21st-Century Renaissance Man Alan Cumming Is Sappy And Proud

Alan Cumming is something of a renaissance man. An actor with a certain mercurial quality, he was the perfect choice to portray Nightcrawler, the teleporting X-Man of deep-felt faith wracked with doubt over his demonic lineage. He slipped just as convincingly into the role of Eli Gold, The Good Wife's shifty political manipulator, as coolly capable of burying a career as he is saving it, accruing several Emmy and Golden Globe nods.

As an author and bisexual man, he has produced both queer fiction, in Tommy's Tale, and reality, in his searingly candid memoir Not My Father's Son. The latter depicted the physical and psychological abuse he endured from his father and the mystery surrounding his maternal grandfather, the subject of a particularly memorable episode of Who Do You Think You Are?

Based in New York, Scotsman Cumming forged his career on stage. Now with Olivier and Tony awards to his name, he started out at Glasgow's Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, where he met best friend Forbes Masson and they created musical alter egos, Victor and Barry.

"It was really simple, just the two of us and a piano being stupid and singing funny songs," Cumming recalls. "I've always loved that immediacy, how you can create a world really easily. It's a good form to say things that you want to say without banging it on the head."

Noting that, in the intervening years, his singing has improved somewhat, Cumming is about to stage an Australian encore of his well-received cabaret show Alan Cumming Sings Sappy Songs, threading key moments from his storied life with a rich tapestry of repurposed songs, from compatriot Annie Lennox' 'Why' to Lady Gaga.

"I've got a good Scottish work ethic. I'm fascinated by so many things and want to give it all a go."

"I think people are really surprised by some of the songs I sing and how I present them," he says. "I've got to interpret it in a way that changes people's views of it. That's how you make a connection because I'm being completely honest and open and laying myself bare. That, to me, is what cabaret is all about."

He can speak with a certain authority, having toured Australia previously with his self-penned I Bought a Blue Car and captivating audiences as the Emcee in Sam Mendes' revival of Cabaret. Sappy Songs had its origins in the Broadway dressing room of a later revival of that revival, at first as a post-curtains entertainment for celebrity mates. That led to an invite to take over the illustrious Cafe Carlyle piano bar for a fortnight, cheekily renaming it Club Cumming. He'll open a bar by that same name in the East Village later this year.

Sappy Songs reflects how Cumming has grown personally and as a performer. "A lot of crazy stuff has happened in my life, and if I was going to tell stories about it, I had to be committed to that. I sing a song for my dad and my grandad, they're lynchpins of the show really."

When I marvel at the sheer breadth of his achievements and wonder how on earth he finds room to relax, his impish wit strikes. "When I have any free time, I have to speak to reporters," he cackles. 

"It's really just a sort of childlike desire to pack as much in as possible," he adds. "I've got a good Scottish work ethic. I'm fascinated by so many things and want to give it all a go. If it sounds fascinating or terrifying, and I think 'I'll never be able to do it,' that's the biggest lure to me. If it sounds too easy, I'm like, 'naaaa.'"

Never scared of speaking out, especially on Twitter, the 52-year-old is no friend of President Trump, "an aberration," or Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, "buffoon of a woman," but suspects his forthright nature is what draws like-minds to him.

Married to husband Grant Shaffer, Cumming has advice for queer Australians pursuing marriage equality. "If you look at America, so much has happened in such a short time, but it took a long, long time to get that going. It didn't happen overnight, so just keep doing what's right and the good will out. I even feel that about America right now. Sometimes you have to scrape the very bottom of the barrel for people to actually become engaged and think about what's really important."

Alan Cumming Sings Sappy Songs plays 10 Jun at Enmore Theatre, Sydney, 11 Jun Her Majesty's Theatre, Adelaide, 13 Jun, Astor Theatre Perth, 15 Jun at Brisbane Powerhouse and 16 — 17 Jun at Comedy Theatre, Melbourne.