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Bowie General > Images Vol 45

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homebrewPosted at 2025-10-25 18:01:19(5 hrs ago) (Bowie General / Images Vol 45)


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These articles appear just as they were posted in the Usenet group alt.fan.david-bowie by group member Jamie Soule aka AladINSAnE. I have made no attempt to alter the formatting, spelling, grammar or edit in any way

*IMAGES*: Part 45

The ticket sales for the week of performances for The Elephant Man in
Denver amounted to $186,466.00. Bowie got paid $18,646.60, and $1,864.66
of that went to MainMan. For Bowie, the pay was poor, compared to what
he usually made on stage, however what this play would do to enhance his
credibility as an actor, was priceless. Chicago, and two weeks at the
Blackstone Theater, followed Denver. The media was everywhere, and this
was partially due to RCA, as they flew many of them in. The single Ashes
To Ashes was released the previous week, when Bowie was in Denver. The
play opened on August 3rd, and again, the box office, and reviews were
beyond all expectations. So much however, for the "practices," the real
test was next, New York. It was not just New York either, Bowie was
headed for Broadway, and he was going to walk out in front of the
toughest audiences, and the toughest critics there are. He would not
only have to face them, but also their preconceived notions. There is
only one reason that David Bowie got the role, and that was so they
could use his name, not for his ability. This is what Bowie faced, and
they were "waiting" for him. Many wanted to see if he could actually
pull it off.

One of the unwritten rules in the entertainment industry is that free
tickets, and other "incentives," are always given away to the critics,
the media, as well as certain well placed individuals. Rules, I heard
once, were made to be broken, and this one certainly was. There were no
free tickets given away to ANYONE, except those who were the personal
guests of the performers. One of David Bowie's guests was the widow of
actor Charlie Chaplin. Oona Chaplin was one of Bowie's neighbours, in
Switzerland, and at his invite she flew to America for the occasion. The
Booth Theater had a seating capacity of seven hundred and thirty five
people, and unlike an arena where concerts are held, there was no wall
in front of the stage to act as a security barrier. Of course, this was
not usually needed considering the "difference" between the audience at
a Guns N' Roses gig, and those attending a play on Broadway. Still,
there were concerns, seeing that Bowie was sure to attract many of his
personal fans. Now, it is not that Bowie fans are prone to the acts that
would be committed by those who attend a Guns N' Roses concert, but it
was felt that security precautions should be taken. At several other
performances some Bowie fans decided on putting their acting abilities
to good use. In their opinion they felt that The Elephant Man was short
one character, and so they decided to correct this shortcoming by
jumping up on the stage to join Bowie and the rest of the cast. One
thing that can be said is that each one of them possessed a great deal
of manners, as they personally introduced themselves to Bowie, before
taking their place alongside the other performers. Unfortunately for
them however, the security personnel at the theater thought the play was
fine as it was, and as a result they ended the careers of these actors
quite abruptly. Also, because the theater was so small, and therefore
tickets became very scarce and almost impossible to come by, there was
every reason to suspect that those who were not fortunate

enough to get a ticket, may attempt to attend the show anyway, and by
whatever means they could, including hiding in David's limousine. I am
not joking about that either, it was on a list which identified twenty
seven possible methods of gaining entrance to the theater, compiled by
security. This possibility was thought to be serious enough that a
security guard was placed in Bowie's limousine, there was also one
sitting in the front row of each performance, this guy got lucky, plus
one standing in one of the wings backstage, and finally, one at the
stage door. Before every performance the venue was searched for bombs,
and David's route he took to the theater each night was often changed.
Once the play had been showing for awhile, Bowie would sometimes walk to
the theater alone. He said that he never experienced a hassle, all he
got was the odd, "Hi Dave, how's it going?"

Ashes To Ashes had become a hit in Britain, going to number one on the
charts, by September the twenty third, the day when The Elephant Man
opened at The Booth Theater on Broadway. The audience was an interesting
mix of the upscale Broadway audience, punks, complete with blue, orange,
green or flaming rainbow hair, Bowie fan's, artists, actors, authors,
musicians, intellectuals, the media and the curious. Among them were one
of Bowie's favourite artists, David Hockney, as well as Andy Warhol,
contemporary composer Aaron Copeland, Brian Eno and an endless list of
celebrities. Unfortunately, Ashes To Ashes would only go as high as 101
on the American charts. The album however did much better, going to the
top in Britain, and to number 12 in America. Those who could not attend
the opening night performance managed to make it at a later date. In
particular were two film directors, Nagisa Oshima, and Herman Weigel,
Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, and Chrisiane F. were the films that Bowie
fans will recognize. David's mother, Peggy, was his guest for one
performance, and his close friend Elizabeth Taylor came as well. In
addition Kenneth Pitt, Bowie's son Joey, and there was one person who
was asked to switch off the lights, which were attached to the outside
of his jacket, during the play.

