Club Cumming at the Beach, presented by Daniel Nardicio in association with the Arts Project of Cherry Grove, settled into a week at the historic Cherry Grove Community House, beginning on July 6, with an opening night showcasing “The Women of Club Cumming.” Alan Cumming hosted and pianist Lance Horne, as musical director, paced drummer Riccardo Belletta, cellist Steven, and clarinetist, saxophone player, and accordionist Andre.
Cumming began the evening with a frank and Weill-esque “Love and Love Alone,” by Kander and Ebb, from “The Visit.”
Daphne Always sang “She’s Passable,” her energetic anti-gender conformity version of “Impossible,” from “Cinderella;” “Money Money Money,” her “boob song,” substituting “I’m a tit man’s girl” for “In a rich man’s world;” and “It’s Oh So Quiet.”
Singer-songwriter Jill Sobule invited us to join her in singing the political refrain, “When they say they want our American back,/Well, what the fuck do they mean?” of her first number, which she followed with the no-less-angry “Mexican Wrestler (you will never love me).”
Larry Owens’ over-the-top impressions were of “Mother Earth” Oprah—“I don’t need a husband, I have a Stedman;” Bernadette Peters—“Sunday in the Park with George;” and a hyper-eloquent Viola Davis, delivering an autobiographical monologue and doing yoga with Cumming.
Alissa Todd seemed to be sharing her own story as she sang a dramatic “Breathe,” from “In the Heights.” Then came her cheerful “My Baby Just Cares for Me” and serious “Daddy Lessons.”
“Take Me to Your Events,” Catherine Cohen insisted, giving us her Me Too moment with “It’s Just that Time of Year,” and breezily urging, in song, “Kick Back and Take a Shit in the Streets.”
Cumming sang a mash-up of “How Far I’ll Go” and “Part of That World,” ending with a soupcon of “The Cold Never Bothered Me Anyway.”
Ellia J. Garland offered a sizzling “I Wanna Be Around,” a peaceful “Summertime,” a lusty “Everybody’s Girl,” and gay anthem “Over the Rainbow.”
For a finale, Cumming and the cast looked forward to a better day in America with “Tomorrow,” from “Annie.”