Sydney Reviews

Photo - Adrian Buckmaster

Alan Cumming has flirted with audiences through cheeky performances in everything from Sex And The City and Eyes Wide Shut through to X-Men 2. He’s even had the odd fling with musical theatregoers, starring in The Threepenny Opera alongside Cyndi Lauper on Broadway as well as giving an acclaimed Tony Award-winning spin in Cabaret. He’s now ready to launch himself as a cabaret (lower case version) star with his first one-man show I Bought A Blue Car Today. The title comes from part of the recent citizenship test Scottish-born Cumming undertook in the USA, and his song choices are loosely connect via a series of recollections of his experiences since “making it” in the States and becoming a bona fide resident.

He’s got the showman part almost down pat. The “aw shucks, I’m glad to be here” shtick seems genuine. His banter between songs dwells largely on his life in the spotlight and among the celebrity crowd (“I don’t know if any of you have performed at the Tonys, but…”). There’s a fine line that most cabaret stars have to balance – between being one of us, the audience, but also making it very clear why they’re the one up there on the stage, and not down in the seats. Cumming’s last-week-I-just-sang-in-front-of-Liza-Minnelli precociousness manages to stay just on the right side of this line. Some of his tales are very amusing – he’s got a hilarious (and dirty) tale involving screen legend Ann Miller. There is something indelibly charming about him. For all his talk of nerves, he definitely seemed comfortable on stage, especially in the delightful Studio at the Opera House.

It’s this stage presence which carries him through. He doesn’t have the most remarkable or commanding voice in cabaret history, but what he does have is the ability to appear natural, the chutzpah, the rock star attitude, the swagger, the quietness, and the naughtiness when it counts.

The performance is there, he just needs precisely the right material to make his show zing. At times the songs seemed a tad out of reach, and perhaps because it was opening night the music mix didn’t seem quite right, the musicians seemed to overpower his voice at a couple of points.

Backed by his talented musical director Lance Horne, and seven young guns from the Sydney Conservatorium, he works his way commendably through standards like Cole Porter’s "Every Time We Say Goodbye" and Charles Aznavour’s "She" (which in Cumming’s version, has become "He"), he even mashes up Dolly Parton’s "Here You Come Again" with Mika’s "My Interpretation". As yet, it doesn’t quite seem that he’s nailed the perfect catalogue of songs to showcase the voice he has, but it’s early days in his cabaret career. If he can find more like “Wig In A Box” from Hedwig And The Angry Inch, Victoria Wood’s hilarious “Thinking Of You” and, above all, his version of “Mein Herr” from Cabaret (which was goosebump-creating and brought the house down), and fine tune the anecdotes a little, he’ll have a show to be reckoned with. At the moment it’s good to hang out with Alan Cumming the cabaret star, I look forward to it being great.


I Bought A Blue Car Today
Alan Cumming

Venue: The Studio | Sydney Opera House
Dates: 19 - 22 February
Tickets: $70-$85
Bookings: 02 9250 7777 or www.sydneyoperahouse.com