Rock Circus

In the mid 1980s, the Tussauds Group began looking for a new attraction venture in London, having just been involved in the development of Chessington World of Adventures theme park in Surrey.

The audio featured narration by Paul Gambaccini,[4] who discussed the performer the relevant exhibit was for, along with short clips of their music, with these descriptions typically lasting no more than a few minutes each.

The main atrium featured a rotating set with the figures of Elton John performing "Bennie and the Jets," Little Richard singing "Tutti Frutti" and Stevie Wonder with "I Just Called to Say I Love You", with the two former seated at pianos, whilst Wonder sat at a three-keyboard synthesizer, all pointing into the centre of the stage.

At pre-determined intervals of a few minutes or so, a figure of Elvis Presley would rise up between the three pianos to sing "Glory Hallelujah", before dropping back down out of sight.

[1] The remaining floors followed the same pattern, with various music performers modelled in different backdrops or scenes, or posed in balconies and walkways and visitors moved between them via escalators and lifts as needed.

At the top of this escalator the floor opened out into a small area where visitors could watch music videos and similar content via ceiling mounted screens, while waiting for the finale show.

After the show, visitors exited the theatre and were guided to a spiral staircase taking them down to a lower level, and complete with music photographs and images mounted on the walls surrounding it.

[5] Amongst the artists featured as waxworks, in video, or as other exhibits were: To celebrate the opening of the new museum and to decorate the outside of the building, a series of rock legend statues were installed around the London Pavilion exterior.

Artists featured were Annie Lennox, Buddy Holly, David Bowie, Diana Ross, Elton John, Gary Glitter, Jimi Hendrix, Madonna, Michael Jackson and Mick Jagger.

Some music fans may have questioned the choices of figures and for example, it was thought that Americans may have been baffled by the inclusion of Lonnie Donegan, when many other notable artists, such as Jim Morrison, were not represented.

[1] Tussards attempted to address this issue by polling visitors on who should be added to the exhibition, stating that the artists with the most votes would be made into figures and shown in a designated area.

[2] New parts of the attraction included a virtual reality simulation of the view from a Wembley Stadium stage, and an after-show party set-up featuring Robbie Williams, The Spice Girls and Jarvis Cocker.