Last night, Rufus Wainwright pulled off his re-creation of Judy Garland’s legendary 1961 Carnegie Hall concert, with a little help from family and friend, a large helping of support from an older gay audience, and appreciative nods from the press. Quoth the NYTimes:

The spirit was there. At the very least, his loving song-by-song recreation of Judy at Carnegie Hall, Garland’s brilliant 1961 concert that became the most beloved of all pre-rock concert albums, was a fabulous stunt. Not even Madonna, pop music’s ultimate pop provocateur, has attempted anything so ambitious. What unfolded onstage was a tour de force of politically empowering performance art in which a proudly gay male performer paid homage to the original and longest-running gay icon in the crowded pantheon of pop divas.

(Team coverage: Red Black Window, NYT, Reuters.)

(Photo left, Daniel Shiplacoff; right, NYT)