Rufus Wainwright
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SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA NOVEMBER 2019 RUFUS WAINWRIGHT A RARE GLIMPSE INSIDE THE MIND OF THE CELEBRATED SINGER-SONGWRITER SNUGGLE UP TO CUBBY THE ECCENTRIC, LOVABLE LGBTQ FEATURE DEBUT FROM MARK BLANE STEVE GRAND PINK CHAMPAGNE AND MARTINIS WITH THE ALL AMERICAN BOY SET YOUR PHASERS TO STUNNING FAZE EXPANDS OUTER LIMITS OF ASTRO-POP ROOM FOR A THIRD? MATTHEW LYNN’S SEXY AND STYLISH NEW DEKKOO ORIGINAL SERIES WINTER IS COMING FRANCES FISHER STARS IN THE LION IN WINTER EXPLORING YUCATÁN A RICH, PROUD HERITAGE LIFESTYLE EVENTS FASHION ENTERTAINMENT NIGHTLIFE COMMUNITY November 2019 VOLUME 13 ISSUE 6 SPOTLIGHTS 22 FILM Snuggle up to Cubby 28 STREAM QUEEN Matthew Lynn’s Sexy and Stylish Dekkoo Original Series The Third 32 ARTIST SPOTLIGHT Pink Champagne and Martinis with Steve Grand 34 ONE TO WATCH Faze expands outer limits of astro-pop COMMUNITY 10 CALIFORNIA MEN’S GATHERING 28 12 LGBTQ COMMUNITY EVENTS FEATURE 14 LGBTQ COMMUNITY EVENTS INTERVIEW PALM SPRINGS REINVENTING RUFUS 16 DESERT BRIEFS WITH BELLA DA BALL STAGE 36 THE LION IN WINTER 38 ANASTASIA 40 SAN DIEGO THEATRE BRIEFS 42 ORANGE/L.A. COUNTIES THEATRE BRIEFS INDULGENCES 20 RAGE RECOMMENDS 44 TRAVEL: EXPLORING YUCATÁN 48 BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT: THE NEW CLUB SAN DIEGO 50 IMAGE LAB: THE ‘WAX’ KING OF PALMER SKIN 52 THE L EFFECT 54 SEXUALITY 56 GENERATION Y 58 CALENDAR: FAB EVENTS THIS MONTH 62 CLOSING OPINION photo by matthew welch 6 RAGE monthly | NOVEMBER 2019 feature interview by tom andrew he New York Times has lauded Rufus Wainwright for his “genuine originality.” Rolling Stone calls him “brilliant,” and The Guardian says he’s “an incorrigible crowd pleaser.” He has had quite a tumultuous life and career, but there’s REINVENTING Treally no need to go into all of that except to say that what he has experienced in his life thus far has come out in his lyrics and music. It’s THAT, which makes Rufus Wainwright who he is and how he’s been able to connect with so many people through his music. San Diegans will get a rare chance to see him in concert with the San Diego Symphony Orchestra on RUFUS Saturday, November 16 at Copley Symphony Hall. And while he won’t be recreating the entire Judy Garland at Carnegie Hall concert, he will have a few choice Garland favorites on hand. “I came up with that idea a few moons ago,” Wainwright said. “It was a tribute, during yet another Celebrated singer-songwriter branches out to dark period of American history, notably the Iraq War, and I was living in the United States and feeling other mediums, elaborates on his inspirations very discouraged about what was happening, what our country was doing in the world. I was being negative about that, about the U.S. But I still lived there and wanted to have some moments to be like Judy Garland and his folk-singer mother, proud of. Some little feelings here and there of patriotism. “So, I ended up listening to a Judy Garland record a lot – her concert from 1961, which was arguably and dishes on how a backstage one of the more glorious moments of her past,” he said. “A large part of the idea was, of course, to do it at Carnegie Hall. They wanted to recreate where that album was recorded. I was just, I don’t know, interloper would become his husband. reminded of how great America could be and how sophisticated and passionate and then the thought of doing that concert became really necessary.” If you look at Wainwright’s tour schedule, you’d think the singer would have no time for anything else. But he does have moments to get away, and he plans to enjoy San Diego a little bit while he is here. The concert at Copley Symphony Hall will be conducted with the San Diego Symphony Orchestra. It’s a concert he’ll only be performing twice on this particular tour. “Yeah. Well, I mean I do them periodically,” Wainwright said. “You know, they really have become a kind of overview of my various musical exploits now, be it music from my records or a Judy song here and there, or even sometimes moments from my operas. It’s a lovely way to fully express the trajectory that