all of the World (1955 to 1980)
One day, Liberace was asked to perform at the grand opening of one of the USA's most expensive Hotel and Banquet Halls and a reporter asked Liberace, who was famous for both his black and white stunning tuxedos, what he'd be wearing for his upcoming performance.
Liberace froze in fright. He didn't know what to say.
Standing near him was his sister who ported a Golden Jacket ... under duress and pressure by the reporter Liberace said...
"Something like she's wearing ... but more extravagant and ostentatious!"
...and from that off-hand, under-pressure comment to local media prior to the opening of a banquet hall ... Liberace began wearing the most incredibly beautiful garments ever to grace the frame of a person.
The banquet hall was the embarkation point of Liberace's quest to become the most Famous Person in the World. His clothes kept getting better and better and then more better and more better! It was truly amazing. He very quickly became more famous than the Queen of England and everyone!
The Queen of England looked like an actual poor person compared to Liberace.... for he had acquired the world's most rarest of gems, expensive of jewels, and ancientest of artifacts in a short time. Much of the fare was piano-themed too ... which was cool. By 1965 he had Six Homes, Seventeen Dining Rooms, and a Pool with Piano Keys on the sides so he could play piano in his pool. Rich people like the Queen, or Oil Tycoons, or Railroad Barons probably had NONE of these incredibly cool things.
Here we can see Liberace fly into a show on his personal Hot-Air Balloon to witness his Majesty!
He is Truly Amazing.
By 1965 he was the first ever.... Super Star!
All of society was finally good. There was no more Worm Monsters terrorizing the oceans, or World Wars taking away our young sons lives well before their times ... everything was finally the way it should be... and to this day we are still living in the Liberace Era! The era of Complete Show-Biz, Complete Entertainment, and Complete Larger-Than-Life-a-tude!
Some people will say the ShowBiz obsessed society of today is wrong and bad... but when compared to the pre-Liberace world of war, famine, pestilence, and decay ... they are nuts to think that.
-The End of an Era and the Start of an UnEnding Legacy (1980 to 1987)
"I suppose I wanna feel that my presence on earth is going to be felt for a long time after I'm gone so in order to make this presence felt for posterity I have done certain things for example: I would like to feel that all the antiques I have collected will be enjoyed by people long after I have become but a mere memory. All the things I have acquired have been placed in my care to look after ... they don't really belong to me. They belong to the World."
-Liberace
Liberace was Liberace for one reason... because he dared to dream. What set him apart from the other extravagant characters of humanity's history was that it, all along, the entire time, it was all just a big lark. He enjoyed life, had fun with it, and because of that people had fun and enjoyed life as well.
He didn't take himself seriously. He knew life was just a big stage to have fun on. What a lot of people don't get about Liberace is that for the most part it was a comedic character he was performing.
There's no other entity in the vast inter-twining paths of History that instills the great basic notion in the human mind of total joie-de-vivre and also of total absolute ridiculousness. The entity which encapsulates this is Liberace.When it comes to his vast collection of chachkies and gaudy gimickery, he never felt as though he really owned any of it, because he knew he couldn't take it with him. He believed he was the curator of a Living Museum ... the overseer of a life-like Mythology happening right before society's eyes. Today's trinkets are tomorrow's artifacts and Liberace's gaudy scarves and diamond encrusted piano-shaped watches are now artifacts of a bygone century called the 1900s on display for posterity.
Some ancient Egyptian Pharaohs wanted to be buried with their trinkets so they could take them to heaven with them ... no such luck King Tote-En-Whatever ... they're just gathering dust in some pyramid, my friend. Some Kings and Queens want their wealth sealed in an old tower so no one else can get what was theirs. Some pirates pillage and steal a fortune only to die with it buried in some stinky cave somewhere ... where no one will find it. You can't take your Wealth "With You" where you're going, friends. You can't take anything where you're going but you can leave something ...
You can only leave a Legend's Legacy.
