Entertainment became linked with Las
\nVegas<\/st1:place><\/st1:City> in the 1940s when savvy city planners and casino
\nentrepreneurs rightly reasoned that even hard-edged gamblers would need an
\noccasional respite from the drudgery of table games and the challenge of sports
\nbetting that had lured them to this desert outpost in the first place. Of the
\nmany who<\/span> came to sing, dance and tell jokes was one so
\nunique that he set the standard for the glitzy performances that have become
\nthe city\u2019s staple. He joins Benjamin \u201cBugsy<\/span>\u201d Siegel
\nand Howard Hughes as the third of four men who helped make Las
\nVegas<\/st1:place><\/st1:City> the most unique city in the world. <\/p>\n

Part 3: The Man Who Played Las Vegas<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>.<\/p>\n

Although classically trained and universally recognized as one of the foremost
\npianists in the world, Walter Valentino Liberace, the recipient of six gold
\nrecord albums and two Emmy Awards, became even better known as the symbol of
\nLas Vegas entertainment, a flamboyant, over-the-top performer who represented
\nthe scorned image of wretched excess often associated with many of Las Vegas\u2019
\nstage acts. <\/p>\n

It is perhaps ironic that Liberace, who first performed in Las
\nVegas<\/st1:place><\/st1:City> in 1942 and whose talent on the keyboards was
\nwithout dispute, nevertheless helped pave the way for a succession of marginal
\nperformers who offered more style than substance to their audiences. Without Liberace,
\nthere probably never could have been a Charo<\/span>, a Lola Falana<\/span>, or the slew of Elvis impersonators who continue to
\nearn their livings in the city that brazenly refers to itself as \u201cthe
\nEntertainment Capital of the World.\u201d <\/p>\n

But marginal musicians and singers weren\u2019t the only beneficiaries of Liberace\u2019s
\nconscious, if insidious, pushing of the Las Vegas<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>
\nentertainment envelope. <\/p>\n

In a city where reality is no closer than the next bus ride home and the
\nunexpected now has become the anticipated, illusionists such as David
\nCopperfield, Siegfried & Roy, and Lance Burton owe a measure of their
\nsuccess, if not their very existence, to Liberace\u2019s underrated ability to
\ntranscend the boundaries of traditional entertainment. <\/p>\n

And it\u2019s something less than a stretch to suggest that the audience\u2019s
\nacceptance of Liberace\u2019s effeminate manner cleared the path for the
\nacquiescence of such long-running gender-bender acts as Boylesque<\/span>
\nand La Cage. <\/p>\n

Through it all – the ostentatious sequined gowns, the ever-present candelabra,
\nthe gaudy gems, the spectacular pianos, the shtick that overwhelmed the music –
\nLiberace understood what he was doing. <\/p>\n

\u201dI\u2019m the first to admit my stage costumes have become a very expensive joke but
\nI have fun with them and the audience shares that fun with me,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

But Liberace, who died in 1987 at age 67, had a serious side, too. In 1976 he
\ncreated the Liberace Foundation for the Performing and Creative Arts which,
\nover the years, has funded over $5 million in scholarships to 2,200 students at
\n110 colleges and universities across the nation. <\/p>\n

In 1979, Liberace also built the Liberace<\/st1:PlaceName>
\nMuseum<\/st1:PlaceType><\/st1:place>, a fantasyland for adults
\ncomprised of a trio of buildings located in southeast Las
\nVegas<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>. Walking through the non-profit museum, one can
\neasily imagine how Alice<\/st1:place><\/st1:City> felt when
\nshe first peered through the looking glass. The museum, which is stocked with
\nmementos and items from Liberace\u2019s professional and personal life (though it\u2019s
\nnot easy to tell the two apart) has little relevance to most people\u2019s reality. In
\nother words, it fits perfectly in Las Vegas<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>.<\/p>\n

Liberace wasn\u2019t a visionary in the mold of Siegel or Hughes but he was as much
\nan innovator, bringing a new, bolder type of entertainment to Las
\nVegas<\/st1:place><\/st1:City> that transformed the industry and attracted
\npeople, many of who didn\u2019t fit the prototype of the average gambler, to the
\ncity. After one of his shows, these same folks would hit the slots and table
\ngames and engage in sports betting, an unexpected but welcomed part of the
\nlegacy that is Liberace\u2019s enduring influence on Las Vegas<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>.<\/p>\n

This article was written on behalf of OffshoreInsiders.com<\/a><\/span><\/b>
\nby Luken<\/span> Karel<\/span> for http:\/\/www.thegreek.com<\/span><\/strong><\/a>.
\n<\/o:p><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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