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Rufus Wainwright on opera, revisiting his first two albums

Out singer/songwriter plays Strathmore this weekend on anniversary tour

Published

7 years ago

December 5, 2018

Rufus Wainwright, gay news, Washington Blade

Singer/songwriter/composer Rufus Wainwright, seen here in a vintage outtake from the ‘Poses’ sessions, says launching an opera is a Herculean undertaking but one his artistic impulses required. (Photo by Greg Gorman)

Rufus Wainwright

All These Poses Anniversary Tour 2018

Saturday, Dec. 8

8 p.m.

Music Center at Strathmore

5301 Tuckerman Lane

North Bethesda, Md.

$39-89+VIP

strathmore.org

Singer/songwriter Rufus Wainwright, 45, is on tour celebrating 20 years since his debut. He’s touring a revival of his first two albums and is fresh off the October premiere of his second opera, the gay-themed “Hadrian” about the Roman emperor of the title and his male lover Antinous. It launched with the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto. Wainwright spoke to the Blade by phone from Minnesota.

WASHINGTON BLADE: How is your tour going so far?

RUFUS WAINWRIGHT: It’s going great. It’s been pretty amazing actually. I’m really kicking myself in terms of just in wonder on how in God’s name I could have gotten such a great band together as well as writing an opera and being a father and stuff. … I’m really beyond satisfied with the band that we’ve brought out for the “Poses Tour.” It’s really, really fantastic.

BLADE: You do most of your (1998 eponymous) debut album but mix it up but then you do “Poses” (2001) straight through in its entirety. Why?

WAINWRIGHT: I think to just perform both albums back to back would have been a little too clinical for the audience. It’s a rather long evening and I wanted to mix it up in the sense that I’d be able to present some of my new projects like this Canadian album that I released called “Northern Stars,” so I do like one Joni Mitchell song to promote that then I have a new song “Sword of Damocles” that I wanted to sing so I wanted to have some freedom to be able to swim around a bit. But then in the second half we do “Poses” from top to bottom and that gives a really different character to the second half of the show.

BLADE: Pretty faithful arrangements?

WAINWRIGHT: Yeah, we’re trying to capture the original lines as best we can. We can’t get all the harmonies and we don’t have an orchestra of course, but otherwise it’s very faithful to the original.

BLADE: Sometimes something works great on a record at home but can feel very different in a live room. Any issues with that translation?

WAINWRIGHT: There doesn’t seem to be. What’s becoming evident to me is that my original strategy of writing songs that are impressive both to sing and to communicate a message, that’s at the heart of each piece. All the arrangements and harmonies and different mixes are really there to serve the song. That’s how I always felt in the studio and it’s still about that structure, even subconsciously, when I perform it in public.

BLADE: How was it performing at the Joni Mitchell 75th birthday tribute concerts a few weeks ago?

WAINWRIGHT: It was amazing. I was able to share the stage with some real legends of the industry be it Seal or Diana Krall or Emmylou Harris, all these amazing people. And then having Joni there the second night kind of beaming in the audience as we sang was a real honor and privilege.

BLADE: How did it work out that you sang “Blue”? Did you pick that or Joni?

WAINWRIGHT: Actually my husband chose that song. Nobody had taken it, I think mainly due to the height of its nature. I mean it’s an iconic piece and it’s so tied to Joni’s individualistic style that nobody really requested it so (event creator/Wainwright spouse) Jorn (Weisbrodt) sort of put it forth and said it would be a real challenge for you to do “Blue” and me being a man who loves to complicate his life you know, jumped at the chance.

BLADE: How is Joni? Is she able to walk and talk? (Mitchell had a brain aneurysm in 2015)

WAINWRIGHT: She walks with assistance and she talks. It’s not as fierce as it once was. I don’t in any way want to minimize what occurred to her medically and it’s not something I would wish on anyone but that being said, I do feel that there is essentially — I don’t know, she’s softened in a way, which you know with strokes the opposite can happen. You can become incredibly bitter and angry and just be in a worse place. I don’t feel from my perspective that that has occurred to her. I think she’s in a real place of acceptance, which is good to be in when you’re older.

