| | |  | Music & Musicals | Home » » Rufus Wainwright: Rufus! Rufus! Rufus! Does Judy! Judy! Judy! Live at the London Palladium | | | | | | | Description: | | On June 14, 2006, Rufus Wainwright took to the stage to recreate the Greatest Show of All Time ever staged in honor of the Greatest Show of All Time, Judy Garland's legendary 1961 concert at Carnegie Hall; song-for-song, in its original venue. Garland fanatics feared a fiasco, but the show was a triumph. His sophisticated act of homage to his hero was both a loving tribute and an arch commentary on the original, featuring classics like Over The Rainbow, Come Rain Or Come Shine and Zing! Went The Strings Of My Heart. Backed by a 36-piece orchestra and arranged by the Broadway famed Stephen Oremus (Wicked, Avenue Q), Rufus's vocal talent soars over those classic melodies. | | | Features: | |
• On June 14, 2006, Rufus Wainwright took to the stage to recreate the Greatest Show of All Time ever staged in honor of the Greatest Show of All Time Judy Garland s legendary 1961 concert at Carnegie Hall; song-for-song, in its original venue. Garland fanatics feared a fiasco, but the show was a triumph. His sophisticated act of homage to his hero was both a loving tribute and an arch commentary on
| | | Product Details: | | | Actors:
| Rufus Wainwright, Lorna Luft, Kate McGarrigle, Stephen Oremus, Bucky Pizzarelli | | Director:
| Russell Thomas | | Format:
| Color, DVD, Live, NTSC | | Language:
| English | | Number of Discs:
| 1 | | Studio:
| Geffen Records | | DVD Release Date:
| December 04, 2007 | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 22 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 22 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
30 of 34 found the following review helpful:
 A Tribute That's a Triumph!Dec 04, 2007
By W. Kirchmeyer
I was one of the fortunate audience members at the first incarnation of this show, at Carnegie Hall on June 14, 2006. I also had the great pleasure (even though Rufus was not in his best vocal shape that night) of seeing the show re-created at the Hollywood Bowl in September, 2007. I wish I'd been able to go to London to see the show featured on this DVD. Being a huge fan (along with millions of others!) of the original concert Judy recorded, I was thrilled to have been able to see the show in person twice and now I can re-live the excitement whenever I want, by watching the DVD. The DVD re-creates the thrill of being in the audience. While the London crowd is a bit more subdued than the NY or LA crowds were, the performance is first rate, with many of Rufie's humorous anecdotes and top notch vocals. Also featured are performances by Rufus' sister, Martha Wainwright, singing a spectacular "Stormy Weather" and a duet of "After You've Gone" with Judy Garland's youngest daughter, Lorna Luft. Kate McGarrigle, Rufus' mother, also makes dual appearances at the piano for "Over The Rainbow" and several selections during the 'encore' portion of the show. Also something special is Lorna Luft's encore, where she is visibly moved, after singing the song "Bluebird" which Judy sang (on the same Palladium stage) in her last movie, "I Could Go On Singing". While all of Rufus' songs are wonderful, especially notable are "That's Entertainment", "Come Rain or Come Shine" (Rufus quipped, after the Hollywood Bowl performance: "I'm glad this is the last time I have to sing that one"), "If Love Were All", "Zing! Went The Strings of My Heart", "Rock-a-bye You're Baby...", and, my two favorites, "Chicago" and "San Francisco" (which he repeats as a final encore). You will thoroughly enjoy this DVD if you are either a Rufus Wainwright or a Judy Garland fan. (or both!) I wish they had shot the video at Carnegie Hall, but having this London performance is truly a gift I will enjoy many times.
A special note: If you ever get the chance to see Rufus live, jump on it - he puts on a GREAT performance, every time. I have seen him live 8 times and am looking forward to seeing him again and again!
39 of 46 found the following review helpful:
High Praise to Rufus from Someone Who Saw Judy in 1961Dec 19, 2007
By A. McIntyre
"Texasexpat"
I believe that I am the first person to review either the DVD or CDs who actually saw and heard Garland perform in 1961. I was 18 and saw Judy at Boston Garden about 6 months after the Carnegie Hall concert. I am a Rufus fan, but put the DVD on with some fear. How could Rufus possibly be as good as Garland? He is not as good, but it was much closer than I expectly.
The five songs that I most remember from 1961 were "Do It Again" (almost as good, with Rufus singing in Garland's key), "That's Entertainment" (lowest point in Rufus's evening; Garland unexpectly danced while the orchestra was playing and also sang the h*ll out of the song), "If Love Were All" (great job by Rufus), "Over the Rainbow (again not quite as good as Judy, but close). "Come Rain or Come Shine" (Judy's greatest
moments of the concert; Rufus almost matched her and totally won me over).
Garland had more vocally power, over 30 years of experiece singing these songs and the #1 album in the country ("Judy in Carnegie Hall") the night I saw her in 1961. Additionally, she was one of show business' greatest live performers. Great praise to Rufus for carrying this off so well.
My only regret is that this review, which might convince people to buy the DVD who might otherwise not, will be lost at the end of the posted reviews.
14 of 17 found the following review helpful:
Bowled Over!!Dec 06, 2007
By L. Hebert
"sleeper"
What a DVD! No, he does not have Judy's vocal range or the level of emotion she was willing to share with her audience, but he makes up for it with sheer exuberance. For two hours he turns out an exhaustive performance. The conductor of the wonderful orchestra, Stephen Oremus, looks like a teenager, but he is a wizard with a baton. Whatever you do, do not miss this wonderful DVD.
8 of 10 found the following review helpful:
 Cry Hubris!!!Jun 11, 2008
By FrancB
"BookFreak"
Much as we appreciated the postmodern elements of this undertaking -- what with Mr. Wainwright and company's performing the entire Judy @ Carnegie Hall reportoire using the original Mort Lindsey arrangements, to boot -- and the effort expended by all and sundry connected to this production, we couldn't help but be reminded of a quote from fictional character Addison DeWitt which I paraphrase below:
"Mr. Wainwright's talent wasn't tall enough for that gesture."
Watching this concert felt frighteningly like those occasions when one was made to sit through a neighbor's precocious child being made to perform for his relatives. Makes one question just how inured we've become to mediocrity and ersatz "talent" for lack of anything better. Rufus!Rufus!Rufus! doing Judy!Judy!Judy was Sad!Sad!Sad, indeed.
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
FASCINATINGDec 09, 2007
By D. Ross
"Writer and MORE"
A fascinating metamorphisis. A stunning orchestra - It is worth buying just to see the orchestera leader Steven Oremus - he is the epitome of Mort Lindsay - He makes the show. The talking segments are not very good - Rufus is not in his element when he jokes. Lorna Luft is AMAZING doing Hello Bluebird. Stephen Oremus solos on Foggy Day and If Love Were All - and he is an angel to behold. As an aside Rufu's dad is featuered in disk 2 of SNL Live Volume 1 - season one - and you can see alot of similarities.
PS - He would have been fabulous wearing Judy's Jacket from 1961 - he costumes are also sub par for the show.
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