traveldk.com

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.

Come face to face with your idols in a real spine-tingler 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.

They would never normally be gathered together in the same room, but at Madame Tussaud’s you suspend disbelief. Rubbing well-muscled shoulders are stars of track and field, tennis court, and boxing ring. Even with the waxwork enlargement, Russian gymnast Olga Korbut still looks tiny.

Remember those teenage heartthrobs of yours – Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, and Bruce Springsteen? Here you can get closer than you ever imagined. Videos and wrap-around sound help bring the experience to glorious life.

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.

The somewhat anti-climactic finale is a state-of-the-art, multimedia, theatrical tribute to Las Vegas, featuring music, movie clips, and a special appearance by Elvis.

A must-have souvenir is a photograph of yourself alongside your famous (or infamous) idol. It’s a great talking point with your more gullible friends back home.

Extending the copycat theme, and in typically grand Las Vegas style, the building itself is a small-scale replica of the library building on the Piazza San Marco in Venice.

The gift shop is almost as entertaining as the museum itself. You can choose a wig or a hat that makes you look like your favorite star (well, quite like) – great for kids or for costume parties. On a more serious note, there’s a chocoholics’ area, with chocolate body-frosting and other “choco-therapy” items.