Rufus Does Judy

On 10 June 2026 at the Royal Albert Hall, Rufus Wainwright brings back Rufus Does Judy, his full-length tribute to Judy Garland’s 1961 Carnegie Hall concert, for a final London performance. Guided by longtime musical director Stephen Oremus, Wainwright explores Garland’s American songbook with the craft that has marked his path between pop, opera and cabaret.

First staged at Carnegie Hall in 2006, the project was captured on the 2007 live album Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall, which earned a 2009 Grammy nomination and charted in several countries. Two decades on, he returns to the repertoire that defined Garland on stage, not by impersonation but by inhabiting the material in his own voice.

The set spans standards and show tunes from that night, including "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", "Get Happy" and "Chicago", arranged for a full ensemble and shaped by Wainwright’s phrasing and stagecraft. A chance to hear this songbook through the lens of a contemporary artist who has made it a central thread of his career.