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132 THE POLITICS AND POETICS OF CAMP
have a Liberace tee shirt?” and the salesman answered, “No, Mr. Liberace
doesn’t want tee shirts.”
Like “high” art, the social function of this “high” kitsch is to distinguish those
who distinguish it (Baudrillard 48). But most of the objects were miniature
reproductions of some aspect of the stage show and thus served as further
markers of what the audience could expect to see. Susan Stewart has suggested
the miniature (souvenir) and the monumental (spectacle) present us with
analogical modes of thought. The miniature is associated with interiority, the
experience of self, the personal narrative, that which can be contained and
subjugated. On the other hand, the monumentality of spectacle refers to authority,
the authority of the marketplace and the state, the official collective narrative,
that which contains and subjugates. In bringing these two modes together in one
production, it is possible for the consumer to transfer her containment within the
structure of capitalist authority to a possessor and controller of an “authentic”
representative of that structure.
The show began as the sun rays turned green, then purple, and the Rockettes
appeared in long pink gowns, each holding up one of Liberace’s most well-known
trademarks, a candelabrum, and dancing to a segment of Swan Lake. The routine
was done in strict unison—the main focus being the stage formations. Suddenly
the candles lit up as the stage lights dimmed, as the Rockettes flanked a long
staircase placed upstage center. At the top a large pink Fabergé egg opened, and
Liberace descended in an enormous pink fur cape with a sixteen-foot train and a
high standing collar, followed by two Easter bunnies.
At the foot of the stairs, Liberace joked about his costumes being tax
deductible as his chauffeur drove onstage in a “classic” pink and gray car. He
introduced his driver, who was also there to remove his capes. He whirled
around, spread his cape, and the driver lifted it off his shoulders, put it into the
back seat of the car, and drove away. As with the rest of the show, there was an
exaggerated style that superseded any content. Or, put another way, the style was
the content, a style that might be termed conspicuously consumptive.
Meanwhile, Liberace told the audience that it was his fortieth anniversary in
show business, that he recently won the Citizen of the Year Award in Las Vegas,
that in his home town of Milwaukee there was now a Liberace Playhouse in his
honor, and that he had been invited to play with the London Philharmonic. This
is what MacCannell might call the naming phase in a kind of self-sacralizing
process (44), authenticating himself by enumerating his honors and awards. He
then told the audience he wanted to play for them what he would be playing with
the Philharmonic. He proceeded to play “Rhapsody in Blue” but then turned to a
medley of early popular songs that included, among others, “Embraceable You,”
“Swanee,” “The Man I Love,” and “I’ve Got Rhythm.” As he played, a full
orchestra rose from beneath the stage to become part of the mis-en-scène, steam
flowed out around his feet, and he too rose up on a platform. Finally, the rising
and sinking platforms settled back down just as the last note of the medley was
struck.