Alan Cumming at Feinstein's at Loews Regency
The Tony Award-winning actor's cabaret show is a sometimes potent and often hilarious mix of songs and stories.
(© Ned Stresen-Reuter)
While most performers might warm up the audience, Cumming plants himself on stage and launches into a blazing, take-no-prisoners rendition of Kander & Ebb's "Mein Herr" (a moment made slightly surreal on opening night by the presence of the song's originator, Liza Minnelli). It's a statement, both musically and otherwise, as the openly gay performer repeatedly performs same-sex love songs and talks about his belief in equal rights and gay marriage.
Not surprisingly, Cumming chooses his musical selections -- some of which can be heard on his debut CD I Bought A Blue Car Today -- with an actor's eye, allowing him to put emotion and characterization in the forefront of performance. For example, he transforms -- sans makeup -- into the German transsexual Hedwig (albeit with a slight Scottish accent) for a riveting medley of "Wig in a Box/Wicked Little Town" (The number is preceded by a sweet story about his first -- and yes, chaste -- meeting with Hedwig creator John Cameron Mitchell.)
The many moods of love are deftly explored by Cumming in a variety of songs. In Marcy Heisler's and Zina's Goldrich ever-charming, "Taylor, The Latte Boy," the actor precisely captures the intoxication of infatuation; while in a gorgeous take on William Finn's "What More Can I Say?" and the lovely "Next to Me" (which Cumming co-wrote with his invaluable music director, Lance Horne), Cumming conveys the contentment of being in a successful relationship. Equally effective, if somewhat more surprising, is a passionate medley of Burt Bacharach and Elvis Costello's "I Still Have That Other Girl" and Stephen Sondheim's "Losing My Mind," which plays out as a three-minute mini-play.