BY ERNIO HERNANDEZ, Playbill.com
Singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright will re-create stage and screen legend Judy Garland's celebrated 1961 Carnegie Hall concert for London and Paris.
Following his successful June 2006 performances at the concert's original New York City venue, Wainwright - with the help of Sam Mendes and Stephen Oremus - will now bring the event to former Garland haunts: London's Palladium (Feb. 18 and 25, 2007) and Paris' L'Olympia (Feb. 20, 2007). A Los Angeles visit - aiming for the Hollywood Bowl - is reportedly in the works.
Musical director Oremus, of Broadway's Wicked, Avenue Q and All Shook Up, returns to work with the singer, bringing the show back to life in its entirety, as he did for the two shows at Carnegie Hall's Isaac Stern Auditorium. Mendes (Cabaret, Gypsy) - currently working on a documentary with the singer - will also be involved with the event.
Complete with a 40-piece orchestra, Wainwright re-creates the original April 23, 1961, concert Garland performed at the height of her late career. "The greatest single night in show business,' as it was called, featured the "Wizard of Oz" star singing 26 standards, show stoppers and songs from her films. Wainwright performs his own interpretations of the songs - not mimicking Garland - over the same orchestrations.
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