Rufus Does Judy
★★★★ (out of four)
Rufus Wainwright with special guests Martha Wainwright and China Forbes. Stephan Oremus, conductor. Thursday, June 23.
[Originally published in the Toronto Star]
It’s been ten years since Rufus Wainwright first took a meticulously rebuilt 1961 Judy Garland concert (memory lapses and all) to a few select stages in the U.S. In a stroke of meta meets meta, Rufus Does Judy has rematerialized at the Luminato Festival’s apocalyptic Hearn Generating Station for the first of two sold-out shows in Toronto’s industrial waterfront wasteland. But nothing was wasted.
It marked an opportunity for Wainwright to say farewell to Toronto, a city he and his husband Jorn Weisbrodt has called home for the past five years. It is “bittersweet for me,” he said from the stage, “I owe so much to Toronto and Luminato.” Wainwright also took the opportunity to talk about his thoughts on the significance of the Orlando Night Club tragedy, the shooting of a British MP Jo Cox, the “Donald Trump situation”, and the impending Brexit referendum in the U.K. (the results at the time were still unknown at the time of the concert).
Wearing a tux by JW Anderson, he plunged into *When You’re Smiling (the Whole World Smiles With You* back by Tony-winning musical director Stephen Oremus. From the get go, Wainwright’s distinctively resonant voice made the journey from stage to seats, but not before bouncing around the industrial concrete and exposed steel beams in the space so large it can fit the Statue of Liberty.
Then there was Gershwin’s *Do It Again* performed in Judy’s original key and delivered with an expert croon backed by an easy string orchestra and steady big band.
Following Garland’s fondness for sharing the stage with her talented family, Wainwright’s sister Martha Wainwright joined him for a grainy rendition of *Stormy Weather*. Sung in a particular shade of blue that seemed to perfectly to match her dress, Martha joked she was glad she received a tetanus booster shot for her industrial factory debut.
Pink Martini’s China Forbes also joined Wainwright for an alluring duet in Turner Layton’s *After You’ve Gone*. The two seemed fast friends, cut with a playful banter regarding the envy of each other’s vocal talent.
The most moving moment came with *Somewhere Over the Rainbow,* dedicated to Wainwright’s mother Kate McGarrigle, who passed away in 2010. Photos of lost family and friends were projected on a screen above the stage and included Lhasa de Sela, Phil Ramone, Betty Freeman, David Bowie, and photos of the all the victims of the Orlando Night Club Shooting.
The second half closed with a version of *Chicago (That Toddling Town)* with the lyrics changed to refer to Toronto. The crowd beamed with delight and offered an ovation to a visibly moved Wainwright wearing in an outrageous scarlet tail suit that he said would make him look too sexy if he took the jacket off.
Wainwright’s voice has always been the type that requires a ravenous effort. It has been said that it takes hard work to get those bubbles in the Champagne, but you don’t want to think about that when you’re popping a bottle. Yet, the effort seems charming on Wainwright. His habit of desperately sucking air between rests is as much a part of his style as his unique upper-midrange that is coloured with a crystalline harmonic prism. It is what makes him as recognisable as Sinatra, Caruso, and… Garland.
The bloom has long since come off the rose, but the memory of Garland is just as beautiful as it ever was.
The show repeats Friday, June 24. If you can lie, cheat or steal a ticket, do it.
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