Liberace's Legend's Legacy wasn't the gaudy, almost-ridiculous possessions he accumulated in his life time to be viewed at his personal Museum in Las Vegas ... Liberace's gift to the world was a Stardom that couldn't possibly be forgotten ... not even seven thousand years from now .... for he is still The World's Most Famous Man of All Time!
Part Two: A Post Liberace World? It's Great! But When Imagining a World without Liberace Would the Following Things Exist?
"......and Wavy Hair like Lib Ah Racheee!" -The Andrews Sisters (and the Chordettes)
In a hypothetical scenario where Liberace didn't leave Wisconsin and become the World's First Super Star and the Most Famous Person in History ... would a lot of great things we take for granted today even exist? Let's rapid fire out some Frequently Asked Questions on this matter.....
Would Sports Exist?
Yeah, they would without Liberace, yeah.
Would Wrestling Exist?
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| Wrestle Mania 1 |
Liberace was even the Special Guest Time Keeper at Wrestle Mania 1, the event which catapulted Wrestling into the lime-light and spot-light of the magical eighties. I personally even believe that if Liberace didn't personally appear at Wrestle Mania 1 that the WWF/WWE wouldn't have soared like a lightning bolt the way it did.
Would Godzilla and other Kaiju exist without Liberace?
That's a fascinating one. I'm not sure about that. It's a great question. I think Liberace's larger than life persona inspired the likes of King Kong and other things of that nature but to flat out say that Godzilla and Kaiju wouldn't exist in a post-Liberace World yet one in which Liberace didn't previously actually exist? It's a stretch, I'd say. Good question though.
Did he once play a Piano on a Piano?
Yes, but this question isn't really on topic with this section. Please keep following questions on topic. But, yes, he certainly once played a smaller piano on top of a bigger piano. Which is probably a feat reserved to only him.
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| Playing a Piano on another Piano.... |
Some scholars say he was "meta" before "meta" existed ... but that's wrong. The genre of meta-this and meta-that is a tired one as old as time. Liberace was not "meta" ... he was above that childish schoolyard philosophical drivel.
Why would he do that?
Why would he play a piano on top of another piano? I don't know ... because it's cool? Obviously. I mean, why does anyone do anything, really?
Would Cartoons Exist in a Universe where He Never Was?
Yeah.
Would Reality Shows exist?
Probably not but who cares?
What do you think about Disney Land? Would that still be here?
Lee once described himself as a "One-Man walking Disney Land" or some-such-like equivalent. Honestly, I don't think there'd be a Disney Land or Disney World in a sans-Liberace situation.
Would World Wars III, IV, and V have occurred in a World Without Lee?
That's not a straight forward question, do I believe these three Wars were totally outright averted due to Liberace having been alive in the World during the time-frame in which they theoretically would have taken place? I wouldn't go and say that these three disasters were averted totally thanks to him but I do believe he played a part, I'm not sure how big or small, in keeping these Wars at bay, Yes.
Youtube Stars? What about them?
Without the encroaching over-taking of Show-Biz on Society in a non-Lee Universe ... they'd all be working at the photo copy store or selling matches in the street like the commonest of street urchins.
Would Cosplay and fastidious ad-hoc Not-Even-On-Hallowen-Even costume Dressing-Up people exist without Liberace?
Maybe ... yeah, probably.
Why would he live his entire life in a gaudy, extra sensational, tour-de-force, fashion?
I dunno, maybe because he wanted to?
Was he a good cook? I heard he was really good at it...
Yes, he was an exceptional chef ... maybe one of the greatest ever. He has a good cookbook where he teaches people how to make "Liberace Lasagna" and other culinary wonders. Here he is on the first incarnation of the fantastic David Letterman program cooking up a storm whilst in regal dress....
Yes, he was an excellent cook.
Would the over-the-toppingly extravagent bosses accompanied by symphonies at the end of the Final Fantasy games exist without Liberace being in the World in a prior Era?
Great question! Hmmmm....I'll go with No on that one. They wouldn't exist without Lee.
