Madame Tussauds Wax Museum: Converting a Skeptic

story by Kayte Deioma

I’ve never been a big fan of wax museums. I went once when I was 18 and didn’t feel like it was something I ever needed to do again. Seeing the experience through kids’ eyes made me think again.

Madame Tussauds was the one thing that my nephew Derick really wanted to do in New York, and he’d been such a good sport about American Girl Place, that we made the effort to squeeze it in on our last day.

We had walked past Madame Tussauds several times on our way to do other things near Time Square. The giant hand reaching out the front of the façade like it’s going to pluck you off the sidewalk, made my nieces just as excited to come back and see what was inside.

Our New York Pass let us bypass the line to get our tickets, which were included in the price of the Pass. The kids got almost as much of a kick out of skipping the line as visiting the attractions.

History

Madame Tussaud and some replicas of her original wax figures from London at Madame Tussauds New York Marie Tussaud’s mother worked for a doctor in France who had some skill in making wax models. She learned the craft from him and on his death inherited his collection of wax figures of notable people. She began to exhibit his figures with some of her own in a traveling exhibit and opened the first permanent Madame Tussaud museum in London in 1835. Until 1971, when Madame Tussauds opened in Amsterdam, you had to go to London to see the French woman’s original collection (remade from original molds after shipwrecks and fires).

You actually still have to go to London to see most of the oldest figures, because the new venues opened in Amsterdam, Las Vegas (1999), Hong Kong (2000), New York (2000) and the latest in Shanghai, each have their own specialized collection. There are replicas of the lady herself at each venue and many notable celebrities and world leaders are repeated, but each museum also has a few cast members that are more meaningful to a local audience. In New York, you can cozy up to Al Roker and Matt Lauer or have your photo taken with the latest addition, New York Mets third baseman, David Wright.

Star Struck

Sarah with a wax Whoopi It was fun to watch the kids get excited about having their photos taken with favorite movie stars and other notables. I was amazed how many movie stars 7-year-old Sarah knew by name. She claimed me as her personal photographer as the others went on ahead Sarah and Becca with a wax Hilary Clinton . “Take my picture with Whoopi! Take my picture with Julia Roberts! Take my picture with Robin Williams!”

Derick was all about getting his photo taken with the pretty girls. Paris Hilton in jailbird stripes was in the lobby; Lindsey Lohan had a turn, but Jessica Simpson was the one he still remembered weeks later.

They all did better than I expected recognizing past presidents and world leaders from Abraham Lincoln to Princess Diana. My sister Ellie grabbed Becca and Sarah and positioned them next to Hilary Clinton. “Now you can say you had your picture taken with the next president,” she told them.

I was surprised when Derick, who doesn’t think much of school, chose to be photographed with Albert Einstein. The 16-year-old towered over the genius.

Ellie wanted her photo taken with Oprah, who’s taller than I thought, and in the kitchen with Rachael Ray.

Interactive Wax

Since I wasn’t originally planning on visiting or writing about Madame Tussauds, I didn’t do any research before I went, so we missed a few things.

Since the last time I was in a wax museum (long ago) they’ve added interactive exhibits. In Madame Tussauds New York, they are often so subtle you won’t know they’re there unless you’re really looking for them. We were oblivious to most of them because we didn’t see any indication that there was something to “do.” I guess we should have read the small (sometimes large) print. I found out about most of the interactive exhibits by visiting the website after the fact.

Derick does his best Usher face Derick got right up close to Usher to take a photo, and we could hear the music playing, but we were unaware that this was an interactive exhibit that lets you play DJ by changing the music choices.

When the girls posed next to Hilary Clinton, there was a TV monitor over her head that indicated what percent of voters would be willing to vote for a woman. We didn’t look close enough to notice that the surrounding red curtains were covering voting booths, where you could go in and cast your vote in that poll.

Ellie in Rachael Ray's kitchen If you look closely at the refrigerator in Rachael Ray’s Kitchen, magnetic letters spell out “LOOK INSIDE.” I didn’t see this until I zoomed in on the photo of Ellie in the kitchen, so we didn’t realize we could or should open the fridge to find a touch screen monitor with Rachael Ray trivia. In the photo, I also noticed a sign on the oven that says “See What’s Cooking” with an arrow, so there’s probably something interesting in there too.

Apparently J-Lo’s cheeks will glow if you whisper in her right ear. Who would think to do that without a great big blinking neon sign?

I would have liked to have seen how they made Superman Returns interactive, but I didn’t notice the phone booth I was supposed to step through to reach Metropolis, where, according to the website, we could have flown over the city with the help of the “green screen” effect and bought the souvenir DVD to take home.

We did experience the live monsters populating the Chamber of Horrors. They would have been hard to miss. Characters from A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Friday the 13th pursue you through the maze, making it a bit more Halloween funhouse than scary wax figures that hold still.

Idols of the Future

Sarah and Becca sing for a wax Simon on the American Idol set at Madame Tussauds The best participatory exhibit was the American Idol karaoke stage with a wax Simon Cowell critiquing singers. The live KJ crooning between volunteers gives this one away. The karaoke area, which is also the snack bar, was pretty quiet when we came in, so Becca and Sarah stepped right up to sing “The Start of Something New” from High School Musical. Derick grabbed some ice cream dots and joined Ellie and me and a wax gentleman in the audience.

Derick has his hand cast in wax. People gathered as they sang and they got a nice round of applause after they finished. The voice of the almighty Simon sounded from overhead: “That performance can be summed up with one word. Congratulations!!!…” Since Ellie videotaped the performance with her own camera, we skipped buying the DVD.