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Issue 6
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John Fraser


The Michelin-starred chef has a story to tell you through his cooking

Pundy’s Picks for Conscious Travel


Six tips for considered and conscious travel

Genmaicha Martini Recipe


The classic martini plus the health benefits of green tea

The Spread Love Project by Nicholas Konert


How Nicholas Konert’s rainbow heart design became an international icon

Wade Davis


Anthropology is the antidote to today’s nativism says the scholar and author

Carla Sozzani


The future of retail according to the founder of legendary concept store 10 Corso Como

The Art of Migration


The power of art to inspire empathy and social action

John Pawson


Zen Buddhism and minimalist purity drive the celebrated architect

Amy Duncan


As the CBD line Mowellens expands into skincare, its founder shares the personal story behind her company

Sila Sveta


Moscow’s favorite media studio finds the perfect balance between art and commerce

David de Rothschild


In his calls for environmental awareness, the modern explorer finds harmony between man and nature

Can Fashion Be Sustainable?


Shaping a better world through what you buy – or don’t

Brendon Babenzian


Supreme’s former creative director wants to end the cycle of consumption with his new brand Noah

Lily Kwong


Nature invades the urban jungle in the landscape designer’s expansive projects

House of Yes


Behind the scenes with the Bushwick nightlife collective promoting inclusivity and consent culture

Vivie-Ann Bakos


DJ Extraordinaire

Chez Dede


A medium in which two world-traveling, adventurous spirits absorb the globe’s vast curiosities and share them freely

Jesse Israel


A meditation guide for extraordinarily large groups

Liya Kebede


The Ethopian model, activist, and entrepreneur uses her label Lemlem as a force for change

You moved to New York in the 90s. What were your first impressions?

I remember flying in. Looking at it from the sky, I was mesmerized. My first night was amazing. I went to this little Jewish restaurant on the Lower East Side, and it was exotic and magical, and crazy at night—I got really drunk.

I was with my girlfriend, and we were getting a key for an apartment in the East Village. The driver was so scared of taking us there, he wouldn’t go to the actual street; he’d only go to beyond the park.

There were all these people burning trash cans. My girlfriend was like, “I’ll just run down to the corner and get it.” I was like, “No, stay in the car!” I was too scared to let her walk o alone and nd this key. So we went to Gramercy Park Hotel and stayed there, because we were too scared. Back then it wasn’t as swanky as it is now.

 

Do you remember where in NYC this was?

It’s Tompkins Square Park. Isn’t that funny? What is hilarious and ironic is that now I live right where that car was parked.

 

Are you still excited by New York?

I love it. It’s just a magical place, and I’m so happy to be here. I’m actually looking forward to finishing Cabaret. It’s been great doing the show again, and I’ve had such a great time, but I’m looking forward to not doing it just so I can actually have my evenings and my days to myself for a while, and just be in New York. I always think that in New York, you walk out the door and an adventure begins.

You have about 10 days left of performing Cabaret after a one-year run. Are you able to reflect on the experience yet?

It’s quite a big turning point. I think actually nishing Cabaret is going to be more poignant and more de nitive for me, because this is a role that I’ve done three times in my life. Last time I did it, I thought I’d never be asked to do this bit again. So now I really don’t think I’m ever going to do this again. There’s a part of my life that is actually going to stop now. If they do another revival in 16 years, I’ll be 66. It’s closing a chapter on a type of role I’ve been so associated with for most of my career, since my late 20s.

Also, part of it is because I’m physically really fit. I’m the lead dancer in a Broadway show. That’s insane. Letting that go is going to be…kind of like [gulp] “that’s that chapter over.”

 

For many actors and performers, Broad- way is the ultimate goal. Where do you go from there?

I’m not saying goodbye to performing on Broadway, or the theater in any way. It’s just this type of being physical on stage, and being in a musical in this way. There aren’t any other roles like this for a man, and certainly not for a wrinkly old man. It’s partly because 20 years ago, I just kind of made up the production, and my character in it I based on me. Be careful what you wish for.

Performing night after night, do you still get butter flies when you go on stage?

Not so much, no. I think when you get started [you get nervous] because you’re not well- prepared, and you don’t feel confident. When you’re confident, it changes everything.

 

In terms of confidence—late last year you released a memoir, Not My Father’s Son, about how you overcame hardships in your life, like the physical and emotional abuse from your father. Given the very difficult childhood you had, how did you become such a self-assured, strong personality?

I suppose it’s just your experience changes. Getting away from that, and becoming your own person is a great recipe. I was amazed, too, that I got away. I was amazed that I was able to survive my father. When you feel that you’ve been through the worst thing that could happen to you, it makes you have a really good outlook on life. You just get more open. What’s the worst thing that can happen? It probably already has. So on you go.

There are a couple directions one could go after enduring the types of things you did as a kid: repeat them as you get older, or grow from those experiences.

It could have gone the other way, but it didn’t. I was lucky. Also, when all that was happening, my mom told me the opposite. When my dad was being horrible to me, she was supportive of me, and that made me feel good about myself. I had this dual thing.

You’ve let the world in through this memoir. Is there anything that’s still off limits to talk about? Are there things the world doesn’t know about you?

The minutia of my relationship with my husband the world doesn’t know about. I still do have a personal life. I will talk about things because I think they are important and need to be talked about, but I don’t allow reporters into my home. I have my sanctuary.

But I like being able to be open and honest. In a way, over the years, it’s my way of coping with all the attention that you get when you’re famous. It’s better to be an open book rather than try and hide anything or make people speculate about you. I felt I’ve got nothing to be ashamed of. Also, I feel like I’m one of the lucky people that is famous, and the public’s perception of me is, I think, pretty accurate. I don’t have to pretend to be someone I’m not when I’m in public.

I ALWAYS THINK THAT IN NEW YORK, YOU WALK OUT THE DOOR AND AN ADVENTURE BEGINS.

In addition to your other creative endeavors, you’re a prolific photographer. We get a glimpse of this on Instagram where you show people in your orbit with detailed captions to set the scene. What is your approach to photography?

Most of my pictures have stories to go along with them. There’s a reason why I take a picture, but sometimes the picture gives o the vibe that is opposite of what I was feeling or what was going on at the time. I’d like the person to know what I was thinking when I took it, or why I took it. So I’m doing a book for Rizzoli. It’s some foolish things, accidental snaps, things at work—stories with pictures, or pictures of stories.

 

Time declared you one of “the most fun people in show business.” Do you agree?

I have a lot of fun [laughs]. I think fun is the ultimate goal. That and kindness. Fun through kindness. 

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT ALAN CUMMING:

1. He started a pop-up “Club Cumming” in his Cabaret dressing room, playing host to late night gatherings with everyone from Monica Lewinsky to James Franco.

2. He once switched on the lights of the Empire State Building.

3. His first Hollywood movie was Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion, but who could forget his role in Spice Girls?

4. He currently plays Eli Gold— an outspoken Jewish-American businessman—in the CBS series The Good Wife.

5. He defines himself as bisexual, though he’s happily married to illustrator Grant Shaffer.

(Illustration on Left by Grant Shaffer)