Jessica Chastain, David Byrne, Boy George and more hit Toronto for the premiere of “If I Loved You”

by Randi Bergman June 20, 2014

If I Loved You Luminato Toronto — Photography by George Pimentel

See pics from the Toronto premiere of If I Loved You »

If you were anywhere near the Sony Centre on Saturday night, you’d have witnessed the collective swoon from virtually every guy, gal and gay in the vicinity. As one of the final events during the Luminato Festival, “If I Loved You” welcomed a troupe of babely troubadours to the city including David Byrne, Boy George, Josh Groban, Brent Carver, Steven Page, Brennan Hall and Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig for a one-night-only performance of Broadway duets sung exclusively by men. Orchestrated by resident showman (and husband of Luminato creative director Jörn Weisbrodt) Rufus Wainwright alongside musical director Steven Oremus, the show brought songs from classics like Guys and Dolls, Porgy and Bess and West Side Story to the stage with as many modern day flourishes as were, really, there hidden all along. Case in point: a kiss between Wainwright and Koenig at the end of “We Kiss in a Shadow,” a mid-performance birthday cake for Boy George (the icon turned 53 that day) and a sing-along finale featuring Grease’s “Summer Nights.”

After the show, the cast headed over to The Shore Club for an intimate after-party that included one ultra VIP, Jessica Chastain, who while in town shooting Guillermo Del Toro’s Crimson Peak, has been spotted all over Toronto. Just your average night in a city where cultural richness is taken more seriously than, like, almost everything else.