Dragon Ball Z?
Yeah ... it would still be able to creatively exist in a non-Liberace scenario-Universe in and of its-own. Yes.
The Muppet Show?Maybe ... he was on it though.... and its a GOOD episode of the Muppet Show that I highly recommend to readers.
Stand Up Comedy?
Vaudeville pre-dates Lee ... but Liberace's crowd work is emulated by comics in modern times, I find. It was NOT common for performers of any sort to talk to the audience and make them part of the show prior to Lee. Liberace spent a good portion of his concerts walking through the audience, meeting them, asking them about themselves, showing them his diamond piano-shaped rings, etc, etc.
Forest Fires?
That's a dumb question that does not dignify an answer because it makes no sense.
What about Elton John?
No. I heard he's getting a bio-pic now which I'm sure will present him well. I can't say the same thing for the Liberace bio-pic ... which warrants its own section so let's move out of this section now.
Part Three: The Underwhelming Liberace "Movie" and my Proposed Better One.....
Many people openly wonder why the Liberace-based film starring M. Douglas* and M. Damon was so awful and why nobody at all liked it even a little bit.
To explain why the Liberace Movie wasn't very good would take weeks or even months to properly deconstruct. I, off the top of my head, could list almost 5,000 reasons why this film didn't work ... and at some point you have to wonder if anyone involved with the film had any understanding of who Liberace even was.
Yet, we must always look for silver linings in art though, even very poorly made art. For me personally, the Liberace Movie helped me identify with religious folks a lot more than I previously did as a discorned teenager. I get why people so immensely hated Martin Scrosese's "The Last Temptation of Christ", for instance now, where a great Larger-Than-Life Mythos-Man was portrayed as just being this regular guy who does bad things. They are removing the Mythos around this character and making him this regular run-of-the-mill figure. Last Temptation sparked not only controversy but even riots and led to people burning down movie theaters.
When your working with figures who's Myths proceed them ... it is sort of cheap and underhanded to de-mystify them ... and for me the Liberace Movie really made me understand that and really made me understand why people would be so incensed over that Scrosese film. Scrosese is good at crime-lore, and making gangsters into mythological anti-heroes ... that's his talent ... he's good at that ... so why he would even tackle a topic like Jesus of Nazareth is beyond me. It's fun to branch out and try a new style and that's probably what Martin had in mind, I'm guessing.
The people behind the Liberace Movie (I think it's called "Behind the Candelabra" or something) de-mystified Lee to the point of ludicrousness. He was not only de-mystified but VILIFIED! Absolutely vilified into being a Lecherous Howler or a Lascivious Prima-Donna .... not the Legendary and Legacious person he truly was.
The mythos genre isn't for amateurs, it really isn't. To work in the art of the mythos genre takes a different approach. You can't apply your well-honed skills at crime-glorification to make a Jesus movie ... and you FOR SURE can't apply your skills at absolutely nothing to make a Liberace movie.
A good Liberace film would be 70% exaggerated over-the-top almost-ludicrous gallavantary and total gallantry. The other 30% for "drama" and note that word is under heavy-duty quotations.
You know what was a good movie? You know what it was the Freddie Mercury movie? That was good that movie. I was worried going to the theater what is was going to be at first that Freddie Mercury Movie. I was thinking they can only go down two roads with it ... one road where it's 20% fun concerts (music centric) and 80% drama where he's like Tom Hanks in Philadelphia trying to crowbar an Oscar loose from the Academy by suffering and dying of illness. The other road as 80% fun music scenes ... and only 20% or less drama scenes of him trying to wiggle out an Oscar.
I was happy that it was the latter, that film, that it was 80% about fun, music, rock, roll, and HUGE CGI CONCERTOS, a true Bohemian Rhapsody in the purest of sense. It really was a good movie. The actor from the Freddie Mercury movie still made it to the Oscars, I think, even though the movie was 80% fun instead of 80% drama. Can you imagine? The Oscar going to a fun movie that people actually like? What a concept.
