San Diego Arts"Music & Memories" at the Welk Resort Theatre
Starring Wayland Pickard as Liberace The music is glorious, the jokes unashamedly corny, and the only thing that sparkles more than the silver sheen curtains is the star's sequin-and-diamond-happy attire. Yes, folks, it's the man from Milwaukee himself, Liberace, and though the entertainer has been dead over twenty years, he came alive again for an all-too-brief 80 minutes Saturday night at the Welk Resort Theatre in Escondido. Wayland Pickard is the name of the man responsible for the evening's entertainment, and thanks to some virtuosic tinkling on the keys, a winning rapport with the audience, and a likeness remarkably close to the real thing himself, "Music & Memories" is a joyous, if ultimately unenlightening, beginning to the Welk's 2008 season (and that ho-hum title's gotta go).
 Wayland Pickard as Liberace Copyright©2008 Sergio Fernandez The "Music" ranges from beautifully played classics like Chopin's Nocturne in E flat major and Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" to Joplin's "The Entertainer" and Berlin's "I Love a Piano." In between, there's a smattering of "popped up" classics (in typical Liberace style) like some "Hard Rock" Rachmaninoff and a jazzed up Debussy piece Pickard jokingly refers to as "Claire de Saloon." Though the video projections used during the Andrew Lloyd Webber tribute ("Cats" and "The Phantom of the Opera," of course) are a little tiresome, and the stationary American flag in the John Philip Sousa section is so schmaltzy the only thing missing is Baby June and company down front twirling some batons, for the remainder of the evening it's the most effective use of multimedia seen at the Welk thus far. When the projection isn't helping the audience remember the lyrics in a boisterous singalong of "The Beer Barrel Polka," or showing accompanying clips of film classics like "An Affair to Remember" and "Doctor Zhivago" in the movie music section, it's usually providing an up-close look at Pickard's marvelously bejeweled fingers dancing vigorously atop the keys. As for the "Memories" part of the program, there's a nice mix of funny (okay, corny!) anecdotes and asides peppered throughout. True, the show is geared toward Liberace fans, most of whom tend to find themselves on the "greater than" side of 40, but some younger audiences -- myself included -- may find themselves surprised that a man who describes himself as "your mother's Elton John" could be so entertaining (rather, my grandmother's Elton John...maybe). One just has to see Pickard's one-man, one-handed bench-top can-can to believe it. Visually, the show recalls a sumptuous, intimate Vegas showroom, with Ryan Seybert's shiny-curtained set design complementing Pickard's diamond-heeled white oxfords and glittering getup (by Margo Stone and Alexa Stone). Jennifer Edwards-Northover's colorful lighting design fits in perfectly. Kevin Haney's makeup design makes subtle use of prosthetics to further Pickard's transformation into Liberace, and Victoria Wood's wig design completes the look. Through Pickard, one gets to learn a little about the man who was born Wladziu Valentino Liberace (to Polish-American and Italian parents), but surprisingly, the show continues to dance around the topic of Liberace's sexuality, just as Liberace did during his lifetime. Despite a $113 million palimony suit against Liberace brought about in 1982 by his live-in boyfriend Scott Thorson, the entertainer continued to deny his homosexuality up until his death five years later, and in "Music & Memories," the most substantial mention of it is a joke about why he never got married -- because he "couldn't spare the closet space." Hardy har har. Not surprisingly, this brand of denial is wholeheartedly endorsed by the Liberace Foundation, the result being a vastly entertaining show in which, amazingly, we learn very little about the man himself. In the end, the "Memories" shared here are the sanitized, wholesome ones most Liberace fans revere, which may prove frustrating to anyone wanting to know more about the man as a whole. It's a good thing, then, that the "Music" is so good.
 Frankie Moran About the author: Frankie Moran is a graduate of the 2008 NEA Arts Journalism Institute in Theater and Musical Theater at USC's Annenberg School of Communication. He was also a Phi Theta Kappa valedictorian at San Diego's own Mesa College and graduated from UCLA's School of Theater, Film, and Television. Frankie got his start in theater criticism writing reviews of Broadway shows during a short stint at Columbia University. Since then, he has written for the North County Times and the Las Cruces Bulletin. More by this author Subscribe to Arts:
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I won't comment any further on the issues of Liberace's personal life that Ms. Brubaker raises, but having reviewed the national tours of both "Cats" and "The Phantom of the Opera" in recent months, there is no doubt that these two shows opened in London in 1981 and 1986, respectively. Liberace died in 1987. Whether or not he actually ever played selections from the two shows in question is irrelevant, but the assertion that "he was already gone before these musicals were out" just isn't true.
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August 06, 2008
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The show is to celebrate Liberace and bring him back in spirit which it does.
As far as the jokes, some of them are the same jokes Liberace used to use on stage. Some of the music (especially Cats and Phantom) is done in the style of Liberace, but he was already gone before these musicals were out. However, if he were still around, he would have incorporated them into his shows. He always brought the newest and most popular music into his shows.
As far as Liberace's personal life, he didn't discuss that on stage or in public. So why should a celebration of Liberace called "Music and Memories" do that? It wouldn't be true to what Liberace did on stage. Also, it doesn't matter what Liberace did in his private life. He had fans of all ages and backgrounds all around the world. I was lucky enough to actually see Liberace perform at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles in the mid 1980's for his 40th Anniversary in show business tour when I was 24. How many entertainers are there around today that have continually gained younger audiences and performed for over 40 years? Wow!
I grew up watching Liberace on television on many of the appearances he made during the 60's and 70's with his own specials and the Mike Douglas show, Batman, etc. As a piano student at the age of 10 in 1970, Liberace was my hero. I could only dream of playing like him and making all that money!
I have met people at Wayland's Liberace shows that actually worked with Liberace and they are moved to tears while watching the show because the spirit of Liberace is brought alive to them and all fans for a brief show and those that knew him well and the fans really miss Liberace. He was a one of a kind and was certainly "Mr. Showmanship". He was also the kindest and most generous man in the business.
Maybe Liberace's personal life can be explored in a movie. However, there have been two movies released about Liberace and many books. If anyone wants to find out more, they can do so on the internet. However, I want to clear up some misconceptions right here.
In 1957 Liberace sued The Daily Mirror for libel for an article about him that implied he was gay. (It was a nasty vicious piece--written by William Connor under the name of "Cassandra"!) Liberace testified that he was not gay in a London court and won that lawsuit. After that, no one ever made that implication again, at least not in public in print for fear of being sued!
Later, the suit against Liberace WAS NOT not a palimony suit, you can check Scott Thorson's exact words on that from a transcript of the Larry King show at
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0208/12/lkl.00.html
Scott admitted that he had a bad lawyer that has since been disbarred and the lawyer used the word "palimony" as a publicity stunt. Scott claims he didn't even want to sue. The palimony action was thrown out of court and a new lawyer basically sued for recision of property (to get property back that Scott claimed was his). The case was settled out of court.
Scott was a contracted employee that also had substance abuse problems at that time and was out of control and was released from the payroll and from Liberace's properties. Today Scott says he is not now nor has he ever been gay and he has cleaned up his life.