BLADE: Did you know from the outset that Hadrian (the title character in Wainwright’s new opera) was a bottom?

WAINWRIGHT: (laughs) I’ve been wanting to write this opera for many, many years and ages ago I was speaking with someone and they brought up that concept and it really stuck with me. … So I’ve known for a long time that it would be a necessary kind of element to give the opera more depth. I’ve known for a long time.

BLADE: How was the Toronto production and were you there the whole time?

WAINWRIGHT: I was there most of the time it was really fabulous. I had some of the greatest singers on the planet performing the opera with Thomas Hampson and Karita Mattila and the others were incredible too but just in terms of stature, those two are second to none. So there was that and also the audience was incredible, it sold very well. There was always an enthusiastic reaction and I have no complaints whatsoever about the experience. Now trying to get a four-act grand opera presented in other opera houses of the world is itself another herculean task, especially in the world we live in now which isn’t really opera-centric, but I’m one who kind of enjoys a fight so here we go.

BLADE: What do you know now that you didn’t know after your first opera?

WAINWRIGHT: I learned a few things. One is that an artist really has to compose what they are called upon to compose, you know? After the premiere, I kind of looked back and kind of said, “Why in God’s name did I do that?” Only because it took so long and it was such a lot of work, it cost a lot of money and I don’t know what it has to do with today or anything like that. But I realized oh my God, I was really under a kind of spell and that’s really all that I could hold onto really as an artist and all I can kind of go with. And then the piece has to really fend for itself. So I just have to remind myself that I’m doing this because it’s meant to be even though it might seem crazy. And then also I realize that along the way so much of what I’ve learned I can then communicate in other areas of my artistic life. I’m looking forward to doing that. Just the craft that one learns in writing for an orchestra and working with opera singers is astounding and I’m excited to bring that into all my other work.

BLADE: Classical music critic David Patrick Stearns wrote last year about revisions made to a Barber opera after its 1966 premiere and said, “Even though the revisions made theatrical sense by cutting extraneous information, opera is not about information. Half the time you don’t know what an opera is truly telling you until you’ve lived with it a few decades.” Your thoughts?

WAINWRIGHT: When we premiered “Hadrian,” I had to cut out practically an hour for it to fit into the constraints of union rules with the theater. So in terms of editing and so forth, that definitely had to happen and now in moving forward for other theaters, I do want to do some revisions. I do feel that an opera is a kind of a living organism that needs upkeep. That being said though, yeah, it’s a gamble and yes, the game you’re playing with opera is the long game and all of that can only really be fully understood arguably sometimes a century later. That’s all I can say.

BLADE: “Hallelujah” (the Leonard Cohen song Wainwright covered) has really gotten overdone, almost to the point of “Imagine.” I lost count of how many skaters skated to it at the last Olympics. Are you tired of it?

WAINWRIGHT: I’ve had my ups and downs with that song for a long time. When I first performed it, it wasn’t something that I gravitated to. It was because it had become very popular from “Shrek” and that’s something I was just asked to do and did and didn’t have any emotional connection to. But then I started singing it and I started to resent it because that’s all I was known for and I actually made a concerted effort to squash that stream. But then I started to realize that I could just throw it into any situation and people were instantly on my side, so and then I became thankful for it. And then when Trump was up for election, I said I wouldn’t sing it if he won the election. It became that thing. So then he won and then I didn’t sing it and then Leonard Cohen died, so it kind of keeps coming back. I respect the song in a lot of ways. It’s not my favorite Leonard Cohen song by any means but one has to give it some credit in terms of its indomitable character that just keeps coming back and that is somewhat impressive. I owe a lot to that song as well in terms of having a real mainstream appeal. So I’m of two minds.

