Rufus Wainwright’s live show is not one to miss. In the past, his critically-acclaimed shows have featured fans joining him on stage, his sister, Martha, singing with him and more recently he got into the spirit of his covers of Judy Garland by dressing in heels. His shows can be quite grandiose and theatrical, but with his handful of February dates, Wainwright has a more intimate angle in mind that will overview his career in a sort of “potpourri of Wainwright.” 
“It’s very laid back and just chill,” says Wainwright about his plans for his upcoming shows. “An evening with Rufus in the living room situation. I actually try to tailor to that particular evening in that particular city and anything that’s going on in the news that day.”
Wainwright plans to visit four US cities this February: Red Bank, NJ; Montclair, NJ; Philadelphia, PA and Kansas City, MO. Though he is busy writing his opera, “Prima Donna”, which debuts this July 10th in Manchester, England, Wainwright wanted to visit some cities that have always been welcoming to him.
“I can’t really tour intensely because I have to orchestrate and postulate and light candelabras all the time, so I’m pretty busy,” remarks Wainwright of the brevity of the tour. “But I still have to eat at nice restaurants and pay my rent, so I have to do shows here and there.” Perhaps the want of nice restaurants explains why he has chosen these particular cities, considering Philly is known for its cheesesteaks and Kansas City for its BBQ, he is sure to be taken care of for both food and rent money.
Even if you can’t see Wainwright in one of those four cities, there will be plenty of other chances to get a February fix of Wainwright. For the first time in his prolific career, Wainwright has been nominated for his first Grammy in “Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album” for his album Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall. The 51st Annual Grammy Awards are on February 8, 2009.
With competition like Josh Groban and Natalie Cole, Wainwright is trying not to get his hopes up, but just in case he says he has written about eight speeches. Unfortunately, he says he cannot attend the awards due to rehearsal, but if he does win he says, “I’ll just have to announce it to the string section and they’ll play ‘Over the Rainbow’ for me or something.”
Wainwright also covered Brian Wilson’s “Wonderful” & “Song For Children” for a compilation album for War Child, an organization that helps war-affected children. Wilson handpicked Wainwright to cover his songs for the fund raising album and as Wainwright says, “When the king orders, you deliver.” The War Child compilation album, Heroes, hits stores February 24th.
With shows, the Grammys and Heroes, it shouldn’t be too hard to check Rufus Wainwright out. So do your best to catch Wainwright somehow or somewhere this February.
Tour dates:
Feb 12 – Count Basie Theatre / Red Bank, NJ
Feb 13 – Wellmont Theatre / Montclair, NJ
Feb 14 – Kimmel Center / Philadelphia, PA
Feb 21 – Uptown Theatre / Kansas City, MO
Rufus Wainwright: website | myspace
Written by: Bethany
Photo by: Alex Lake
awesome!!