Photo: Tracy Morford
Martha Plimpton Hosts a Night of Too Many Wainwrights
“Oh my God,” Martha Plimpton said, introducing last night’s Stars in the Margin concert at the Zipper Theater. “It’s just going to be a night of awesomeness.” She was right, more or less. The lineup included Plimpton, Suzy Roche, John Wesley Harding, Julian Fleisher, A Perfect Couple’s James Waterson — and enough Wainwrights to choke a horse (Loudon, Rufus, and Lucy, daughter of Loudon and Roche). Casualness ruled the night — guitars were tuned onstage, songs were restarted from the top, and even the typically suave Fleisher called Lucy “Suzy.”
Highlights included Plimpton and Lucy’s covers of the Jeffersons theme song and Beyoncé’s “Irreplaceable,” Plimpton’s rendition of Springsteen’s “Thunder Road,” and soprano Sally Murphy (from August: Osage County) singing a fake Craigslist “Lost and Found” ad requesting information on a good sandwich relish. Near show’s end, Lucy introduced her half-brother Rufus, who appeared wearing a baby-blue fedora. “I’m just here for hat night,” he told the audience before sitting down at the piano to belt out “Hallelujah.” It raised hairs. Loudon — sans hat but wearing a very fatherly Hawaiian shirt — came out next. He and Lucy had just returned from Australia on a joint father-daughter tour. “Have any of you gotten to do that?” Lucy teased the crowd. Nobody had, so we sat in rapt jealousy as the two played Shania Twain’s “You’re Still the One.” —Randi Eichenbaum
Martha Plimpton Hosts a Night of Too Many Wainwrights