I’ve got, that I’ve chosen over the years, which is quite wide and perfectly suited to an orchestra and I’m really excited to bring it to the West Coast.” Songs like “Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk,” “Hallelujah” and “Poses” are fan favorites. “Poses” was written years ago when the singer was living in New York City. “Well, I was essentially living at the Chelsea Hotel in New York and I had made my first album in Los Angeles. And before that, I really had been kind of shunned from Manhattan. I wasn’t at all understood in the downtown scene. It was very different,” Wainwright said. “Whereas when I got to Hollywood, they really embraced me. So this was my return to the city, to the Emerald City. And, of course, because I had a record deal and I had some notoriety, they immediately took me on. I took them on, too, and just had the time of my life in New York and living at the Chelsea. You know, ‘Poses’ is really kind of this nasty, at the apex of that experience where, you know, I was very much in a blissful state, but also, you know, getting into the hands of the downfall and the price that one has to pay for that kind of behavior. So, it gets written from atop a cloud, I guess.” YOU KNOW, ‘POSES’ IS REALLY KIND OF THIS NASTY, When asked if he has any favorite songs, the singer took his time before answering. Given his library AT THE APEX OF THAT EXPERIENCE WHERE, YOU of music, it must be tough to narrow it down to just a few. One thing is for sure, though. His mother – Canadian folk singer Kate McGarrigle, who died in January 2010 – had a big impact on him. KNOW, I WAS VERY MUCH IN A BLISSFUL STATE, BUT “That’s a hard question to answer because I do so many,” Wainwright said. “And there is such a variety. ALSO, YOU KNOW, GETTING INTO THE HANDS OF THE You know? But I probably have to say I love performing my mother’s stuff. Songs like ‘Mendocino.’ ‘Heart Like a Wheel’ and songs that she wrote. And that’s because, I mean, I miss her terribly. And sadly, she DOWNFALL AND THE PRICE THAT ONE HAS TO PAY died 10 years ago. And very few people have the opportunity, you know, to sing their parents’ work. FOR THAT KIND OF BEHAVIOR.” And it really does bring them back to life. So those I would say are my favorites.” photos by matthew welch continued on page 30 28 RAGE monthly | NOVEMBER 2019 NOVEMBER 2019 | RAGE monthly 29 feature interview HE KIND OF SHOWED UP. HE MANAGED TO GET BACKSTAGE THROUGH MUTUAL ACQUAINTANCES. AND OF COURSE, THE MOMENT I SET EYES ON HIM I WAS LIKE, ‘OH MY GOD,’ THIS IS, THIS COULD BE A FUN LITTLE ENTERPRISE.” Wainwright is thankful for the help and support of nothing too crazy but that … but that was actually keeps her alive. While he won’t be performing any of his German-born husband, Jörn Weisbrodt, who also a good thing because then it became a sort of … a her songs at his San Diego concert, there is one song happens to be his producer. The two met in Berlin, courtship. You know? The project was very quickly that he’ll be singing just for her. “You know, in a lot were engaged in 2010, and married in 2012. dropped and Jorn then proceeded to now want to of ways, ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ is a tribute “Well, I mean, he was interested in working with know a little bit more about me and what I did in to her,” he said. “She used to accompany me on that me professionally,” Wainwright said. “So he kind of my downtime. It was nice that it became an actual song as a small child and up until she passed away. showed up. He managed to get backstage through process working over the next few months, we just So that’s very much a nod to her.” mutual acquaintances. And of course, the moment looked out for each other and then one day, we, ya I set eyes on him I was like, ‘Oh my God,’ this is, this know, did it.” Rufus Wainwright with the San Diego Symphony takes place could be a fun little enterprise. We went out for drinks Getting back to one thing Wainwright said about Saturday, November 16 at 8 p.m. 619.235.0804 or after the show and nothing happened. You know, his mother’s songs. He said singing them, in essence, sandiegosymphony.org 30 RAGE monthly | NOVEMBER 2019.