The Pacific Jazz Orchestra featuring Rufus Wainwright - "Wainwright does Weill"
United Theatre on Broadway (formerly Theatre at Ace Hotel), Los Angeles, CA
Rufus Wainwright's fascination with Kurt Weill's music goes back for decades. In his early twenties he wore out the vinyl grooves of Teresa Stratas' famous Weill album. His musical influence can be heard in his own songs. Never has he dedicated an entire evening to singing the German musician's songs. With the Cafe Carlyle in May of 2023 he found the perfect venue to try out an all Kurt Weill program exploring some of the known but definitely straying more into the unknown Weill. The audiences in New York for the 5 concert run were ecstatic. With the Pacific Jazz Orchestra under the baton of Chris Walden he is now expanding the orchestral pallet for his approach to Kurt Weill. Wainwright will interject some of his own compositions, old and utterly new ones that have been influenced by the German composer who had a long career in the US after migrating here from Nazi Germany.