RUFUS-RETRO-WAINWRIGHT-SPECTIVE: ACT 1 at Bram Goldsmith Theater at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts

**Each evening will feature a different program, all combining to create the full Rufus-Retro-Wainwright-Spective experience. ACT 1: Songs of Youth and Addiction - Wainwright debuted his first album at the age of 25. His songwriting goes back more than a decade before. He has been outspoken about his struggle with addiction to drugs and alcohol but ultimately his addiction to life and his art and music has been greater and prevented him from a darker fate. Addiction is an expression of obsession and Wainwright harbors many an obsession that show up throughout his entire catalogue: with love, with men, with opera, with Hollywood's Golden Period, or with chocolate. It is these obsessions that are fuel for his searching as an artist.