Alan Cumming to open home town cinema

HOLLYWOOD star Alan Cumming is to formally open the revived Birks Cinema in his home town of Aberfeldy with a red carpet screening of his latest movie next month.

Alan Cumming as Macbeth. The star will open the revived cinema in Aberfeldy next month. Picture: Contributed

Cumming, the Goldeneye star who won critical acclaim for his one-man version of Macbeth on New York’s Broadway earlier this year, will return to Aberfeldy on 30 November for a showing of ‘Any Day Now’.

He has been the cinema’s Patron since 2009 and two years ago launched the final stage of the fund raising campaign by the Friends of Birks Cinema to meet the £1.3 million target needed to bring cinema back to the town.

The new Birks Cinema, a state-of-the-art, 100-seat digital 3D cinema, reopened to the public in April.

The original Art Deco cinema, completed just before the outbreak of the Second World War, had closed in the early 1980s, leaving local residents facing a 60-mile round trip to the nearest cinema.

Cumming said: “I’m truly delighted to be visiting Aberfeldy and I’m very much looking forward to seeing the Birks Cinema in all its finery. Everyone involved in this project has shown true dedication and commitment and I’m very excited to finally see it for myself.”

Paul Foley, the cinema’s general manager, said: “We are very grateful to Alan Cumming for his support and delighted that he has been able to make the trip over to Scotland to formally pronounce us open. I’m looking forward to rolling out the red carpet, welcoming Alan to the Birks Cinema and making this St Andrews Day a very memorable and historic one for Aberfeldy.”