Rolling Out the Royal Treatment for King Tut

June 14, 2005 -- -- The gold carpet will be rolled out in Los Angeles, hundreds of ships adorned in gold finery will cruise the waters in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and the crème de la crème will raise their glasses among golden masks and sparkling jewels in Chicago.

No expense will be spared, no glamorous detail overlooked, as four museums lay out the royal treatment for a long-awaited visitor: King Tut.

After almost 30 years, the most famous mummy in the world returns to American soil on a four-city, 27-month tour beginning at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art on June 16. Promoters are working hard to ensure festivities surrounding "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs" are fit for a king, and attract America's equivalent of royalty -- the rich and famous.

A number of celebrities have already tentatively confirmed they will walk the gold carpet at the grand opening in Los Angeles on June 15, which Bryan Harris, director of marketing for GolinHarris, the firm promoting the exhibit, described as "museum meets Hollywood." He said he is hoping Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver, the first couple of California, will emcee the event.

"It will be every bit as glamorous and premier-ish as the Hollywood way," Harris said. "We really feel like it warrants this type of an opening. The event hasn't been in the U.S. for 26 years, the treasures of Tut's tomb have not been here in that time, and we want to celebrate the return in a very big way."

The exhibit will be on display in Los Angeles from June 16 to Nov. 15 and will then move to Fort Lauderdale in December. The Chicago Field Museum gets the show in May 2006, and Philadelphia hosts King Tut at the Franklin Institute from February to September 2007.

Northern Trust, a national sponsor of the exhibit, will be treating its clients to exclusive events throughout the tour.

"Our clients are successful people and they enjoy the arts," said Sherry Barrat, chief executive officer of Northern Trust Bank of California. "They are all about creating legacies and certainly King Tut and the legacy of King Tut is a perfect fit. It's a wonderful metaphor for what Northern helps our clients do, which is preserve their legacy."