ETC.
"Cabaret" emcee Alan Cumming, a former flatmate of Bourne's, said a Broadway tour of "Swan Lake" is planned for Boston and Philly and confirmed that Garry Hines will helm the show. As to sharing a flat with Bourne, Cumming joked: "He's the cleanest man alive, he'd a perfectly nice flat and I just mucked it up."
What are you doing for fun this summer?
ALAN CUMMING: "I just finished 'Cabaret'. That was pretty grueling, so I'm planning lots and lots of lying by pools, not dancing, and getting fat."
Scots actor Alan Cumming has a secret double life ... as the hunky star of an American jeans commercial. The star of the BBC's High Life is more famous for his rear end in the States, where he has appeared in a string of telly ads for Lee Jeans. That means he joins Interview With The Vampire star Brad Pitt, who shot to fame after appearing in a Levi promotion. Alan, 31, from Perthshire, explains: "No one knows this, but in the States, I'm known as the jeans guy. "I'm the hunk in the Lee commercial. I've shown my bottom in a lot of adverts -my bottom is shown all over America." But he has banned the ad from ever being screened in Britain - because he's too embarrassed. He adds: "It's in my contract that it won't be shown here, but I keep receiving cheques from France and Germany, so it's getting closer and closer all the time. "If it did appear here, I don't know what I would do." The actor seems to be flavour of the month of the moment and is starring in a string of big films. He'll appear in the new Bond adventure, Goldeneye, as a crooked Russian, he's also in Circle Of Friends, which is about to be released across the pond, and he's the voice of Black Beauty. But Alan insists he's not turning into a show biz luvvie. He says: "I don't mind being a big movie star, but I don't like being called the new Kenneth Branagh. It's embarrassing, because I'm not a luvvie."
Since taking Broadway by storm, Cumming has become a major New York starand, yes, a sex symbol. The latter designation might sound surprising to those who only know Cumming from the mostly milquetoast characters he so effectively portrays on film (the creepy Uriah Heepy Scan Walsh in Circle of Friends, the obsequious Reverend Elton in Emma, the nerd-turned-tycoon Sandy Frink in Romy and Michele's High School Reunion). But Cumming so completely embodies the production's mischievous sexuality that once you've seen him in the role it's hard to see him any other way. His come-hither, go-both-ways Emcee - the memorable Two Ladies now features the Emcee flanked by "one lady" and one gentleman (in drag)- has triggered critical praise, multiple awards, appearances on Letterman and Rosie, and a cult following with Web sites such as the "Online Sanctuary for Alan Cumming," the "Online Shrine to AlanCumming," even the "Alan Cumming Worship Site."
"One great thing about becoming famous is that you get to work with photographers who have the ability to make you look really nice."
Admittedly, the distinction is a fine one. We feel like the Supreme Court did when it was grappling with obscenity: We can't define sexy, but we know it when we see it. We can't define slutty either, but have you ever driven down Rodeo Drive?
"I think it depends on the person", says Cabaret star Alan Cumming diplomatically "Two people could wear the same thing and one would be incredibly sexy and one would be a little slag. It depends on whether they're comfortable with themselves or if they're desperate for a shag."
And finally, actor Tony-winning ("Cabaret") Alan Cumming, who played Rooster in the recent TV version of "Annie" and soon will be seen on the big screen in "Titus": "I'd like to be the scampy dog in 'Lady and the Tramp.' Dumbo is my favorite, but Pocahontas is a close second."
But my favorite nude image of the year is Alan Cumming on the cover of Out magazine. Cumming became a star just last year, when he played the creepy MC in a Broadway revival of Cabaret. That production, still thriving but with a different cast, has no full nudity, but both male and female performers show off plenty of flesh -- and some nasty bruises. Cumming displayed alarmingly white skin, a sunken chest, and weedlike tufts of hair across his upper body; his seediness was only enhanced by the nipples tarted up with glitter. On the Out cover, Cumming is considerably more appealing, but he's still miles away from the gym-bunny look. He's sitting with his knees pulled up so that we don't see much of his chest, but we can see the pores on his hairy legs. The focal point of the picture is Cumming's smooth white thigh, which looks enormous because of the way he's posing. Since this was the November issue, maybe the cover photo was really a sly reference to Thanksgiving dinner.
Reading the Out interview, it's hard to tell whether Cumming -- a self-described "pansexual" -- is blessed with self-esteem or is full of arrogance, and people who get naked in public often send off these mixed signals. Is it pride or narcissism to think that other people would get a kick out of seeing you model your birthday suit? (Or is it a sense of entitlement, as indicated by the rumor that a youthful George W. Bush thought he had the right to dance naked atop a bar?) This blurred line between pride and narcissism has long been a popular topic in the gay community, sometimes showing up in the debate over muscle queens and circuit parties (see William Mann's "The Courage To Be Buff," One in Ten, October).
“'Hoots' is a spectacular collection, if you like laughing in bed then this is the ideal bedtime book; if you like laughing while making coffee then this is the ideal coffee table book and if , like me, you like to laugh in the bath then have a couple of towels ready.”
And Broadway's Alan Cunmming had the evening's best quip. "Your sexuality is like a vacation. You don't always want to go to the same place."
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