Life is more than bling, though you wouldn\u2019t know it from the surface of Welk Resort Theatre\u2019s current show “Music and Memories,” continuing through Feb. 8 at the comfy Escondido theater. The face of actor\/pianist Wayland Pickard is teased and tautened beyond belief to make him look like the late king of sartorial and musical glitz, Liberace (1919-1987). The illusion, created by Oscar-winning makeup artist Kevin Haney, is astonishingly accurate and enhanced by Victoria Wood\u2019s pitch-perfect wig. Margo Stone and Alexa Stone replicate Liberace\u2019s gem-studded costumes, and Ryan Seybert\u2019s glittering set is replete with the requisite crystal candelabrum. All we need is an orchestra to go with the baby grand; alas, what we get is synthesized symphonics. Pickard\u2019s masterful performance is the thing, however. He captures the late entertainer\u2019s unique combination of brashness, flamboyant gesture, smarmy vocal tone, personal magnetism and heavy-handed pianism, replete with possibly intentional clunkers. For those who saw Liberace in person (and I am one), it\u2019s an unforgettable trip down memory lane. For the younger among us (“I\u2019m your mother\u2019s Elton John,” says Pickard), the show includes music by that arguable genius, Andrew Lloyd Webber (“Memories” from “Cats” and various arias from “Phantom of the Opera”). Otherwise, expect the hit tunes of Rachmaninoff, Bach, Handel, Chopin, Beethoven and Gershwin plus “The Beer Barrel Polka,” Irving Berlin\u2019s “I Love a Piano,” and “When I Look at You” from “The Scarlet Pimpernel,” which is the next show (Feb. 12-April 26) at Welk. For this number Pickard called forth Liberace\u2019s angel, portrayed by special guest artist Karenssa Lagear, a graduate of UCLA who\u2019s been cast in “Pimpernel.” In reality, Liberace and Lawrence Welk shared an agent and knew one another, though they never performed a show together. Liberace, however, did perform with many of the greats of stage and screen. “Music and Memories” includes a touching visual tribute to the likes of Jack Benny, Clark Gable, Lucille Ball and others. “Music & Memories” continues through Feb. 8, 1:45 p.m. Sundays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and 8 p.m. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at Welk Resort Theatre, 8860 Lawrence Welk Drive in Escondido. Tickets range from $44-$47 for performance only; $58-$63 for buffet and show. Visit www.Welktheatresandiego.com or call (888) 802-7469.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Life is more than bling, though you wouldn\u2019t know it from the surface of Welk Resort Theatre\u2019s current show “Music and Memories,” continuing through Feb. 8 at the comfy Escondido theater. The face of actor\/pianist Wayland Pickard is teased and tautened beyond belief to make him look like the late king of sartorial and musical […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11560","_seopress_titles_title":"Pickard channels Mr. Lee with \u2018Music and Memories\u2019","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11549,11560,11593,11550],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-295488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-la-jolla-village-news","category-no-images","category-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=295488"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295488\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=295488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=295488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=295488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}