BLADE: Do you ever listen to your mom’s records or have a favorite?

WAINWRIGHT: I love my mom’s records, they’re great. I would probably say my personal favorite is “Dancer with Bruised Knees,” which is their second album. I have a slight bias on that one because there’s a song “First Born” that is sort of about me a little bit.

Rufus Wainwright, seen here in a vintage photo, has a soft spot for the music of his mother, Kate McGarrigle who performed as Kate & Anna McGarrigle with her sister. (Photo by Greg Gorman)

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Award-winning D.C. chef reaching new culinary heights

Anthony Jones of Marcus DC competing on ‘Top Chef’

Published

2 days ago

April 2, 2026

Evan Caplan

Anthony Jones (Photo by Joshua Foo)

In Anthony Jones’s kitchen, all sorts of flags fly, including his own. Executive chef at award-winning restaurant Marcus DC, Jones has reached culinary heights (James Beard Award semifinalist for Emerging Chef, anyone?), yet he’s just getting started.

Briefly stepping away from his award-winning station, Jones took a moment under a different set of lights. Recently, he temporarily gave up his post at the restaurant for a starring small-screen slot on the latest season of “Top Chef,” which debuted in March. (The show airs weekly on Bravo and Peacock).

Before his strategic slice-and-dice competition, however, Jones, who identifies as gay, draws from his deep DMV roots. In the years before “Top Chef” and the top chef spot at Marcus, he was born and raised in Sunderland, Md., in southern Maryland, near the Chesapeake.

Early memories were steeped in afternoons on boats with his dad bonding over fishing, and wandering the garden of his great-grandparents spread with fresh vegetables and a few hogs. “It was Southern, old-school ethics and upbringing,” he said. “Family and food went hand in hand.” Weekends meant grabbing bushels of crabs, dad and grandma would cook and crack them. Family members would host fish fries for extra cash. In this seafood-heavy youth, Jones managed time to sneak in episodes of the “OG” Japanese “Iron Chef” show, which helped inspire him to pursue a career in the kitchen.

Jones moved to D.C. after graduating from college, ending up at lauded Restaurant Eve, and met famed chef Marcus Samuelson, who brought him to Miami to be part of the opening team for Red Rooster Overtown. After three years, Jones moved back to D.C., where he ran Dirty Habit, reinventing and reimagining the menu, integrating West African flavors and ingredients.

Samuelson, however, wouldn’t let a talent like Jones stay away for too long. Pulling Jones back into his orbit, Samuelson elevated Jones to help him open his namesake restaurant Marcus DC, which has been named a top-five restaurant by the Washington Post. Since then, Jones has been nominated as a semifinalist for the RAMMYs Rising Culinary Star in 2026 and won the Eater DC’s Rising Chef award in 2025.

Samuelson’s Marcus is a tour de force interpreting the Black Diaspora on the plate, from the American South to West Africa, along with his signature “Swedopian” touches. Yet it’s Jones who has deeply informed the plate, elevating his own story to date. Marcus DC is primarily a seafood restaurant, which serves Jones well.

“Where I’m from is seafood heavy, and as I’ve progressed in my career, I’ve moved away from meat.” Veggies and fish are hero dishes. His own dish, Mel’s Crab Rice, was not only lauded by the Washington Post, but is framed by his youth carrying home the crustaceans from Mel’s crab truck. It’s a bowl of Carolina rice, layered with pickled okra, uni béarnaise, and crab. Jones also points to a dish on the opening menu, rockfish and brassica, paying respect to a landmark D.C. institution, Ben’s Chili Bowl. Jones reverse engineered a favorite bowl of chili that’s seafood instead of meat forward, leveraging octopus and rockfish along with different riffs of cauliflower: showing his intellectual, creative, and cultural sides.

