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Grant Philipo’s Las Vegas Showgirl Museum
Grant Philipo’s Las Vegas Showgirl Museum
A TRAVELING IN OUR FABULOUS GAY WORLD article by Donald Pile and Ray Williams
Whenever we visit cities from coast to coast we always enjoy visiting the different museums and galleries. Sometimes they are the Metropolitan in New York City or the Getty in Los Angeles. We have visited the Fabulous World Erotic Art Museum in South Beach, the Neon Light Museum in Las Vegas which has a huge collection of vintage neon signs for Las Vegas’s past. No museum is too small or large for us to visit.
Another fabulous museum that is a ‘must see’ when you go to Las Vegas is the GRANT PHILIPO’S LAS VEGAS SHOWGIRL MUSEUM. Owner and Curator Grant Philipo has the largest collection of original Showgirl costumes in the world ! There are sequins and feathers everywhere in the museum. They have over 20,000 Artifacts of Costumes, Sets, Jewelry, plus archives of Programs, Costume Sketches, autographed photos, videos, and Music from shows. Plus all of Errol Manoff’s Fantasy Factory Collection. Their mannequins are custom painted with glass eyes.
They look so real that you would swear they were live models. We were totally amazed when we viewed this museum. If you only have time to visit one museum in Las Vegas, this is the one to see. If you have been to Las Vegas many times over the years, it truly is a trip down memory lane as there are costumes from all of the big shows in Las Vegas and more ! Besides the hundreds of woman models and costumes, they also have a nice selection of male motels and costumers as well. Each room is just completely filled with beauty. And we do mean beauty! What an utterly fabulous collection this is. It is the only kind of museum like this in the world.
Grant Philipo, CEO and Head Curator has been in Las Vegas for years. Grant’s career has taken him from years of artistic, vocal and dramatic achievements and awards, to professional careers as a lead singer/dancer and makeup artist, to being a top high-fashion model, and on to working alongside and designing with and for such greats as Bob Mackie, Michael Travis, Dolly Parton, Ann-Margret, Eartha Kitt and Liberace, to mention just a few.
Grant has earned scholarships, and performed and trained others at the Des Moines Museum of Art, USC San Diego, Stage 7 (San Diego’s only Professional Entertainment Academy), Barbizon, San Diego Ballet Company and the Pygmalion Institute in Las Vegas. For a number of years, Philipo’s costumes have been displayed alongside Bob Mackie’s and others at UNLV’s Art Museum Showing of “The Las Vegas Showgirl,” as well as been featured on MTV, Biography, A&E and the Billboard Music Awards.
Grant’s award-winning shows and costumes have graced almost every stage in Las Vegas, as well as a number of those in Los Angeles, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Japan and Mexico. Unlike others in his profession, he produces, writes, designs, directs and stages all of his own shows. His costume collection contains the largest number of privately owned Bob Mackie creations, as well as numerous pieces by Pete Menefee and Michael Travis, as well as many equally stunning Grant Philipo Originals.
As the onetime Artistic Director for the Hollywood Wax Museums, Grant’s re-creations of garments worn by stars and royalty are still on display in both the Los Angeles and Branson, Missouri, locations, as well as in Fong’s Wax Museum at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, and the Guinness World Book of Records Museums in California and Florida.
Mary Dee Mantle is the President and Co-Owner and Dallas Fueston is the Vice President. The Museum is located at 3217 Gaucho Dr. in Las Vegas and their phone number is: 702-893-9000. They are open by Appointment Only and give tours from 4:00 PM on Daily basis as long as you have a confirmed appointment! Tours take anywhere from one to two hours and their last tour time is 10 PM daily. Grant is a great host and tour guide and gives the best and finest history of Las Vegas.
To find out more about the Grant Philipo’s Las Vegas Showgirl Museum, go to:
http://www.lasvegasshowgirlmuseum.com/
…and their facebook page at:
http://www.facebook.com/LasVegasShowgirlMuseum
Always remember to have fun when traveling, meet new people and talk to everyone!