In a good Liberace movie, the 30% of drama that should be assigned to the mythos is a sibling-related drama with his respect for George and Angie. I think it is really interesting that it seems the Liberace Musuem was constructed not only to house Liberace's assortment of famed memorabilia and exquisite relics ... but also to keep George Liberace, his far less living-legend of a brother, in the Liberace Universe in some manner as the Liberace Train was really starting to leave the station and Liberace Mania was taking foot. I find that to be a very interesting portion of Liberace History.
I would even go as far as to name the good version of a Liberace Movie something like "Wladziu-Valentino and George" where the lead actor playing Lee can be all over-the-wall and off-the-top and the George character can be a more serious actor who plays it very serious-like. That way, the actor playing Lee can win the Best Actor Oscar and the actor playing George can win Best Supporing Actor Oscar come awards-season. Plus, since it would be a music-based film ... it'd probably rack up all the music-related Oscars ... and since it is a mythological film with Godzilla-like special effects ... it'd rake in all the Special Effect Oscars too. My prognosticated "Good Liberace Movie" would probably be the first film in history to rack up and clean sweep the entirety of the Oscar trophies.
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| Liberace ... and George. |
Alright here's a sample dialogue between Wladziu-Valentino "Liberace" Liberace and George "Plain Old" Liberace from my movie (that only exists in my head):
Scene 24.1(A): Brother, I Wouldn't be Liberace if it wasn't for you and Angie!
George Liberace: Val, the show's making so much money, you have Six Homes and almost Seventeen Dining Rooms as the Seventeenth is almost completed at your Las Vegas Villa ... I think it's time you shed off some dead weight, Val....
Vaelntino Liberace: What do mean, dear brother?
George Liberace: Hmmm, you don't need me. You're Liberace now ... and I am ... I'm just George. I'm not one for the Lime Light. When I go to renew my driver's license ... do you think there's thousands of people screaming "Libber-Rach-EEh!" at me and clamoring for autographs? No, they don't even recognize me for the most part. In fact, to avoid being called an imposter, I don't even pronounce it in that way ... when I renew my driver's license, I tell them my name is George "Libber Ace" like the playing card. It's not for me anymore this world of glam and glory ... Val. You can soar to greater heights if you only had less of a kind heart and were able to send me to road side....
Vaelntino Liberace: George.......
George Liberace: You have achieved dreams greater than any reality before... and you can still soar to ever-more greater skies and climb higher and higher above. You don't need this old chunk of dead weight, this hunk of charcoal, holding you down any longer .... you must fly! You must fly to your peak! You must soar like a multi-colored rainbow up, up, and away to bigger dreams! You are the Golden guy, Valentino, you are truly the Golden Guy!
Vaelntino Liberace: Golden? Oh golden schmolden, George. Do you know why I wore that Golden Jacket the night before the opening of the Hotel Banquet Hall all those years ago? All those years back when I still just wore a plain black tuxedo with you on our show? Do you want to know why I wore that amazing Golden Jacket that night at the Hall opening, do you George? Golden.... gold schmold. Gold .... schmold.
George Liberace: Why?
Vaelntino Liberace: A reporter asked me a question, something along the lines of "what manner of extravagent wear shall you adorn for the concerto celebrating the opening of the new Banquet Hall, Liberace?" .... and I pannicked, George, I didn't know what to say to this High Society newspaper man ... I didn't want to let the Hotel folks down ... you know? I wanted to promote the concert, that's all ... and ...
George Liberace: And...?
Vaelntino Liberace: I was with Angie, she was wearing a Golden Jacket ... and it was spur of the moment. I told the High Society newspaper man something like "That! That, but only 100 times more dazzling!" ... and they printed it in the paper that I would wear something more bedazzling than even a gilded jacket!
George Liberace: What of it? You're still the Golden Guy, Val ... just because you became Him by accident doesn't change the reality of it all! You're Him, the Golden Guy, you not need ask why. You need not try to under-sell it or justify it down... You're Him, Val. You are Liberace!
