And I was just thinking, "You know, people don't dress up like 19th-century opera composers enough these days..."

Thank god for Rufus Wainwright! If nobody else remembers to grow a beard and dress up like Guiseppe Verdi, he's got us covered...

(Wainwright)


(Verdi)

In case you didn't know, Rufus Wainwright wrote an opera. I know. For real. And it's called "Prima Donna." (Or, when art imitates life...) I just got around to reading the NYTimes review and this is my favorite part:

"Sure enough, while a crowd milled in the lobby before the performance, Mr. Wainwright arrived meticulously made up as Verdi, in a formal 19th-century black suit, complete with white silk scarf, black top hat and a bushy beard grown for the occasion. Mr. Wainwright’s companion, Jorn Weisbrodt, a German theater director, was dressed as a young Puccini in a cream-colored summer suit and a straw hat. The crowd erupted with applause, and lights flashed as people took pictures."

I find the whole thing highly amusing. Wainwright just seems like a really bored, really odd guy who happens to have the time and money to indulge his fantasy of being an amazing opera composer. So props to him for doing it up right (authentic beard and all) and making a spectacle of the thing (and also props to him for writing the libretto himself...in French). Let's be honest though, he probably isn't musically cut out for the task at hand. I don't know, maybe I'm wrong...

Anyway, happy Bastille Day! Eat a croissant!