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Madame Tussauds Wax Museum Hollywood
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Madame Tussauds Wax Museum Hollywood
By Bruce Wildstein

Legendary wax figure museum Madame Tussauds has open-ed their newest branch in Hollywood, and with a contemporary design and central location, it promises to become one of the area's highly popular sites. Most people associate the name with the original London location, but the history of the popular attraction started over 200 years ago in France. As a young teenager, Marie Tussaud was employed as the art tutor to King Louis XVI's sister at the Palace Of Versailles just outside Paris. As part of her duties, she created death masks of aristocrats who had met their untimely demise. Under the tutelage of Dr. Philippe Curtius, a physician, Marie learned the art of wax modeling. She went on tours through Europe exhibiting her and the doctor's creations for a number of years. Eventually she accompanied a touring exhibition to London and settled there with the collection of figures along with other artifacts and relics of European wars. As time progressed, she became more involved in the wax recreations of public figures so as to allow the public to interact with popular heroes, politicians, and celebrities.

The new Hollywood location is a high tech looking three-story building with each floor dedicated to different periods of time and themes. And each Madame Tussauds museum tries to reflect on the celebrities of its region. Because Los Angeles is home to so many major names in film, music, and sports, there is an almost endless supply of stars from which the museum can choose for its displays. In the world of film one can start with stars of old such as Charlie Chaplin and Clark Gable, move on to Audrey Hepburn and Lucille Ball, and end with today's stars like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Action stars include Bruce Willis, Will Smith, and Arnold Schwarzenneger. From the world of music, you will see Elton John, Snoop Dog, Justin Timberlake, and Frank Sinatra. From the world of sports, you'll stand next to Kobe Bryant ready to shoot a basketball. And President Barack Obama is also present with his picture perfect smile. To make things even more interesting, props and backgrounds surround many of the celebrities to enhance the overall effect. Director Alfred Hitchcock stands next to a shower with the shadow of a psycho behind the curtain. John Wayne stands in a set with a Western motif. And at don't be afraid to get up close, there are no ropes or barriers between you and the figures; they stopped using them some time ago.

The wax figures themselves are nothing short of astounding recreations. After you've seen the figures, you can spend some time in an area where an exhibit shows through pictures and videos how they are made. Literally, 800 hours of time go into making a single figure. The process includes having the celebrity travel to Madame Tuss-auds headquarters in London where they are meticulously measured from head to toe. Everything from arm length to the distance between their eyes is noted as well as skin color and texture, hair analysis, etc. until over 250 calculations are recorded for the process. If the person is deceased, photographs must be used. A metal wire skeleton is then created upon which the final wax figure is attached. All hair is inserted one strand at a time, and the skin is painted in layers using special paints to achieve the correct color. Costuming provides the final touch.

And what would a museum be without a gift shop? Madame Tussauds has it all, from mugs to pens to you name it, there are numerous gift items available on the ground floor shop before you leave. So if you've never been to a Madame Tussauds Wax Museum, you no longer have to travel far. Madame Tussauds is located at 6933 Hollywood Blvd next door to Grauman's Chinese Theatre and is open daily.

(323) 462-0303
www.madametussauds.com

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