Wainwright's opera, Prima Donna, about a former diva dreaming of a comeback, was first performed in Manchester, England in 2009. It was also presented in London, Melbourne, and Toronto before its American premiere during the 2012 season of the New York City Opera.

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Reviewer Zachary Woolfe of the New York Times described Prima Donna as "an attempt to make the sweeping lyricism of Gounod and Puccini sing to us in a fresh way" but complained that it "is so busy being an homage that it has forgotten to be an opera," and he found the plot wanting.

In 2012 Wainwright released the album Out of the Game, which is more in the pop vein than his previous works but which, while it does not reflect all of the diverse styles that have informed his music, is nevertheless intensely personal, addressing three milestone events in his life.

The final song, "Candles," lays bare his grief over the loss of his mother, who died in 2010.

"Montauk," on the other hand, celebrates the arrival of his daughter, Viva Katherine Wainwright Cohen, born in February 2011 to Lorca Cohen, the daughter of Canadian singer and songwriter Leonard Cohen. Wainwright and Cohen have joint custody of the child, but in "Montauk" Wainwright sang to her about "your dad . . . and your other dad."

The "other dad" in the parenting partnership was Weisbrot, now the artistic director of the Luminato Festival. Two of the tracks on the album--"Respectable Dive" and "Song of You"--address the couple's relationship.

Wainwright and Weisbrot became engaged in 2010 and were married on August 23, 2012 in Montauk, Long Island, where the couple live. Wainwright's sister, Martha Wainwright, was among the musicians performing at the ceremony.

Other family members were also present for the joyous occasion, as were friends including Alan Cumming, Yoko Ono, Sean Lennon, Antony Hegarty (of Antony and the Johnsons), and Carrie Fisher.

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