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WASHINGTON - Will tourists accustomed to free attractions in the US capital be willing to spend their money to see wax figures of politicians such as Bill and Hillary Clinton?
Madame Tussauds, famed for its London museum housing likenesses of everyone from actor George Clooney to Queen Elizabeth, is betting they will.
Tussaud's plans to open its third US wax museum, and seventh worldwide, in Washington this October. Although celebrities such as Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt will be on display, the Washington outlet will focus on American political leaders.
"We will have more historical and presidential figures, more political figures than we have had in any of our other attractions," said Janine DiGioacchino, general manager for Tussauds' New York and Washington museums.
Tussauds interviewed Washington residents and tourists to help decide on the first 50 likenesses to be displayed when the museum opens.
The most popular, "not surprisingly," was the first US president, George Washington, DiGioacchino said. Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson also will be there.
Former President Bill Clinton and his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who wants to be president, made the cut.
There was no place envisioned for Monica Lewinsky, the former White House intern at the centre of a sex-and-perjury scandal that led to Clinton's impeachment trial, but DiGioacchino said she has been struck by recent interest. "Maybe I should go back and look a little deeper," she said.
Tussauds will recreate the White House Oval office, which in real life is off-limits to tourists. "You can get behind the desk. It's a fantastic photo op," DiGioacchino said.
Although Washington is one of the biggest US tourist destinations, visitors pay no admission to sites such the Lincoln Memorial or the Smithsonian museums, which draw throngs with displays such as Dorothy's ruby slippers from "The Wizard of Oz" and the Apollo 11 moon mission command module.
Admission to the Washington Tussauds will be between US$20 ($28.88) and US$25, DiGioacchino said. But the museum has shown it can compete with free attractions in New York, where it draws about 800,000 people each year, she said.
Tussauds also has had experience with US politicians. The original Madame Tussaud, who was born Marie Grosholtz in France and learned wax modelling in Paris, sculpted a likeness of US founding father Benjamin Franklin in 1783, DiGioacchino said.
Tussaud's London museum has been in business since 1835. It opened in Las Vegas 1999 and New York in 2000, and it is working to open in Los Angeles. It also has museums in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Amsterdam.
The Tussauds Group, which also owns theme parks, was bought in 2005 by Dubai International Capital.
- REUTERS
