Before David Bowie made it big as one of the greatest pop musicians of his generation, he had a serious love for performing. Not just as a musician, but as an actor. Even when he made it big as the hitmaker behind “Space Oddity”, he continued to lend his acting chops to movies and TV shows, as well as theater productions. He was even once a student of the dramatic arts, studying under the legendary Lindsay Kemp.
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With Kemp, Bowie worked on a theatrical rendition of Pierrot In Turquoise. Bowie even suggested the title, relating it to Buddhism. The production was filmed and released as The Looking Glass Murders in 1970. Bowie even produced some music for the film, and it is a bizarre piece of work.
David Bowie’s Role in ‘The Looking Glass Murders’
Bowie performed as the character Cloud, and sang in important moments throughout the play. He also voiced the character Pierrot as well. The story follows Pierrot, who dreams of a new life and being with the object of his affection, Columbine. It’s a hard piece of work to describe; it’s better to just view it yourself. The performance is only about 25 minutes long.
One might notice some noteworthy parallels between The Looking Glass Murders and David Bowie’s future 1986 role as the Goblin King in Labyrinth, at least in terms of aesthetics.
When speaking about Bowie’s love of acting, Lindsay Kemp noted that both artists felt a need to work together from the get-go.
“Even before meeting, David and I had felt the need to work together,” said Kemp. “I’d identified myself with his songs, and he’d seen my performances and identified himself with my songs. I was singing the songs of my life with my body; he was singing the songs of his life very fabulously with his voice, and we reckoned that by putting the two together the audience couldn’t help but be enthralled.”
Of Bowie’s performance in the play, a writer for the Oxford Mail applauded the future superstar by noting that he composed some “haunting songs, which he sings in a superb, dreamlike voice.”
Not every star can be a multi-threat artist, but David Bowie made being a musician and an actor look like it was easy.
Photo by Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images
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