Talking with @selkiesstories tonight about variations on Cabaret, and from my perspective, there's the emcee I started with and the emcee who started it.
The emcee who started it is Joel Gray. The emcee I started with was Alan Cumming. And Cumming came onto the scene loudly and proudly and pervertedly queer, meanwhile, Joel Gray was still closeted to the public until 2015, so when this Kennedy Center piece was filmed, he was out to his family but not to the public while Alan came out in 1998, so either when this happened or shortly before. I saw him perform his sexy, flirty, perverted emcee on the Macy's parade broadcast. And even if he wasn't out in words, the character was so clearly queer, if you know what I mean.
Anyway, I bring this up because selkie told me that Joel played the part (according to his own accounts) as someone who sucked up to the Nazis, and that makes sense. Yes, he's heading this group of perverts and degenerates, but he's HEADING IT. Tuxedo. Cane. Classic dance moves. He's keeping this slutty show classy by his veneer.
Meanwhile, Alan Cumming's emcee is down to suck and fuck and party with everyone on stage and anyone one else who asks nicely. There is no question to me that Alan's emcee isn't a giant "fuck you" to Nazi censorship.
I wonder what it was like for Joel on that state, having chosen his character arc that is interesting and genuine but also from a different era and experience than Alan. Alan who performs in a mesh shirt and vinyl trousers and tousled hair to Joel's perfect fakery of heterosexual finery but also still hints at queerness in the way he looks like a Leydecker illustration.
It's fascinating to recognize the queerness of the emcee in both interpretations (the makeup and affectations) and how the actor's personal views of the character came through (Joel wearing the tux with tails; Alan in the stage show in suspenders like bondage gear).
They're both perfect for different reasons, and I love them.
