The woman once known on stage as The Evil Queen is asked how to describe Siegfried and Roy to the uninformed.
“They were superheroes,” Lynnette Chappel said Friday during an event at The Neon Museum’s Boneyard unveiling the duo’s sculpture from The Mirage. “They were superheroes who made things disappear, not only on stage, but in life.”
The 15-foot-tall, bronze-painted sculpture faced the Las Vegas Strip beginning in 1993, when it was dedicated by then-resort owner Steve Wynn. The effigy was a gift to The Neon Museum from S&R’s estate and Hard Rock Hotel International, which now owns the Mirage property and is developing the Hard Rock Las Vegas.
The 3,600-pound sculpture was restored by Hartlauer Signs, established 20 years ago in Las Vegas, with funding from Penta Cares, the Neon Museum’s Sign Conservation Fund and Hard Rock International.
“We had to dig the trenches. We had to do the electrical work, the fiberglass work, and the historical research to make this right,” Neon Museum Executive Director Aaron Berger said.
The museum stored the piece for more than a year. The restoration took more than five months. The giant S&R heads and tiger were repainted in the same bronze color as the original, as if they had been spray tanned. The sculpture looks new, after showing serious wear and tear just before its relocation.
“It was very, very badly damaged, especially in the nose of the tiger, from people rubbing it and touching it,” Berger said before the formal unveiling. “It’s a fiberglass piece. It also has these crystals that you see all around the base, and those crystals had LED bulbs in them, and over time, those LEDs heated up and then became a risk of fire.”
The original crystal pieces, which show scorch marks from high heat, are displayed in the lobby. The restored piece lights up from the inside.
Obtaining the tribute to two Las Vegas superstars was a coup for the museum, which has become a well-known destination internationally (Talking Heads co-founder David Byrne visited, unannounced, last week). A Siegfried and Roy presence at the Boneyard was a natural fit.
Aside from their groundbreaking stage show (they made an elephant disappear, along with their exotic cats), the duo’s real magic was at the box office. They sold every seat to every show during their days at The Mirage, playing to full houses for 45 to 48 weeks per year, 12 to 14 shows per week, in a 1,500-seat theater, drawing 400,000 fans a year and grossing more than $1 billion at the resort.
Chappell, an S&R confidant and onstage partner for more than 50 years, says Las Vegas and its tourists will continue to appreciate the duo’s legacy.
“This was their community, and they changed the face of the city,” the former co-star said. “They were on the adventure, and the adventure is not over.”
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.