Opera diva Martina Arroyo barely recognized singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright under his bushy new beard at the gala for her foundation at Essex House.
“But I am clearly channeling Giuseppe Verdi, your favorite composer!” Wainwright told her.
Writer Gregory Speck asked Wainwright where his husband Jörn Weisbrodt was, and learned that Weisbrodt was taking care of their 7-year-old daughter Viva, whom
Wainwright sired with Lorca Cohen, daughter of the late Leonard Cohen, “to ensure that our musical legacy endures,” Wainwright said.
Wainwright’s towering blond companion, cabaret singer Justin Vivian Bond, gamely added, “They made that baby the old-fashioned way.”