MyfirstoverseastripwaswhenI wasabout 12 or13.It wasa school
triptoGermany.Bizarrely,westayedinanindustrialtownintheRhine
ValleycalledKoblenz.I’mnotquitesurewhywewentthere,I guess
it wasa goodspottobaseourselves.Wetravelledfromthereto
Heidelberg.I hada fewschooltripstoplacesinEurope.Thefollowing
yearI spenta summerdoinganexchangeinLyoninFrance,but
Germanywasmyfirsttrip.AlthoughI guessgoingtoLondonwasmy
firsttimetravellingabroadif youcountgoing to Scotland from England
asgoingtoanothercountry,whichI do.I lovecomingtoAustralia.I firstvisitedAdelaidein1989.I stayedin
a littleapartmentdowninGlenelgandI lovedit. I quitelikeanunderdog.
PeopleseeAdelaidedifferentlytoSydneyorMelbourne,butI justlove
thatit hassomanyfestivals.It remindsmeofEdinburgh,thiskindof
quietcityandthenfora montheveryyearit becomesthissortofhub
oftheartsandthewholeworld.I alwayshada greattimeinAdelaide.
I likeitsspirit.SoI thoughtbeingabletocuratetheAdelaideCabaret
Festivalthisyear,andbeingtheartisticdirector,thewholeideareally
appealedtome.I’malwaysopentodoingnew,weirdthings.I movedtoNewYorktobeintheBroadwaymusicalofCabaretplaying
theMasterofCeremonies.I movedthererightattheendof 1997 and
I knewimmediatelythatI wasgoingtostay.I lovedtheenergy,the
diversityandhowvocaleverybodyis.I lovethecompassionandthe
kindnessandthewitandthehumour. But mostly, every time I leave
myapartment,it’sanadventure.I liveintheEastVillagesoI tendtoeataroundthere.It’smy’hood
andwhereI hangoutmostly.Therearea lotofgoodveganplaces
there.There’sa lotofverydiverseculturesandsothere’sgreat,
differentkindsoffoods.I lovegoingto6thStreet,whichis nicknamed
Curry Row because there are so many Indian and Asian restaurants.Thegregariousstarofstageandscreen
talksabouthisloveaffairwithAdelaide,
veganism and on-set snacks.ALAN
CUMMING
A
Q
U
CI
K
W
OR
D WIT
HAlanCumming
is theartistic
directorofthe
AdelaideCabaret
Festival,which
willtakeplace
inJune.Tickets
onsalenowfrom
adelaidecabaret
festival.com.au INTERVIEW GEORGIE MEREDITH. PHOTOGRAPHY MARGARITA MENARD.