The novelty of it was undeniable. For two nights, flamboyant pop musician Rufus Wainwright would be re-creating the 1961 concert Judy Garland performed at Carnegie Hall, just eight years before she died of an accidental overdose. The blue ticket stub read “Rufus Wainwright in Concert,” and then right below it: “Dedicated to Judy Garland.”

That was only half of it. Wainwright’s concert at Carnegie Hall on Wednesday (and also last night) was not merely a show, but a cultural event that drew a sold-out crowd dotted with celebrities and an audience that held Wainwright in rapturous esteem. If he weren’t already so revered, it would have been a star-making moment.

Performing the entire concert, which later became a Grammy-winning album, was a wildly ambitious project, encompassing more than 25 songs, two costume changes (from cream-colored suit to top hat and tails), and peaks and valleys of decadent singing and sentiment.

But Wainwright was up to the task, dusting off these American Songbook chestnuts with verve and an obvious affection for the material. What he lacked in Garland’s emotional heft and vocal grandeur, he compensated for with blowsy bravado and a keen understanding that delicious vamping goes a long way. Every toss of his floppy hair and thrust of his hips was in synch with the astounding full orchestra conducted by Stephen Oremus.

Wainwright’s reverence for Garland aside, the concert was as much as about Wainwright and his own aspirations. Of course, there was the symbolic importance of a gay performer saluting a pivotal gay icon. Yet this wasn’t an evening of reinvention, but rather heartfelt homage, right down to Wainwright forgetting some of the words (as Garland did) on “You Go to My Head” and resurrecting some of her original stage banter.

His love of Garland, he explained, started with “The Wizard of Oz,” and as a child, his dream was to click his ruby-red slippers just like Dorothy. That was on a good day; on a bad day, he fancied himself the Wicked Witch of the West.

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Here’s my favorite clip of his being crucified.

Man, why was everyone giving Madonna such a hard time.