Rufus Wainwright

Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall, Geffen

As an act of devotion and a grand camp gesture, it was hard to fault last year's "Rufus does Judy" shows. Removed of the smell of stale dust and greasepaint, however, the cracks overwhelm the polish. Where Garland's performance was strung out, Wainwright's is slick, smug and so studied that all emotion is removed; where Garland took to the stage to plead with us to love her and sang every syllable as if her life depended on it, Wainwright knows we love him and has come to wallow and read the songs. It's left to Rufus's sister Martha to pilfer the limelight, and Garland's daughter Lorna Luft to steal the show.