Vaelntino Liberace: Even before the opening, even before the Golden Jacket ... before it all. Do you know why I even left Milwaukee, George? Do you know why I left Wisconsin and came to Vegas?
George Liberace: Why, Val? Why?
Vaelntino Liberace: Do you wanna know why? Do you really wanna know why? Dooooo you wannnnnaaaa knooooooooooow why-high-high-high-high!?
(an Extended Music Interlude breaks out here:
1. Liberace plays a short Piano Solo that is cool and good.
2. A group of sexy female dancers storm in and sing a powerful number where the chorus is "Do You Wanna Know Why-High-High-Eye-Eye-High-Hiiiiiigh!"
3. The Musical interlude ends and the dialogue continues as if nothing extra-ordinary or incredibly cool just happened)
George Liberace: Tell Me, Valentino! Tell me Why! WHY!?
Vaelntino Liberace: You were doing the club scene there George, and I was lonely in Milwaukee, I wanted to come see you.... because ... I missed you, George.
George Liberace: ....
Vaelntino Liberace: If you never ventured out here before me, George, I would still be in Milwaukee calling myself Wlad Libber Ace ... instead of LIBERACE!
George Liberace: (George is visibly over come by powerfully positive emotions)
Vaelntino Liberace: I just wanted to be like you, and now you are telling me I am too big for you. Do you remember when I was on Batman, George? I made them write in that I had a brother named Harry ... a simple name ... my name was Chandell on the show ... Chandell and Harry. I personally asked Lorenzo Semple Junior to work you in ... in some way ... I made them mention you in some way, George ... without you there is no Liberace. Do you think me standing on a stage in a tuxedo was a big deal? It was a big deal because your drabness made me look spectacular even if I was anything but .... without you George don't you see .... there is no Me ... there is no "Libber Ach Ee" there is only Libber Ace ... like the playing card as you say.
George Liberace: I understand that. Still, you can't take your foil to top with you. You can't take an Earthbound fellow like me to the Promised Land you are boldly headed to ... and deep down, even if you don't like it, you know it is true....
Vaelntino Liberace: No, George I need you to do something. I am opening the Liberace Museum next month. It will feauture many of my most treasured artifacts and historically-significant relics that I have accumulated on my vast travels ... I need someone dependable to curate the Liberace Museum, George. I know you're the only one I can trust to watch over my most prized possessions and show them to the adoring public. You're the only one I can trust to over see the Liberace Museum!
George Liberace: I'll do it. You can trust me to preserve the honor of the Legend and Legacy of Liberace for thousands of years to come!
Vaelntino Liberace: With all of the fibers of my human heart .... I thank you from the bottom of it, George!
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| George was the First Curator of the Famed Liberace Museum in Las Vegas... |
(End of Section Notes:
*Though they share the same namesake (both firstmost and last) this M. Douglas is not Lee's close personal friend Mike Douglas the interviewer ... this M.Douglas here refers to the one that's married to C. Zeta-Jones.)
Conclusion
A dirt-poor son of immigrants who became the Most Famous Person to Ever Live. If that doesn't inspire you then you are uninspirable. So many of you are at home, reading this, feeling sorry for yourselves that life isn't giving you what you want out of it... but it's there ... it's really there... what you want.
The Legend and Legacy exists within all of us ... deep down inside of us. We are all Legends .... each and every one of us. There's a super star inside of each of us just waiting to become More, just waiting to become Great ... to step up to the plate and hit a big Homerun right out of the park!
Whether you want to believe it or not... you can be Somebody.
When you close your eyes I know you can feel it burning inside of you ... every one has it! Everyone has potential in this life. Whether you work at the Bowling Alley or the Store or Whatever it is... even if you don't know it ... IT'S THERE!
IT is THERE. If you DREAM IT then you can BELIEVE IT! It's really THERE!
The Legend of Liberace ... is always there.
May 16th marks One Hundred Years of Liberace. It is a Centennial Fair!
.........Ha!