It is only my opinion, but I imagine that Bowie must have experienced a
healthy case of the jitters on opening night, knowing the scrutiny he
would be subjected to from the media, as well as the audience. Whether
he did or not, they didn't show. The play opened, and by the time the
curtain closed two hours later, the audience was stunned. Few could
believe what they had just witnessed,  not only did David Bowie pull it
off, his entire performance was brilliant. The reviews that appeared the
next day were beyond spectacular. There was one in particular however,
that I wanted to share with you, as it really reflects the situation
which Bowie faced before the play  opened in New York, as well as the
overall reaction of the audience after seeing his first performance.
This review appeared in The New York Times. "When it was announced that
David Bowie would play the title role in The Elephant Man, it was not
unnatural to think he had been cast simply for the use of his name.
Dismiss that thought now. yes, more young people in designer jeans and
leather now show up at the Booth Theater than before, and yes, they
probably show up because Mr. Bowie is a celebrated rock star.
Fortunately, he is a good deal more than that, and as John Merrick, The
Elephant Man, he is splendid."  This is truly indicative of the vast
majority of the reviews, and some were even better. However, there is an
old saying, and it goes like this, "There is an idiot in every crowd."
This is not just a "saying" in my opinion, like physicist's Albert
Einstein's Theory Of Relativity, it is almost one of the fundamental
laws which govern the behavior of the universe. A prime example of this
law in action is theater critic John Simon, from New York Magazine. He
wrote, " Bowie's reedy voice, when distorted, as the part demands,
becomes a falsetto sawing that slices intelligibility in half, and his
androgynously pretty face and street wise punk rock sexiness finish off
what pathos his acting left intact." Do you what I just thought of? We
need a critic critic. Yeah, we need someone to act as a critic, and
whose job it will be to evaluate critics. Well, is that a good idea? Are
there any volunteers who are willing to accept the position? If nobody
want's the job, I'll take it, and I'll start with this guy. John Simon
is a moron. How's that?

Overall the economy in the United States was not good in 1980, and in
tough economic times the entertainment industry is usually one of the
first areas to be adversely, effected as people have less disposable
income. The downturn was especially felt on Broadway. To give you an
example, as of September 1st, the Booth Theater was only bringing in
about $61,000.00 a week, which is about half of its capacity. When David
Bowie however took over the lead role in The Elephant Man, the play hit
its top attendance figures out of the seventeen months it had been
running. In the very first week alone it brought in $116,680.00, the
second week $118.000.00, and $119,000 after that. I do not know much
about the revenues which are generated from acts on Broadway, but from
what I read these figures were said  to be "astonishing" at the time.
Again, the amount Bowie was personally earning was minimal compared to
what he could earn performing solo, as he was only making around
$30,000.00 for eight performances a week. This did not matter though,
Bowie was doing this only because he wanted to. A loft party was held
after the performance on opening night, and the media was barred.

Interestingly, even with the feud between Bowie and RCA still blazing as
bright as ever, Bowie did not put aside his music while he fulfilled his
acting commitments to Jack Hofsiss. Just prior to The Elephant Man
opening in New York, Bowie set aside two whole days for interviews to
promote Scary Monsters, and the play. Each representative from the media
was granted fifteen minutes to interview Bowie, on a one to one basis.
RCA, on the other hand was making good use of the publicity that was
being generated because of The Elephant Man to further promote Scary
Monsters. In order to promote the single Ashes To Ashes, RCA used
Bowie's best known hit, Space Oddity. The advertisements said that Ashes
To Ashes picked up where Space Oddity left off. In my own opinion this
type of marketing, using Bowie's previous work to sell new releases, was
an extremely stale approach, and I imagine it was not very effective. I
say this from looking at the American sales figures for Scary Monsters.
Another reason I say this is because I firmly believe that Bowie's work
is quite capable of standing on its own merits, and does not need help
by being associated with a tired, overplayed, inferior hit, over a
decade old. The ads for Scary Monsters focused on Bowie's longevity,
touting the album as the latest release from a legendary rock star. Now,
to RCA's credit there was some individual who realized the potential of
video as a marketing  tool. The result? Ashes To Ashes went on tour.

AladiNSAne

There's more coming..............


""I don't begrudge any artist for finding an audience"
- David Bowie abt. 1987
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