Tuesday night at the Olympia, Rufus Wainwright made an excellent case for himself as the greatest entertainer of his generation-- just like his publicity poster claims he is (see below).

The spectre of Judy Garland hovered in the air as Rufus tackled the twenty-off songs which comprised the singer's setlist at the 1961 Carnegie Hall concert that has now become an indisputable classic in American musical history. The task was mighty, but if anyone could pull it off, Parisist's money was on Rufus Wainwright: it takes someone with confidence, pizzazz, and couilles to spare, but Wainwright certainly fits the bill. Even, as was the case Tuesday night, as he suffered from an acute case of laryngitis.

But Wainwright gamely gave it his all, performing the first act in a spangly gold lame suit and continuing the second act in a narrow black one ("Balenciaga," he drawled), complete with diamond lapel pin that blinged all the way to the back to the theatre. (The Olympia was perhaps not the best choice of venue, as the effect was more Las Vegas than Carnegie Hall.)

He was certainly helped along by a formidable 40-piece orchestra, led by Broadway arranger and conductor Stephen Oremus (Avenue Q, and in another Garland connection, Wicked) with whom Wainwright held his own based on sheer charisma and superlative musicianship. When he forgot the words to "You Go to My Head" he skilfully covered it up [NDLR: Apparently this is intentional]; when the original key for "Do It Again" was too high, he whispered his way through, and when the time came to nail the "Puttin' on the Ritz" syncopation,he was flawless. He sang the bejeezus out of "San Francisco" and "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart," and enhanced "That's Entertainment" with a kickline routine.

But in some places his ailing voice simply refused to comply with the task at hand, which must have been disappointing for him. Parisist hoped and prayed all the way through "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" that he would at least land the final note, and, thankfully for him, and for the audience, he did.

Wainwright is a truly charming performer, with a jaunty delivery and an innate sense of interpretation. He can pick up a song, lift it higher and twirl it around, flourishing it, and then find its hidden corners and sharp edges. But one of the most interesting things about this performer doing this act is that Wainwright embodies a certain turn-of-the-millennium zeitgeist, one heavy with irony, who could not be said to cherish a fondness for the musical theatre tradition. Nevertheless, Wainwright does, as does his parents' generation, and so his own peers must follow where he leads.

But they cannot follow him everywhere, and indeed there are certain places Garland went that Wainwright himself cannot go, being chained, as he is, to his era. Thus, when Garland's programme called for him to sing "You're Nearer," Wainwright prefaced his version with a caveat: "Of all the songs in this program, this is the only one I really dislike singing." The reasons became clear in the lyrics:

You're nearer
Than my head is to my pillow,
Nearer than the wind is to the willow.
Dearer than the rain is
To the earth below,
Precious as the sun to
The things that grow.
You're nearer than the ivy to the wall is,
Nearer than the Winter to the Fall is.

Although they do not represent the best of Lorenz Hart's lyrics (generally, Hart was a pretty sarcastic songwriter, who died of alcoholism and bitterness at the age of 48), Garland was able to sing these lines wistfully, from the heart, whereas Wainwright sang them with a sardonic distance, raising his eyebrows and speak-singing, as if to point up their utter lameness. Was this his own discomfort with such frank emtionalism, or a fear of being judged by his hipster fans? Do these lines really cloy in a 21st century context?

Wainwright was joined by his sister, Martha, whose soulful, mournful "Stormy Weather" left the audience stunned, and by Garland's daughter Lorna Luft, who stopped the show singing "Hello Bluebird," the last song her mother ever performed.

By the time Wainwright arrived at the final song, "Get Happy," the audience was already there-- high above the rainbow on a bubble of warmth and nostalgia. Shout hallelujah to the Gay Messiah!

Photo: by Maitresse on Flickr