Except he's not Judy.
Let him recreate a Kate McGarrigle concert.
I'm not sure of the point either... which is why I am intrigued. Why take a legendary concert and repeat the material, song for song, in (what HAS to be) an entirely different way?
It's sensationalizing... capitalizing... Or is it honoring... and reminding us... or sharing what perhaps he sees as the definitive concert of anything, anywhere, anytime?
Inquiring minds want to know.
EDIT: I think Rufus is an "artist" in the truest sense of the word. I think he's doing this to evoke an emotional response from his audience... good, bad, or indifferent.
The kid's got GUTS... I'll give him that.
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
i think its simply a way of commemorating The Greastest Night In Show-Biz History,
It's definitely a bold statement.
...And I'm guessing this artist (Rufus) is going to leave it up to US as to how we interpret it.
He will be "wide open" on stage... completely exposed. With the shadow of a legendary performer on a legendary evening looming over him.
You can't get much more "naked" than that on stage, artistically.
(...not counting "Oh, Calcutta!")
I can't get past what I see as sheer arrogance.
I agree, it's brazen, bold, defiant, challenging...
...and either brilliant or a colossal flop of a mistake.
But he is definitely "walking the high wire" here.
Nothing SAFE about doing this. It's almost the entertainer's equivalent of climbing Mount Everest.
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/27/05
And he's living out a dream that so many gay men have - to be Judy for one magic night. He'll be Super Queen that night.
I also am of the opinion that it's immensely disrespectful, no matter what he says.
I agree with Rath on all acounts. It just smells of arrogance.
Kringas --- That may be the answer, in a nutshell (...or nut-case?)
Rathy---Only if he wears the stolen Ruby Slippers while he does the show.
Hey, if he starts dissin' "the lady" in any way on that stage... I'm flying east in time for his curtain call, with tar and feathers in hand!
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/27/05
And for that, I say more power to him. If I had the means to do it, I'd probably do the same. I read the article, and I didn't detect any arrogance or disrespect. Perhaps the effort may be misguided, but I suppose we'll know soon enough.
I do wonder, though, who the intended audience is? Judy fans? Rufus Fans? How much does that group overlap?
I'm all for it if it gets you here, Twelvy!
Kringas, there's always circus fans, too.
Rathy--well, here's hopin' he disses the Lady, then!
*crosses fingers*
I'm all for giving poeple a chance but what the hell is he saying in these quotes?! Is this really considered a respectful tribute when he exclaimes that:
"I've thought a lot about this, and I think the secret" to Garland's effect on listeners decades after her death, said Mr. Wainwright, "is that, when she sings, she is beautiful without being actually beautiful." and
"It's a little hard for me to get inside that story since I'm a 32-year-old man in my prime and wasn't put on pills by my mother at 8," he said.
By the way, that poster of him is horrendous. He is NOT the world's greatest entertainer. I understand what he was going for but he could have at least taken that part out. geezz.
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/27/05
What did he say there that was so wrong?
Well specifically: "she is beautiful without being actually beautiful"- Thats a bold statement to say the least. I still have yet to figure out why people insist that she wasn't beautiful. The whole statement about not being able to relate because "I wasn't put on pills by my mother at 8". Well if one can't relate to Judy than one shouldn't recreate Judy's show. Simple as that.
Well, I'm going, but I'd rather be going to
KRINGAS
World's Greatest Entertainer
KRINGAS
In Person
KRINGAS
Carnegie Hall
Rufus is doing this show because his career has platformed. Cut. Print.
He is not an artist, not bold, not naked. He is someone whose career is based on his [somewhat] famous parents, his [somewhat] good looks, and his playing to gullible gay and lesbian youth in dire need of role models. And he ain't it.
If Liza attends either of his shows, I will lose respect for her. I wonder if some lamebrain like Sam Harris will drag her to it. I bet Lorna would go for the photo op.
"Songs My Mother Taught Me" meets "Songs I Would Not Dream of Singing Were It Not for the Fact that My Career is Dying"
Leave Lorna out of this.
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/15/05
If Liza refused to see Boy from Oz, I doubt she would attend this. Personally I think Rufus is whiney and depressing - his songwriting skills are good - but as a performer I would never be able to sit through a concert.
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
Jesus Christ, there really is no predicting what Rath is going to get hung up about and harp on endlessly, Marissa's Tony dress shopping woes, Rufus's "arrogrance," etc.
The fricking concert is a tribute, a celebration. It's Pride month, Rufus is a GAY man, gay men have a long historical connection to Garland, Garland's death was a catalyst for the Stonewall Riots. It all makes perfect sense, but if you don't get it, (and here's the entire key right here), maybe it's not for you to get and you should just move along.
Although I am absolutely sure there must have been at least one insufferably arrogant performer on stage at, for example, Angela Lansbury: A Celebration ten years ago, how is this event any more or less heretical than Rufus's?
I don't believe Lorna or Liza would entertain the thought of attending this event.
FindingNamo IS Rufus Wainwright.
Lord knows, Namo, you would never "harp" on any subject you didn't "get."
And after all this time, your obsession with all things Rath is still adorable.
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