'It gives me that theater fix': Alan Cumming and Ari Shapiro to perform a cabaret at The Z.
NEW BEDFORD – Pride month in the Whaling City is getting even more magical, with Alan Cumming and Ari Shapiro coming to The Zeiterion Performing Arts Center on June 24.
“It's a smorgasbord of emotions and genres,” said two-time Tony Award winning actor Cumming. “We just sing songs and we tell stories about our lives. It's a really fun evening.”
Both openly gay and married, the old fashion cabaret-style show simply titled “Och & Oy,” features Cumming and NPR’s “All Things Considered Host” Shapiro proving that an oddball couple can actually come together to make something fun and entertaining.
“He's a serious NPR journalist. I'm the kind of filthy actor, and yet we meet in the middle,” Cumming said.
Featuring several songs such as Kander & Ebb, Ben Folds, 80s classic and other medleys, the two share stories about coming out, getting married and being gay in Hollywood among other fun anecdotes.
“It’s a very queer show,” Cumming said. “Especially when talking about your life as a queer man is an act of revolution these days.”
Returning to New Bedford to celebrate Pride
Having performed in New Bedford previously, Cumming said he’s excited to be part of the city’s Pride month, however he said things are so terrifying that he believes this year’s Pride is going back to its roots of being a protest and less of a celebration, in his opinion.
More: Preparing for Pride: South Coast LGBTQ+ Network shares its line-up for Pride Month 2023
“It’s more of a kind of protest about what's going on and especially in America… the way that the states are kind of clamping down and reneging on rights,” he added.
Cumming, who grew up identifying as bisexual and dating both men and women, said he came out to the press at the height of his career.
“There comes a point when you realize that people are perhaps more interested in your personal life than they are in your work. And you have to maneuver that as well as everything else,” he said.
Cumming is best known for film roles such as “Goldeneye,” “Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion,” “Spice World,” “Burlesque,” “X-Men,” “Annie” and for his three time Emmy-nominated role for CBS’ “The Good Wife.”
“I’ve been doing this for many, many years. So there's various things that people have connected with to me,” he said, adding that he is most recognized for his role in “Spy Kids.”
“It's one of those things that keeps it going, kids these days keep watching it.” he said.
More: The pandemic closed down her 18-year business. Now she opened a new one for artists.
“Young adults I’m even working with now sort of grew up with me as this magical figure in their lives: it’s a lovely thing, as the years go by you're aware of what effect you have on people and it’s fun.”
Teaming up with NPR’s Ari Shapiro
Cumming is currently starring in the Apple TV musical anthology series “Schmiagadoon!” as well as filming three other productions including the TV series “Rhone Who Lives by the River” opposite Karen Gillan, Fred Armisen and Jennifer Lewis.
“What you see is what you get with me. I try to do good work and challenge myself and do things that keep it eclectic… I sort of just have fun,” he said.
“People see me having fun and I think it is hopefully contagious.”
Cumming is also known for his Tony Award winning performance as the Emcee in the 1998 revival of “Cabaret.”
He met Shapiro when he came to see him in the 2014 revival, when he reprised his role again opposite Michelle Williams.
“He [Shapiro] interviewed me for a couple of things for my books and stuff, and we just got on really well each time,” Cumming said.
Shapiro served as a White House correspondent and international correspondent based in London for NPR. In 2010, MSNBC's entertainment website BLTWY placed Shapiro 26th on its "power list" of "35 people under 35 who changed DC in 2010," calling him "one of NPR's fastest rising stars."
The LGBT-themed magazine Out included Shapiro in the "Out 100", a list of "the year's most interesting, influential, and newsworthy LGBT people". In 2015, Shapiro became one of four rotating hosts of NPR’s “All Things Considered.”
“We had good chemistry and one time as we're walking offstage after a thing in Washington, and I said we should do a show together,” Cumming said.
Old fashion cabaret-style show, 'Och & Oy'
They started touring in 2019, performing their cabaret first on Fire Island and in Provincetown, but their plans to take it on the road were delayed due to the pandemic.
“I love doing cabaret. I love the form of cabaret, and I love traveling,” Cumming said. “I just really love going into a theater and just connecting with people; it’s the best thing.
“It gives me that theater fix.”
Standard-Times staff writer Seth Chitwood can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on twitter:@ChitwoodReports. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Standard-Times today.
This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: Alan Cumming and Ari Shapiro perform June 24 at The Zeiterion
