“He’s a broken man”
The Chicago Reader has posted a cool piece by Patrick Sisson titled; The time David Bowie called Chicago home.
It relates to Bowie’s time in Chicago while performing the lead role of Joseph Merrick in the stage show of The Elephant Man from August 5 to August 31 1980.
Here’s a bit from Julie Weiss, the production’s costume designer.
“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.”
Elephant Man director Jack Hofsiss had this to say about Bowie’s approach to playing the Elephant Man.
“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.”
Read the full article here on The Chicago Reader.