'Mummies' liven up Discovery Place

It looks like Discovery Place has a live one with "Mummies of the World." The galleries were full when I took some out-of-town company to see it over the weekend. To judge from the attendance figures, that was no fluke.

More than 11,000 people visited show through Nov. 20 -- in other words, the show's first eight days -- according to Discovery Place. Including advance sales, the ticket total is 28,000.

Over the past few decades, Egyptians laid out in swanky sarcophagi have gotten most of the publicity. So the up-close-and-personal view of the dearly departed that we get from other cultures is all the more dramatic.

Even before coming within range of the artistic touch that gives the Tattoed Woman her nickname, seeing her upright position is startling enough. To me, she's even more eerie because her tilted head and flowing tresses hark back to another woman known for her artistic statements: Note the photo of Martha Argerich, the charismatic Argentine pianist, on the cover of her first LP.

If you go, here's a tip: Discovery Place says the most strategic time to visit is on school-day afternoons, beginning about 2 p.m. The daily busloads of students are usually out by then, and the galleries are less crowded than on weekends.

If voting with my feet counts as a testimony: I'm expecting to pay a return visit in a couple of weeks. I have another houseguest on the way, and this one is a dentist. He should have some interesting perspectives on the ancient teeth.

Tattooed Woman photo: T. Ortega Gaines.