From Dawn: I became a fan of yours after seeing you perform as the Emcee on the Rosie O'Donnel show. I'm a huge showtunes geek and your performance blew my mind. I was a new mom home with a baby with no budget to speak of so there was no way I could jet to NYC to see you in the show, alas. I've heard a rumor that Cabaret was filmed. Is this true? And is there a chance that it'll get shown on PBS or released on DVD? Also I wanted to thank you for your work as an activist. That baby I was nursing then is now a strapping 13-year old and he also has a 6-year old sister. I'm raising 'em to be fans of yours, too (although Spy Kids would've done the trick if I hadn't!) You're a great role model because of your talent, your passion, your self-acceptance (and celebration) and for the line, "You are the most interesting thing about yourself." I hope my kids are inspired by your example! And I hope I get to see you live one of these days!! Thanks so much Dawn! I really appreciate your kind words, especially about your kids. The London production of Cabaret was filmed for ITV in the UK, and is on youtube but the Broadway version was never filmed aside from the archive copy which is available to view at the Lincoln Center library.
Natalie asks: What's your dream role on Broadway? Definitely Mama Rose or Lady Macbeth
From Annie: What would be the most terrifying presidential ticket you could imagine? Mine is Sarah Palin/Michele Bachmann. (Even the thought makes me sick.) Oh, I think you hit the nail on the head. I need to lie down for a minute.
Sibel writes: I am a big fan of your work on the Good Wife. I am even more fascinated after seeing your interviews, realizing how drastically your natural accent and body language is different from Eli Gold's. I am curious what kind of preparation you did/do to get into character. Could you share what kind of experiences you drew from, if you modeled him after someone in particular or if you shadowed certain people? I also have a particular scene I want to ask about. I love watching the dialogue between Eli Gold and Peter's mother in the season finale because your face is so expressive that I feel I can follow what he is thinking at any given moment. I am an aspiring actress and I would love to know if you have any advice on how to convey the thought processes of a character with such clarity? Do you determine every thought that goes through his mind during the dialogue before you act out the scene or does it come naturally to you once you are in character and reacting to your fellow actor's lines? I just listen, respond spontaneously and react in character. I think the moment you start trying to make a process and break down the scene into moments and map it out in a sort of military way you lose the very kernel of what you're trying to do: pretending to be someone else and meaning it. Sometimes obviously there are things in the script that demand to be marked in some way by the character, but mostly I just try and stay open, and play.
From Alice: I think it's a rather brave thing for an artist to allow an open forum of questions, just wondering if you've found it to be double edged sword? Oh yes, Alice, it is. But so far the good outweighs the not so good!
From Vjesci: http://www.alancumming.com/blog.php?id=284
oh no alan not "vox" but VJESCI!
i am with name!
i signed VOX probably as in ye olde romantic exes and ohs
i feel deflated having made such a blunder
do edit it as my conscience will break a stick off in my spine for being so silly
do i sound very vain?
oh this all recalls a very appropriate lyric:
"people want to hear their names...i'm no exception...please say my name" Glad we got that sorted out, Vjesci!
Jane asks: Do you have any phobias? Have you encountered any spiders or snakes while you have been in South Africa? My phobias are mostly related to people and their bigotry or meanness or ignorance. I can get very wound up by a careless comment, but I don't mind spiders etc. And in South Africa I had a very urban existence so no scary things, at least nothing that made me phobic though I did see a few scary hairdos. Once in Canada we had to stop filming because bears were circling us. That was scary!
Shona says: Where can I get a copy of that photo you posted beside the info on the fringe festival - I love it ! Why thank you, Shona! It was taken by the lovely Francis Hills. Maybe you should go to his website and contact him and see if you can procure a copy that way.
Thanks to Meade for alerting me to forgeon.org, another organisation that is conerned with circumcision and more particulary foreskin regeneration. Check it out!
Finally here is the Belarus entry for this year's Eurovision Song Contest. It is a classic, and please keep going till the end because there is a costume moment that is priceless.