Alan Cumming (Photo: Timothy Kuratek)
Willkommen! Actor, singer, producer, author and philanthropist, Alan Cumming (Tony Award winner for the 1998 revival of Cabaret) is partnering with the Kennebunkport Resort Collection to bring his iconic, namesake New York City nightlife venture, Club Cumming, to Kennebunkport, Maine, for a 15-week summer residency. Club Cumming on the Coast will debut at the historic Kennebunkport Inn, in the heart of downtown Kennebunkport’s Dock Square, through Labor Day Weekend. The boutique hotel’s outdoor Sun Deck will be reimagined as a coastal New England version of the intimate and eclectic cabaret bar and lounge.
This seasonal outpost will feature a rotating roster of talent, personally curated by Cumming and his team, who will perform Friday and Saturday evenings on a replica of the East Village venue’s “postage stamp-sized” stage. Entertainment will range from theater-world stars to piano-bar show tunes, drag performances to jazz acts, and more. In addition to bringing world-class entertainers to Maine’s storied summer colony, Club Cumming on the Coast has partnered with The Actors Fund to support the national human service organization’s ongoing effort to support arts professionals who have been especially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Since March 18, 2020, The Actors Fund has provided more than $20 million in emergency financial assistance to thousands of individuals across all 50 states and Puerto Rico.
“Club Cumming is a place for all ages, all colors, all genders, all sexualities—everyone is welcome,” says Alan Cumming. “Wherever Club Cumming is, we want it to be a place where people feel safe and comfortable, where they’ll see things they might not expect to see, have their horizons broadened, and make new friends. All the performers are very skilled and polished, but if you go through the Club Cumming filter, you’re not run-of-the-mill—you’ve got spunk and feistiness. I think it’s great if Club Cumming brought a little spice and mischief to Kennebunkport,” Cumming playfully adds.
To recreate Club Cumming’s electric energy and sky-is-the-limit programming, Cumming has enlisted EJ Garlands, a longtime Club Cumming team member who regularly performs and produces shows at the New York City venue. Garlands has relocated to Kennebunkport, where he will serve as managing producer and host of Club Cumming on the Coast. Garlands will perform alongside already confirmed stars like John Riddle (currently Raoul in Broadway’s “The Phantom of the Opera”), Natalie Joy Johnson (“Kinky Boots”), and the Richard Cortez Band, a weekly jazz act at Club Cumming, among others. Cumming himself is expected to make an appearance later this summer.
