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Alan Cumming Hosts a Spirited Dinner to Honor Stonewall and Celebrate World Pride
by Ian Malone
Photo: Courtesy of Paul Bruinooge
On a Monday night in Manhattan, few spots sizzle like Club Cumming. Yesterday, SAG-AFTRA hosted an intimate dinner at the downtown bar to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots. Just days before World Pride Day, Cinema Society founder Andrew Saffir and his cohosts corralled a dazzling group to start off the week with style, song, and plenty of booze.
Tables crowded the dim den, with red lanterns and a neon marquee adding to the air of glamorous claustrophobia. Donna Karan, Justin Theroux, Debbie Harry, and Patricia Clarkson moved along the wood bar and through a varied crowd. Cynthia Rowley arrived straight off a train after testifying before Congress in opposition to President Trump's China tariffs. Across the room, with her lacquered hair glinting, Dita Von Teese shimmered in her champagne gown, a vintage Bob Mackie masterpiece.
In the two years since actor Alan Cumming purchased this establishment (previously a Russian gay bar called Eastern Bloc) with his friend Daniel Nardicio, Club Cumming remains a haven for singers, artists, and anyone who craves creative expression.
Sitting onstage, Cumming surveyed the room with evident pride. "It's become such a lovely gathering place for all ages, genders, sexualities, and everyone is kind to one another," he said. Then, with characteristic naughtiness, he added, "But it's still sexy too."
The erotic murals, red velvet, and mirrored walls conjure the glamour of the Kit Kat Club. In his natural habitat, Cumming embodies his most famous part: master of ceremonies. When asked if Cabaret inspired the bar, the actor laughed. "Of course. I love the [mix of] high and low—high and low culture," he said. "In here, you can see sweaty dancing with a drag queen one night and hear some fantastic poet or gifted singer another."
In the musical based on Christopher Isherwood's recollections of being young and gay in Weimar Berlin, the eponymous cabaret captured the decadence and diversity that Nazism razed with sickening speed. Today, Club Cumming stands both in triumph and defiance, nestled not far from where the gay rights movement as we know it began.
As guests sat for dinner, the combined themes of celebration, commemoration, and duty came to the forefront.
"The fight that began 50 years ago is not over, and the battle has shifted from Christopher Street," said Stacy Lentz, co-owner of the Stonewall Inn and cofounder of the Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative. She cited the 70 countries where homosexuality is still criminalized and 28 states where an employee can still be fired for being gay.
Still, excitement and pride around progress prevailed. Over a feast of steak and pasta, diners chattered about art, culture, and this Sunday's parade. When waiters whisked away the tray of desserts, the entertainment portion of the evening commenced. The first song— "Tomorrow" from Annie—belted by Cumming with vibrato and wit, set the tone for a rollicking, wild night.