Alan Cumming’s cabaret show for the ages

The AJN reviews Alan Cumming is Not Acting His Age in the Melbourne leg of his Australian tour which leaves his fans delighted with his sparkling comedy and heartfelt songs.

FOR fans of Alan Cumming, the Scottish/American star of stage and screen whose Australian tour was twice postponed due to COVID-19 and rescheduled to this month, the wait was certainly worthwhile.

Titled Alan Cumming is Not Acting His Age, the cabaret show with a four-member band was performed at Melbourne’s Palais Theatre on January 14 after shows in Brisbane, Perth and Sydney, and followed by a New Zealand tour.

On stage Cumming was in a charming, playful mood as he effortlessly alternated between his witty stand-up routine and powerful renditions of classic songs.

His theme was society’s obsession with ageism – tied to the fact that he will turn 58 on January 27 – but with boundless energy and trademark humour he covered everything from sex to death.

Anecdotes about Hollywood stars that he worked with over the years, including Sean Connery and Emma Stone, and some of the celebrity guests at his New York nightclub, Club Cumming, were among the highlights.

Cumming has enjoyed wide success in theatre productions in the UK and US, and is best known for his Broadway role as Master of Ceremonies in Cabaret which won him the 1998 Tony Award for best lead actor in a musical.

He also became a household name among fans of the TV series, The Good Wife, playing Jewish political advisor Eli Gold for seven seasons from 2010-15.

In recent years Cumming has turned to cabaret – Alan Cumming is Not Acting His Age premiered at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival (where he was the festival’s artistic director) in June 2021, but the Australian tour that was scheduled to follow was cancelled due to COVID-19.

At his Palais Theatre show Cumming opened with But Alive, which set the mood for the show. His selection of songs included the classic Is That All There Is? and It Was a Good Time (made famous by Liza Minelli).

Of course, the musical Cabaret is featured with Maybe This Time, and for a change of pace he sang a medley of kids’ favourites from The Little Mermaid, Moana and Frozen before changing to a more serious tone with Billy Joel’s Where’s the Orchestra.

It was no surprise that at the end of Alan Cumming is Not Acting His Age , the star received a standing ovation from fans of all ages.