While “Top Chef” is showing Jones’s spotlight side, he also lets his identity show at work. “In the kitchen, I make sure we’re inclusive. We don’t tolerate discrimination. Everyone that’s here should feel confident to express themselves. There are so many different flags in the kitchen.”

Jones says that he didn’t fully express his gay identity until fairly recently. He felt reluctant coming out to certain family members, “you’re scared to tell them about being different,” he says, and while that anxiety ate at him, “I’m lucky and fortunate to have unconditional love and that weight off my shoulders.”

Today, “I’m me all the time, Monday to Sunday. I’m honest with people, and my staff is honest with me.”

“Being a chef is hard,” he says, “and being a chef of color is even more difficult.”

Yet his LGBTQ identity is a juggling act, he says. “I need to keep that balance, because once someone finds out something about you, their opinion can change, whether you want it or not.”

Being on a whole season of TV cooking competition, however, might mean millions more might have an opinion of him (Jones has appeared on TV already, on an episode of “Chopped”). To prepare, he says, “I’ve just kept a level head. It’s just an honor to be on top chef with amazing people happy to be there.”

Plus, this season is set in the Carolinas, and Jones attended Johnson & Wales University in Charlotte, N.C. “It’s a full story of my life, now a monumental moment for me.”

Jones also recently was nominated for a James Beard Foundation Award. “JBF has been a north star, a dream for so long. I always had this goal on my wall.”

Being at the top spot at Marcus DC, making waves through his accolades, and cooking on Bravo means that Jones is highly visible. “I think that if someone has a similar background to me, and can see our story, trajectory, and success, they can have more ability to be themselves. This is my goal.”

Back at Marcus, Jones has plenty up his chef’s white’s sleeves. A new spring menu is in the works. He’ll be launching a new tasting menu “dining experience,” he says, and has plans to work on more events and collaborations with chefs and friends to bring in new talent and share the culinary wealth.

a&e features

Introducing the Torchbearers Awards honoring queer, trans women and nonbinary people

Meet the Legends and Illuminators lighting new paths

Published

1 week ago

March 26, 2026

Staff reports

The Torchbearers Awards are more than recognition—they are a continuation of legacy. They honor the quiet architects of progress in our community: those who organize, advocate, build, and protect, often without fanfare but always with purpose. Rooted in a belief in intentional recognition, this honor names those who carry our movements forward—those who make room for others, who remind us that change is both generational and generative. In a time marked by uncertainty and challenge, these leaders push forward with courage, clarity, and an unwavering commitment to expanding opportunity and equity.

This year’s honorees reflect the full breadth of our community, spanning generations, backgrounds, identities, and industries. From Legends, with decades of leadership and having created pathways for others, to Illuminators, who are lighting new paths with creativity and innovation, each Torchbearer represents the power of intergenerational leadership and the strength found in our diversity. They are organizers, advocates, artists, policy leaders, healers, and changemakers whose lived experiences shape a shared vision for equity and liberation.

This award is our love letter to queer and trans women and nonbinary people who carry the flame when it would be easier to let it dim. To those who consistently show up, who use their voice and visibility and stand firm, often without recognition, so that others may live more freely and fully. The Torchbearers Awards celebrates not just what has been done, but the enduring spirit, responsibility, and collective care that ensure the work continues, and that the flame is always passed forward.

Co-Creators of the Torchbearers Awards: Shannon Alston, June Crenshaw, Heidi Ellis

Torchbearers Awards Advisory Board: Aditi Hardikar, Lesley Bryant, Jasmine Wilson-Bryant, Stephen Rutgers

