Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #30723 in VHS
• Released on: 1998-10-20
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Formats: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of tapes: 3
• Running time: 180 minutes

Customer Reviews

"too much of a good thing is wonderful"
The master of excess was also a master at spoofing himself, and these shows have a lot of laughs in them, but also a lot more; there is much warmth and likability to Liberace, and his piano technique is better than one would expect, with all those huge rocks on his fingers.

"Leapin' Lizards"
A 1978 show from the Las Vegas Hilton with the following guests:
The Chinese Acrobats of Taiwan, who manage to spin plates while standing on their heads;
Liberace's protégé Vince Cardell, who joins him in a marvelous Latin medley duet;
Barclay Shaw's puppet Toto, in a very special number while Liberace plays "Send in the Clowns" and a few other songs. If you appreciate great puppetry, you will love this part of the show.
Debbie Reynolds, who does "Your Love" with 4 young men in bell-bottomed jump-suits (oh ! the fun of those '70s fashions), and sings and dances with Liberace. Debbie does a funny impersonation of Zsa Zsa Gabor, wearing a "diamond" the size of a headlight, and there is also a cameo by Phillis Diller. Total time is 51 minutes.

"Valentine's Day"
This is from 1979 (when Liberace was 39 + tax) and is filmed at the Las Vegas Hilton and the Queen Mary, which he calls a "yacht". He also shows us his piano collection, which includes a hand-painted antiquity that was used by Chopin.
His guests for this show are Sandy Duncan, who is cute singing and dancing "It's Not Where You Start, it's Where You Finish", and Lola Falana, who is stunningly gorgeous, and seductively graceful in "You're the One That I Want" from Grease. You will want to re-wind and watch her a few times, she is so good. Total time is 51 minutes.

"Live with The London Philharmonic"
Mr. Showmanship celebrated his 40th anniversary "in the biz" with this concert that took place in 1985. You get lots of "classics lite" with bits of Tchaikovsky, Liszt, Chopin and Rachmaninoff, the first movement from Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata", and Strauss waltzes. Much of this is quite lovely, and shows his serious, hard-working side. Having many years ago been a part of a TV special with Liberace, I witnessed that side in the many hours he would put into making everything "look easy". There is also something very touching about this tape, as one senses the happiness playing with this excellent orchestra gave him. A lot of love flows at the end, and some fun too, as he plays chopsticks, and banters with the audience. He saves one of his most spectacular outfits for this performance, a red and black sequined Spanish costume for playing a "Mexican medley". Total time is 57 minutes.

Liberace ends each show with the lovely "I'll be Seeing You", and I should mention the "Dancing Waters" in the Vegas shows. They are positively hypnotic ! Somewhat like a lava lamp for Aquaman. The set comes in a nice shiny box with a mini pop-up Liberace on top.
These are camp classics that will put a smile on your face, and Liberace, while making fun of himself, helps us put the troubles of the world into perspective. Be seriously silly, and enjoy the Glitter King. It is time well spent.

A real treat!
I bought this set after really getting into the music of Liberace and I found it very entertaining. The guy could play the hell out of a piano and he made it look so easy! It is a true shame that we lost this man as I would have loved to have seen him in concert. There is plenty of stuff for you to fast forward through but enough Liberace to satisfy your craving.