A Broadway star and an award-winning journalist may seem like an unlikely duo—but Alan Cumming and Ari Shapiro are proving they’re a perfect pair on stage.
Their touring cabaret show, “Och & Oy!,” arrives in Halifax Monday night, with stops in Saint John, N.B., on Tuesday and Fredericton on Wednesday. It marks the first time the two performers have taken their show to the Maritimes, and their first time visiting this part of Canada altogether.
“Well… grey,” Cumming said when asked by CTV Atlantic’s Katie Kelly about his first impression of Atlantic Canada. “If you want the truth, grey.”
Still, the duo made the most of their time in Halifax.
“We had an afternoon free,” said Shapiro. “We went to the Nova Scotia Art Gallery, walked along the waterfront, saw some loons in the harbour and then we hiked up to the Citadel. It was incredible.”
Cumming is a Tony-winning actor known for his work on Broadway, in film, and on television. Shapiro is best known as a longtime host of NPR’s “All Things Considered,” and is also an acclaimed author and speaker. Though their careers have taken different paths, they met through mutual friends about a decade ago and quickly developed a creative connection.
“I said, ‘we’ve got good chemistry, we should do a show together,’” Cumming said. “And Ari said, ‘Don’t joke about that because I will absolutely take you up on it.’ And I said, ‘I’m not joking.’ The next thing you knew, we had a show.”
That show became “Och & Oy!” — a name that nods to both performers’ cultural roots. Cumming is Scottish. Shapiro is Jewish.
The performance is part cabaret, part comedy, and packed with surprises. Both artists sing, tell stories, and trade laughs, creating an experience that’s both entertaining and unexpectedly moving.
“It’s a classic old-fashioned cabaret,” said Shapiro. “We make the audience laugh, make each other laugh, and over the course of the evening, find some deeper meaning without being too heavy handed about it.”
Cumming says audiences often don’t know what to expect but leave with more than they bargained for.
“By the end, you’ll literally be singing in the aisles,” he said.
