Rufus Does Judy.

I love Judy Garland and I love Rufus Wainwright. I really was born this way. I bought this CD with such high expectations that I was afraid to listen to it. That fear quickly melted away and turned into giddy delight and chills. Rufus may have sung that “Old Hollywood is over” on the title track of this summer’s uneven-but-buy-it-anyway-because-it’s-Rufus CD Release the Stars. He demonstrates his love for things old and classic on this song-for-song recreation of Judy Garland’s famous Carnegie Hall concert, the LP of which won her an Album of the Year Grammy for 1961. Rufus admits that he has been training for this concert since he was a boy and “…wanted to be Dorothy…” He is now is the ultimate Friend of Dorothy with this true valentine to Garland. It takes lots of… confidence… to take on the concert of truly one of our greatest entertainers at her creative peak. Rufus does so flawlessly. His classically trained, carmel voice has never sounded better and the 36-piece orchestra is arranged as it was that memorable evening in 1961.






Rufus has only performed this show in New York, London, Paris, and Hollywood. The DVD version of this concert was filmed at the Palladium in London. You will get so happy watching him show you his affection for this music and get exhausted watching his performance. If Rufus were not enough, the boy-wonder orchestra conductor (also a FOD?) is brilliant and a joy to watch.

Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall is officially the second classic CD from Rufus, the first one being the 2003 gem Want One- still one of the finest pop albums of the decade.