A motley crew of gentlemanly singers made a grand musical-theater showing over the weekend at Rufus Wainwright’s “If I Loved You: Gentlemen Prefer Broadway,” a night of male-only collaborations at Toronto’s Luminato Festival. It was dudes singing Broadway classics to other dudes, and it looks like great fun.
Talking Heads’ David Byrne, Boy George, Josh Groban, Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig, Wainwright and the Barenaked Ladies’ Steven Page, among others, joined forces for a gender-bending cover of the “Grease” favorite “Summer Nights.” Like all the songs performed during “If I Loved You,” the men covered the female-sung portion as well, which means that the aforementioned gentlemen tackled Sandy’s high-pitched verses. It’s a charming take on the Broadway hit, with impressive falsetto and Josh Groban getting really into the song while Ezra Koenig was totally over it the whole time.
