Alan Cumming's career has only one gear �" overdrive. For the better part of the past year he spent his days playing the anal-retentive politico Eli Gold on the CBS hit The Good Wife, then raced from the Brooklyn studio to Broadway's Studio 54 to play the decadent, bump-and-grinding Emcee in Cabaret.
Now that both shows have wrapped, he's hitting the road. On April 25, he'll hit San Francisco as the special musical guest at ACT's Annual Gala, and on April 26, he'll do two performances of his cabaret concert Alan Cumming: Uncut at Feinstein's at the Hotel Nikko.
He acts, he sings, he dances, and he writes. Spring and summer will find Cumming touring the country with concert appearances and book events to promote his 2014 memoir Not My Father's Son. He also pens a regular column for Toronto's Globe and Mail.
Nailing down the fast-moving Cumming for an interview is no easy task, but the B.A.R. managed to do it recently, while he was still doing double-duty on The Good Wife and Cabaret. The bisexual actor and gay activist is well-known to theatre and LGBT fans, but The Good Wife has made him a household name to a much larger audience.
"More people call me Eli on the street, and even when I'm on stage in Cabaret," he says. "Doing The Good Wife means that for the past five years I've been home for nine months of the year. I've enjoyed playing the role long-term, and it's had a calming influence on my life. I can still be a gypsy, but for only three months a year."
Cumming lives with his husband, graphic artist Grant Shaffer, whom he married twice: in the U.K. in 2007, then again in New York in 2012.
His Good Wife character Eli Gold seems to have a new job each season, pin-balling from campaign strategist to crisis manager for both Chris Noth's Governor Florrick and Julianna Margulies' newly elected State's Attorney Alicia Florrick.
"I don't think Eli has evolved that much over the years, although now he has a daughter in the story [the snarky Sarah Steele], which is great," says Cumming. "It's such a well-written character and he's such a solid, stable influence in the show. You always know how he's going to react."
Cumming admits that shooting The Good Wife by day and performing in Cabaret at night had its challenges. "One of the biggest challenges was when my book was coming out, I went for over 90 days with no day off. And doing an early day after a late night can be rough. I'd have all this adrenaline pumping through my body after the show, and think, 'I should go to bed so I can look good in front of the camera the next morning,' but I can't. Fortunately I'm a good napper."
Cumming's Cabaret gig was a revival of the 1998 Sam Mendes-directed production that he starred in, and won a Tony for. "I'm a different person and the world is different since we first did it," he says. "The show's sexy quality is not as sensational today, so the message of the show is more intense without the focus on its sexy, daring quality."
His fame has also increased in the 16 years since he first took to the stage as Cabaret's Emcee. "As a star turn, it makes more sense than before. I was just a weird boy from Europe before."
During the show's run, Cumming turned 50, a milestone that he felt in more ways than one. "Physically it's more demanding now. My body has taken a pounding �" in my legs and my back," he says. "On the other hand, I'm really fit now, and it's nice doing kick flings with girls half my age. It puts a spring in my step."
Alan Cumming at ACT's 2015 Gala: act-sf.org/home/support/season_gala.html or (415) 439-2470. Alan Cumming: Uncut at Feinstein's: