Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum

Everything about Las Vegas is larger than life. At Madame Tussaud’s (within the Venetian Hotel) this is literally true – and the precise figure is 2 percent larger. Each waxwork figure in the museum is made marginally bigger than its real-life counterpart, because wax shrinks as it ages. For authenticity, many items of clothing and props were purchased at celebrity auctions. Rings on the figures’ fingers are regularly cleaned; hair must be washed and makeup retouched. And, as with real people, the figures’ clothes frequently need cleaning. In here, there are term of Frank Sinatra, Show-time Legends, The Big Night, and also Behind the Glimpse.

Before entering the “Show-time Legends” section of the museum, get acquainted with a young, slender Sinatra performing on the stage of the old Sands Hotel. Recordings of Sinatra standards and other stage props enhance the 1950s mood. Then, come face to face with your idols in a real spinetingler of a room: eavesdrop on Louis Armstrong chatting with Ella Fitzgerald, and gaze without fear of reproach at Marilyn Monroe, tantalizingly real in a sequined dress.

A Hollywood gala is the setting, and the guest list is impressive. Mingle with the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger (positively huge at just 2 percent larger than life), Shirley MacLaine, Whoopie Goldberg, Paul Newman, Princess Diana, and Elizabeth Taylor; and yes, the hair is real. It can seem a little creepy, but the painstaking process of making the waxwork models is fascinating – from taking precise measurements of each celebrity to matching skin tones, dental impressions, eye, and hair color. To avoid big crowds, arrive soon after the museum opens and visit the rooms in reverse order. Save time for browsing around the gift shop: the merchandise is more imaginative than you might expect.