ILLUMINATOR AWARDEES

Representative Sharice Davids (she/her), (D, KS-03)
— U.S. House of Representatives
Greisa Martinez Rosas (she/her/ella)
— Executive Director, United We Dream
Paola Ramos (she/her)
— Journalist & Correspondent
Meagan A. Fitzgerald (she/her)
— Journalist & Correspondent
Jessica L. Lewis (she/her)
— Founder / Producer, Play Play DC
Savannah Wade (she/her)
— Founder, OAR Agency
Suhad Babaa (she/her)
— Filmmaker/ Former Executive Director of Just Vision
Ashlee Davis (she/her)
— Global Head of Inclusive Outcomes, Ancestry
Jazmine Hughes (she/her)
— Journalist and Former Editor at New York Times Magazine
Queen Adesuyi (they/she)
— Policy Advisor & Organizer, ReFrame Health & Justice
Michele Rayner, Esq. (she/her)
— Civil Rights Attorney, State Representative (Florida House of Representatives)
Gaby Vincent (she/her)
— Sports/Cultural Commentator and Community Leader
Jenny Nguyen (she/her)
— Founder & Owner, The Sports Bra
Denice Frohman (she/her)
— Independent Artist, Poet / Performer
Vida Rangel (she/her)
— Founder, Our Trans Capital
Roxanne Anderson (they/them)
— Executive Director, Our Space
Ann Marie Gothard (she/her)
— Co-Founder & President, Pride Live (Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center)
Diana Rodriquez (she/her)
— Co-Founder & CEO, Pride Live (Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center)
Wendi Cooper (she/her)
— Founder / Executive Director, Transcending Women
Toya Matthews (she/her)
— City of San Antonio, Texas
Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones (she/her)
— Sports/Cultural Commentator and Community Leader
Charity Blackwell (she/her)
— Poet, LGBTQ Advocate & Community Leader
Wilhelmina Indermaur (she/her)
— Director of Communications, Tyler Clementi Foundation
Em Chadwick (she/her)
— CMO, For Them & Autostraddle
Kylo Freeman (they/he)
— CEO, For Them & Autostraddle

LEGEND AWARDEES

Sheila Alexander-Reid (she/her)
— Executive Director, PHL Diversity, Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau
Cassandra Cantave Burton (she/her)
— Interim Director of Thought Leadership & Senior Research Advisor, AARP
leigh h. mosley (she/her)
— Photographer / Educator, PhotoFlo Photography
Jenn M. Jackson, PhD (they/them)
— Assistant Professor of Political Science; Author & Columnist, Syracuse University
Jordyn White (she/her)
— COO, Washington Prodigy / VP of Leadership Development & Research, HRC Foundation
AJ Hikes (they/them)
— Deputy Executive Director, ACLU
RaeShanda Lias (she/her)
— Digital Creator, RL Lockhart
Donna Payne-Hardy (she/her)
— Educator, EEO Specialist, Founder of NBJC, Former Leader at the Human Rights Campaign
Courtney R. Snowden (she/her)
— Principal, Blueprint Strategy Group
Gaye Adegbalola (she/her)
— Musician & Activist, Musician / Inductee of the Blues Hall of Fame
Cheryl A. Head (she/her)
— Independent Author, Novelist (Crime Fiction)
Letitia Gomez (she/her)
— The American LGBTQ+ Museum, Board Chair
Lynne Brown (she/her)
— Publisher, Washington Blade
Shay Franco-Clausen (She/Her/Ella/Queen)
— Political Strategist and Organizer
Melissa L. Bradley (she/her)
— Founder & Managing Partner, New Majority Ventures
Meghann Burke (she/her)
— Executive Director, NWSL Players Association
Victoria Kirby York, MPA (she/they)
— Director of Public Policy & Programs, National Black Justice Collective
Joli Angel Robinson (she/her)
— CEO, Center on Halsted
Jeannine Frisby LaRue (she/her)
— CEO, Moxie Strategies
Alice Wu (she/her)
— Film Director (Saving Face, The Half of It) / Screenwriter
Storme Webber (she/her)
— Interdisciplinary Artist / Educator, University of Washington
Kim Stone
— CEO of the Washington Spirit, Washington Spirit
Mickalene Thomas
— American Visual Artist, Mickalene Thomas Studio
Erika Lorshbough (any/they/she)
— Executive Director, interACT
J. Gia Loving (she/ella)
— Co-Executive Director, GSA Network

a&e features

D.C. springs back to life with new, returning events

Cherry blossoms, Rehoboth season kickoff, and more on tap

Published

3 weeks ago

March 12, 2026

Tinashe Chingarande

D.C.’s annual Cherry Blossom Festival kicks off later this month. (Blade file photo by Marvin Bowser)

