Liberace’s Swishing To Broadway

For anyone below a certain age or taste level, let me explain what a Liberace was. He was a sequined-and-feathered swish queen who played a mean classical piano in the grand style, entertaining millions in concert and on TV all while trying to distract people from the fact that he was a giant poufter. In fact, he even sued a publication once for calling him gay. Even more shockingly, he won!

Anyway, all of Lee’s external glitz and internal conflict would probably make for a good musical, and we have to hope the keyboard-tinkling one that was just announced will be just that. It’s Liberace: The Man, The Music & The Memories, directed by someone with off-Broadway credits and starring the immortal Wayland Pickard. Who?

Well, Pickard will be making his New York stage debut with this show (assuming it does make it here) and, according to the press release, “He has been described by Dick Van Dyke as ‘a great showman’ and by Phyllis Diller as ‘the piano variety-artist of the decade.’ LA Metro magazine recently called him ‘the new Mr. Entertainment’.”

Impressed? Or does it make you want to tinkle?