Liberace is set to tour the world as a hologram. A simulated version of the late pianist will be resurrected by some of the same people who staged Coachella’s holographic Tupac Shakur, with a debut performance scheduled to take place in Las Vegas.
“This is a major step in the evolution of this medium for entertainment,” Hologram USA’s Alki David said in a press release. The show will be so “lifelike”, he predicted, that “the room will be filled with all of the great singer’s charm and charisma”.
The cyber Liberace will also be able to interact with audience members. “You’ll feel the warmth from his heart, the sparkle of his eye and the pure lightning from his fingertips,” explained Jonathan Warren, chairman of the Liberace Foundation.
The Liberace Foundation is a full partner in Hologram USA’s plans, loaning the company the footage and artefacts that will allow them to create their hologram. David had proposed a similar project for the late Amy Winehouse; the scheme was rejected by her father, who called the notion “utter rubbish”.
Hologram USA’s hologram is not technically a hologram. For Shakur’s appearance, as well as the company’s subsequent displays, they reportedly relied on a decades-old illusion called Pepper’s Ghost. This technology has been updated with new software and projection techniques; David claims to hold the system’s sole North American licence.
The date of holo-Liberace’s Las Vegas premiere will be announced “very soon”, organisers said. Described as a “full-scale, long-running” show, the high-tech soiree will later be “roll[ed] out across the USA and … globally”.
Hologram USA will also be announcing a “slate of [further] celebrity resurrection projects” during the next 30 days.
