While humans have many limitations, their creativities have no limits. One of the most astonishing works incredible artists does is wax statues. And amongst all the places where wax statues gets life, Madame Tussauds London Museum is the most famous and popular.
The history of Madame Tussauds London Museum begins back in 1777 when Marie Tussaud created her first wax figure, Voltaire. However, it wasn’t until 1835 when Marie opened a museum in Baker Street. Fifty years later, Marie’s grandson moved the location of the museum in the exact same place it is now, on Marylebone Road.
Madame Anna Maria Tussaud (A.K.A. Marie), was the real name of the creator. Her mother served as the housekeeper for Dr. Philippe Curtius, who made wax models to illustrate anatomy. She picked up the trade from him. She did her own portrait in wax just eight years before she died at the ripe old age of 89. Her work was so well-known that she was invited to be part of the court of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette so she could teach art to the king's sister. The sad part? Madame Tussaud ended up making her former employers' death masks after they were executed in the French Revolution.
Over the years, Madame Tussauds has branched out to include eight other locations around the world. The United States is home to four Madame Tussauds museums, in New York, Las Vegas, Hollywood and Washington, D.C. Others are in Amsterdam, Berlin, Hong Kong and Shanghai. A ninth Madame Tussauds is set to open in Bangkok in September 2010.
Some sculptures still exist that were done by Marie Tussaud herself. The gallery originally contained some 400 different figures, but fire damage in 1925 coupled with German bombs in 1941 has rendered most of these older models defunct. The casts themselves have survived, allowing the historical waxworks to be remade, and these can be seen in the museum's history exhibit. By 1883, the restricted space and rising cost of the Baker Street site prompted her grandson Joseph Randall to commission the building at its current location on Marylebone Road. The new exhibition galleries were opened on 14 July 1884 and were a great success.
Madame Tussaud's wax museum became a major tourist attraction in London. Today's wax figures at Tussauds include historical and royal figures, film stars, sports stars, and famous murderers. It is known as "Madame Tussauds" museums (no apostrophe) since 2007.
The wax museum is divided into several zones. This means that people of the same type of celebrity are housed in the same gallery. So, Madame Tussauds is very organised. For example, In the A-List Party zone, people will find figures of Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Nicole Kidman, Morgan Freeman, Johnny Depp, Leonardo diCaprio and the like. People are also treated with the Big Brother experience in this room. There are other zones with catchy names, featuring Hollywood celebrities, Warhol's women, directors, athletes, royalty, writers, scientists,painters, musicians, singers, politicians and even serial killers. There is even a Behind the Scenes zone that also explores the museum's history. While many wax figures -- Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Barak Obama, Michael Jackson and, of course, Madame Tussaud, for example -- can be found at most if not all of the museums, each location also has its own special touches. The Hollywood location predictably focuses on celebrities of the Silver Screen, sports stars and musicians rather than politicians or historical figures. Here visitors can pose for pictures with celebrity wax figures on sets ranging from an awards ceremony to the bridge of the Starship Enterprise.
It is possible to purchase tickets on the day, subject to availability however visitors may experience a longer wait time to enter the attraction. The museum’s peak times are during the Summer Holidays and School Half Term periods - pre purchasing tickets in advance online is the best idea to reduce waiting time and guarantee the admission as well as entry.
Madame Tussaud’s is an amazing museum because it allows the visitors, even if for a few hours, to be a part of a world they can only dream of in their daily life. Well, you can skip the opportunity to visit the place if you ever get, just to prove yourself as the most unlucky and foolish person in the earth.
