Rufus Wainwright, prodigy of the prodigious McGarrigle/Wainwright Clan,
brought his Release the Stars Tour to New York for a sold-out 4-night run at the
newly reopened Gramercy Theatre. A thrilled TixGirl caught his 6/5 and 6/6
shows, nights 1 and 2 of the residency.
"Going To A Town" "Beautiful Child"
A Chimerical Plan's Jonathan recapped our evening perfectly when he described
Night 1's show thus:
"the show consisted of a lot of music from his new cd - which makes sense - and
mixed in here and there were hits from previous cds - definitely crowd-pleasers. i
always like seeing him with a full sound including his amazing brass section - and
in that venue - wow - what an impact - intimate and brimming with quality."
READ THE REVIEW
Rufus was on his home turf for these shows... literally. And he made himself right
at home -- easily done, considering the former movie theatre is a stumbling
distance of a mere two blocks from his apartment.
Ever the family man, he brought his cousin Lucy along for the ride. Perhaps I
shouldn't be surprised, but of all the videos I took that night, Lucy's is one of the
most watched on YouTube:
Lucy covering Fleetwood Mac's "I Want to Be With You Everywhere" Rufus covering Judy Garland's "If Love Were All"
Night 1 was also a star-studded evening. Sprinkled among the family members in
the audience were Maggie Gyllenhaal and designer Betsey Johnson, plus guest
vocalist, Justin Bond of Kiki & Herb Fame.
It was another family affair on Night 2 of his run at Gramercy. Rufus was
joined by his mother, Canadian folk legend Kate McGarrigle, and his similarly
beloved sister of the stage, Martha Wainwright.
It was a poignant reunion, as Rufus pointed out, with his mother just having
recovered completely from a very serious illness. Even I recall the family's
emotional performance at Carnegie at Christmas, when it wasn't clear what the
outcome would be for her. So to see Kate McGarrigle back onstage, harmonizing
with her two accomplished children, was a pretty joyous sight to behold. She
looked fantastic, and happy as hell.
No matter what the surprise appearances or who the chatter-inducing audience
members, the most talked-about moments by far were Rufus' encore in drag. In
this instance, I'll let the photos tell the tale:
No comments:
Post a Comment