Would you be willing to pay $25 for a photograph of yourself standing next to someone who looks eerily similar to your favorite celebrity?
That’s the question you’ll want to answer before venturing in to the new Madame Tussauds wax museum at 10th and F Streets NW, which opens to the public today. Last night, DCist attended the opening party for the attraction. We say attraction purposefully, because Madame Tussauds isn’t a museum at all, but rather an expensive and elaborate backdrop in front of which the starstruck can half-fulfill their fantasies.
Tussauds’ closest cousin is no doubt the International Spy Museum. They both employ a kind of Disney-esque interior design aesthetic, encourage a large amount of interaction with their pseudo-high tech displays, and are overpriced. But inside the wax “museum,” you don’t get any real history lessons or pick up esoteric biographical tidbits. You just get 50 simulacra of famous people, some of which are more realistic than others, all of which you are encouraged to touch, inspect, and yes, pose for pictures with.
Photos by Kyle Gustafson
