MADAME TUSSAUD



Madame Tussaud - Waxing Lyrical. When the mile long queue in Baker Street is a daily sight in London, it seems odd that so little is known about the real Madame Tussaud. Born in Strasbourg in 1761, her father was either a public hangman or the most famous wax modeller of his day, Phillipe Curtius. She survived the horrors of the French Revolution and came to Britain in 1802 with a four-year- old son and not a word of English.

This tough and talented woman toured Britain for 33 gruelling years with her travelling wax cabinet, bringing up her little boy and fighting off
competition against a background of fire, riot, shipwreck and betrayal. She personified persistence, fortitude, dedication and self-belief, learning to manipulate the public fascination with Celebrity, and creating her own version of Spin.

Using business acumen she single-handedly created the phenomenon that would become global the business empire known simply as Madame Tussauds.


Madame Tussaud - Waxing Lyrical is set in 1837, two years after Madame Tussaud ended her touring days and created her first London base in the Baker Street Bazaar with her two sons, Joseph and Francis. A family friend Francis Hervé undertook to write her “Memoirs and Reminiscences” published in 1838. When she died in 1850 her sons ran the London Exhibition together. It was moved to its present site in the Marylebone Road in 1884 by her grandchildren. It remained in the Tussaud family until 1967. Today Madame Tussauds Attractions is owned by Merlin Entertainments. There are to date twelve Madame Tussauds Attractions worldwide.

Madame Tussaud - Waxing Lyrical, written and performed by Judith Paris (London Road, Touch of Frost) and originally directed by Gillian Lynne (Cats, Phantom of The Opera), is in recognition of a most modern business woman, an immigrant and a single parent.