Cumming to America as actor gears up to lead Tartan Week celebrations

HE IS the flamboyant actor who shot to fame as one half of the camp double-act Victor and Barry. Now, 25 years after strutting his stuff on the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Alan Cumming is to become a national figurehead at New York's Tartan Day celebrations.

The Hollywood actor and award-winning Broadway star has agreed to lead thousands of pipers at the annual parade up Sixth Avenue.

The Perthshire-born star follows in the footsteps of other parade leaders, such as Sir Sean Connery and Randall Wallace, screenwriter of Braveheart, at the centrepiece event marking the tenth anniversary of the Tartan Day celebrations.

Sir Sean has already agreed to host the revived "Dressed to Kilt" fashion show in New York, which will kick off the Tartan Week festivities.

However, Cumming's appointment has triggered a fresh debate over whether the Tartan Week celebrations are the right way to portray the nation – and whether the actor is a big enough name to attract media attention in the United States.

Cumming, who appeared in the likes of Taggart and Take the High Road before embarking on a stage career, made his name on Broadway with an award-winning turn in Cabaret in the early 1990s. This led to roles in major films such as Circle of Friends, Emma, GoldenEye, X-Men and Eyes Wide Shut.

Cumming, who relocated to Manhattan to help boost his career, returned to the stage in Scotland in triumph two years ago when he appeared in the National Theatre of Scotland production of The Bacchae at the Edinburgh International Festival. The show set off on a hugely successful tour of Scotland and was also staged in New York.

Cumming, who has been appointed grand marshal of the event, said yesterday: "I am so excited to be leading the parade celebrating my homeland of Scotland in my hometown of New York City. It's going to be a rerr terr (a good time]!"

The PR guru Martin Hunt, managing director of the Tartan Silk agency in Edinburgh, said: "We should be promoting the nation as a sophisticated and cutting-edge country and that's not what happens with big events like the Tartan Day parade.

"I'm not sure he is the right person to front an event like that and is well enough known in New York. The problem is always going to be finding a big name that is willing to do this."

However, Tessa Hartman, founder of the Scottish Fashion Awards, said: "Alan Cumming is actually a really good choice for this event.

"He's actually better known in America these days than he is here and you've got to remember that the whole point of this event is to generate interest in the United States, not in Edinburgh or Glasgow. He has a very high profile, especially in New York, thanks to his roles on Broadway and his film work."

Magnus Orr, the Scottish event organiser whose Epic Concepts firm helps organise the Tartan Day parade, said: "Other than Sean Connery or Billy Connolly, I'd struggle to think of any Scots better known in the US. You could fly someone like Ally McCoist over, but no-one over there would know who he is, other than the New York Tartan Army."

Margaret Kennedy, president of the New York Tartan Day Committee, said: "The role of grand marshal is a prestigious position reserved for distinguished individuals of Scottish heritage. Given Mr Cumming's heritage and his many accomplishments, we are proud to have him lead our parade."

New York turns tartan for a week

THE Tartan Day parade is the centrepiece event of the annual Tartan Week celebrations in New York. Staged every year since 1999, the programme has inspired similar events across the United States, as well as in Scotland. At least 50 separate events are planned this year.

The other highlight of Tartan Week is the annual Dressed to Kilt fashion show, which features a host of Scottish and American celebrities taking to the catwalk sporting kilts and other tartan outfits.

The fashion show was controversially axed last year due to funding problems and the illness of the main organiser, Geoffrey Scott-Carroll, but has been confirmed to go ahead on 30 March. Other confirmed Tartan Week events include Alexander McCall Smith staging a concert with his Really Terrible Orchestra and a charity run through Central Park.

The Scottish Government and VisitScotland have both been involved in staging their own initiatives in recent years. Neither has announced plans for this year. However, the Scottish Government, which is still promoting its 2008 programme on its own website, was condemned last year for rebranding its efforts under the banner of "Scotland Week".