Longer and warmer days are back meaning: It’s time to get out of the house and enjoy Washington D.C.’s many events. Below are a few to check out this spring.

The National Museum of Women in the Arts will host “Making their Mark: Works from the Shah Garg Collection” until Sunday, July 26. This exhibition illustrates women artists’ vital role in abstraction, considers historical contributions, formal and material breakthroughs and intergenerational relationships among women artists over the last eight decades. For more details, visit. NMWA’s website.

Art in the Attic will host a pop-up on Saturday, March 14 at 6 p.m. at 1012 Madison St., Alexandria, Va. There will be a variety of vendors selling products across different modes of art. For more details, visit Eventbrite.

Play Play will host “Indoor Recess – The art of play” on Sunday, March 15 at 2 p.m. This event will embody classic recess energy, including opportunities to build and experience community and connections through games, movement, art stations, and creative freedom. Tickets are $12.51 and can be purchased on Eventbrite.

Spark Social will host “Gay Bar Crawl on U Street” on Friday, March 20 at 7:30 p.m. This will be a fun night out in gay D.C. with other gay people, whether you’re visiting D.C., new to the area, or just looking to expand your social circle. Many crawlers have formed lasting friendships and even romantic relationships after just one night out. Tickets are $35.88 and are available on Eventbrite.

Creative Suitland Arts Center will host “EFFERVESCENT: House of Swann” on Saturday, May 30 at 7 p.m. This will be a gay, good time where we will celebrate love, joy, wellness, and visibility for the LGBTQIA+ community. Tickets start at $17.85 and can be purchased on Eventbrite.

SWAG Works DC will host “Unapologetically Her” on Saturday, March 14 at 2 p.m. at 701 E St., S.E. This event is a powerful celebration of womanhood, resilience, creativity, and self-expression in honor of Women’s History Month. This all-women exhibition highlights the diverse voices, stories, and artistic perspectives of women who create boldly, live authentically, and stand confidently in their truth. This event is free and more details are available on Eventbrite.

9:30 Club will host “Gimme Gimme Disco: A Dance Party Inspired by ABBA” on Saturday, March 14 at 6 p.m. There will also be a “Donna Summer Power Hour – The Queen of Disco” segment during this event. It’ll be one hour of music with no skips. Tickets are available on 9:30 Club’s website.

Harder Better Faster Stronger will host “Heated Rivalry Rave” on Friday, March 20 at 9 p.m. at Howard Theatre. This event is open to all ages. Tickets are available on the theater’s website.

CAMP Rehoboth hosts its 25th annual Women’s+ FEST, April 9-12 in Rehoboth Beach, Del. Entertainers include headliner Mina Hartong, a comedian, storyteller, and founder of Lez Out Loud; and singer Yoli Mayor. There are dances, dinners, pickleball, and much more. Details and tickets at camprehoboth.org.

Also in Rehoboth Beach, the Washington Blade’s 19th annual Summer Kickoff Party is set for Friday, May 15 featuring Ashley Biden, who will accept an award on behalf of her brother Beau. State Rep. Claire Snyder-Hall will also speak. More speakers and the venue to be announced soon.

The annual D.C. Cherry Blossom Festival kicks off March 21 at DAR Constitution Hall and culminates with Petalpalooza on April 4, the day-long, outdoor street party with music and art, stretching across Navy Yard, and ending with fireworks over the Anacostia River.