The Very Talented Mr. Wainwright

Hey you, how’s your memory: Do you remember that show Rufus Wainwright told those of us in the crowd at his Miami Beach concert last fall, the one he said he was mounting to premiere this spring?

Well, that project, a play on which he’s been collaborating with Robert Wilson based on Shakespeare’s sonnets, will premiere in Berlin on Easter.

Pretty sweet, huh.

Well, wait until you get a load of this: Wainwright, who thinks of himself as being “pretty prolific” – and quite rightfully so – also has written a full-fledged opera, with lyrics in another language (French), no less.

His Prima Donna will premiere at the Manchester International Festival in July after three years spent composing it. And although Wainwright will not perform the 1970 Paris-set Prima Donna, do not think he is done hogging the spotlight.

“This one is for opera singers,” he told EW.com. “They’ve got to be able to sing over the 70-piece orchestra, so I can’t do that. But I'll always want to sing. And now, after writing an opera, I’m much more interested in writing a musical. It’s far more lucrative!”

Photo: EW.com.