“I've seen the city”
As it’s forty years today since David Bowie commenced a run of the Elephant Man at the intimate Blackstone Theatre in Chicago (following its initial run in Denver and ahead of its Broadway debut), it’s worth revisiting a piece posted by The Chicago Reader by Patrick Sisson, titled: The time David Bowie called Chicago home.
The article relates to Bowie’s time in the Windy City while performing the lead role of Joseph Merrick from 5th to 31st of August, 1980. It was published during the run of David Bowie is at the MCA in Chicago in 2014 and here are a few excerpts from it…
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During a talk at the MCA last Sunday, Geoffrey Marsh, who curated the original exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum, discussed how Bowie's subversive genius lay in not directly challenging the political and social status quo, but rather in being such a daring and unique person that he would stand as a symbol for liberation and individuality. Joseph Merrick was yet another outlet for Bowie to explore those themes. Whether spent draped in that white loincloth or walking through the Museum of Science and Industry, Bowie's time in Chicago may have been one of his most exposed, an example of one of rock's most famous outsiders exploring what it means to stand alone.
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Here’s a bit from Julie Weiss, the production's costume designer…
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“Watching David Bowie become the Elephant Man, it was so much more than a cap, a hood, and a loincloth for me. It was seeing the soul of Merrick scream the line 'I am not an animal! I am a human being!' He understands what it's like to be an outsider. When the audience saw David Bowie playing Elephant Man, they were reminded of the shame we should all feel rejecting those who are different.”
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Elephant Man director Jack Hofsiss had this to say about Bowie’s approach to playing the Elephant Man…
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“David really embraced the idea that this child had been beaten up and pushed around because of his deformities, and he was much more weary of interacting with people. It's a significant difference in the way the character was played like that, and I was astonished how well it worked. David understood it, having grown up on the tougher streets of London, and made it very much his own."
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Read the full article over on The Chicago Reader, where the Polaroid in our montage of Bowie at Neo in August 1980 with Noni Martin and Noah Beadreaux, is also explained.
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