A TRAVELING IN OUR FABULOUS GAY WORLD article by Donald Pile and Ray Williams
Whenever we visit cities from coast to coast we always enjoy visiting the different museums and galleries. Sometimes they are the Metropolitan in New York City or the Getty in Los Angeles. We have visited the Fabulous World Erotic Art Museum in South Beach, the Neon Light Museum in Las Vegas which has a huge collection of vintage neon signs for Las Vegas’s past. No museum is too small or large for us to visit.
Another fabulous museum that is a ‘must see’ when you go to Las Vegas is the GRANT PHILIPO’S LAS VEGAS SHOWGIRL MUSEUM. Owner and Curator Grant Philipo has the largest collection of original Showgirl costumes in the world ! There are sequins and feathers everywhere in the museum. They have over 20,000 Artifacts of Costumes, Sets, Jewelry, plus archives of Programs, Costume Sketches, autographed photos, videos, and Music from shows. Plus all of Errol Manoff’s Fantasy Factory Collection. Their mannequins are custom painted with glass eyes.
They look so real that you would swear they were live models. We were totally amazed when we viewed this museum. If you only have time to visit one museum in Las Vegas, this is the one to see. If you have been to Las Vegas many times over the years, it truly is a trip down memory lane as there are costumes from all of the big shows in Las Vegas and more ! Besides the hundreds of woman models and costumes, they also have a nice selection of male motels and costumers as well. Each room is just completely filled with beauty. And we do mean beauty! What an utterly fabulous collection this is. It is the only kind of museum like this in the world.
Grant Philipo, CEO and Head Curator has been in Las Vegas for years. Grant’s career has taken him from years of artistic, vocal and dramatic achievements and awards, to professional careers as a lead singer/dancer and makeup artist, to being a top high-fashion model, and on to working alongside and designing with and for such greats as Bob Mackie, Michael Travis, Dolly Parton, Ann-Margret, Eartha Kitt and Liberace, to mention just a few.
Grant has earned scholarships, and performed and trained others at the Des Moines Museum of Art, USC San Diego, Stage 7 (San Diego’s only Professional Entertainment Academy), Barbizon, San Diego Ballet Company and the Pygmalion Institute in Las Vegas. For a number of years, Philipo’s costumes have been displayed alongside Bob Mackie’s and others at UNLV’s Art Museum Showing of “The Las Vegas Showgirl,” as well as been featured on MTV, Biography, A&E and the Billboard Music Awards.
Grant’s award-winning shows and costumes have graced almost every stage in Las Vegas, as well as a number of those in Los Angeles, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Japan and Mexico. Unlike others in his profession, he produces, writes, designs, directs and stages all of his own shows. His costume collection contains the largest number of privately owned Bob Mackie creations, as well as numerous pieces by Pete Menefee and Michael Travis, as well as many equally stunning Grant Philipo Originals.
As the onetime Artistic Director for the Hollywood Wax Museums, Grant’s re-creations of garments worn by stars and royalty are still on display in both the Los Angeles and Branson, Missouri, locations, as well as in Fong’s Wax Museum at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, and the Guinness World Book of Records Museums in California and Florida.
Mary Dee Mantle is the President and Co-Owner and Dallas Fueston is the Vice President. The Museum is located at 3217 Gaucho Dr. in Las Vegas and their phone number is: 702-893-9000. They are open by Appointment Only and give tours from 4:00 PM on Daily basis as long as you have a confirmed appointment! Tours take anywhere from one to two hours and their last tour time is 10 PM daily. Grant is a great host and tour guide and gives the best and finest history of Las Vegas.
To find out more about the Grant Philipo’s Las Vegas Showgirl Museum, go to:
http://www.lasvegasshowgirlmuseum.com/
…and their facebook page at:
http://www.facebook.com/LasVegasShowgirlMuseum
Always remember to have fun when traveling, meet new people and talk to everyone!
TRAVELING IN OUR FABULOUS GAY WORLD is written by Donald Pile and Ray Williams, Award-winning, Celebrity travel columnists who write for gay publications from coast to coast (And now legally married). Proud members of the IGLTA. You can email them at [email protected]
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Gay Travelers Magazine
the best cruise & travel news, tips & reviews for the sensible gay traveler
the best cruise & travel news, tips & reviews for the sensible gay traveler