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Historic Judy Garland concert restaged in New York
06/15/2006 1:36 AM, Reuters
Eclectic pop singer Rufus Wainwright
bridged musical generations on Wednesday with a daring
re-creation of Judy Garland's legendary 1961 concert at
Carnegie Hall.
Wainwright took the stage to thunderous applause from the
sellout crowd and launched straight into the first number,
"When You're Smiling."
The Canadian crooner said "we're not in Kansas anymore,
we're in New York," -- a play on the memorable line from the
"Wizard of Oz" movie which launched Garland's career. Backed by
a 40-piece orchestra, Wainwright then restaged the monumental
concert often called the greatest single night in show-business
history.
Garland's double album, "Judy at Carnegie Hall," won two
Grammys including Album of the Year and became her best-selling
record, made when she was 39.
Wednesday's show was the first of a sold-out two-night run.
Among some two dozen numbers were classics such as "Do It
Again," "That's Entertainment!" and "Puttin' on the Ritz."
But it was the songs most closely associated with Garland
-- "San Francisco," "The Man That Got Away," "The Trolley
Song," "Swanee," "Chicago" and her signature, "Over the
Rainbow," that drew the strongest response.
Wainwright's dreamy, reedy tenor marked an arresting
counterpoint to Garland's throaty belting.
Wainwright, like Garland, made it a family affair. He
performed with his mother, Kate McGarrigle, his sister Martha
and Garland's daughter Lorna Luft, who appeared for a duet
rendition of "After You've Gone."
Liza Minnelli, Garland's other daughter, did not appear on
stage.
Wainwright spoke often of Garland's influence during the
performance, which was filmed by Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes. "When I was a kid I wanted to be Dorothy," he said.
He cracked at one point, "I'm going to speak now, because
on the album Judy speaks here." When a light malfunctioned, he
joked "this didn't happen in the original."
Garland's Carnegie Hall concert was one of several
comebacks throughout her troubled life, which ended with her
death in 1969 at 47.
Not long before the show she had nearly died from hepatitis
and was told her career was over. The Carnegie Hall performance
defied that prognosis, and spawned a 16-city U.S. tour and
years of sold-out concerts.
Stars in the audience 45 years ago included Rock Hudson,
Richard Burton, Julie Andrews and Henry Fonda. On Wednesday,
Sarah Jessica Parker, Joel Gray, director John Waters, Gina Gershon and designer Patricia Fields were among the fans who
gave Wainwright several standing ovations.
"I did feel a real connection to Judy Garland and did
really commune with her," Wainwright said at the show's end.
It was clear from the ecstatic response that the thousands
who attended felt the same way.
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