Andy Warhol’s art doesn’t seem nearly as interesting to me as the man himself and various details about who he was as an artist. I love that William S. Burroughs and David Bowie had a conversation about him that’s a matter of public record. Burroughs said of Warhol, “I don’t think that there is any person there. It’s a very alien thing, completely and totally unemotional. He’s really a science fiction character. He’s got a strange green colour.” Bowie agreed with this, saying that “He’s the wrong colour to be a human being.” Evidently Bowie had kind of a long conversation about shoes with Warhol at one point. I love that. I also love that Neil Gaiman once wrote a story that featured an entire community made up of clones of Andy Warhol who were working together on a project.
But I was never terribly impressed with the man’s work in and of itself. And maybe that’s the point.
In any case, the best part about Warhol is what people think of Warhol, so it’s worth saying that The King of Pop should be a lot of fun. The second part of Alchemist Theatre’s New York Trilogy focuses itself on a fictionalized account of the life of Warhol and those who came into contact with him. Bowie played Warhol in an old movie called Basquiat, which actually struck me as being much more compelling than actual video footage of Warhol that I’ve seen in the past. In light of this, it should be interesting to see Randall T. Anderson in the role of Warhol for The King of Pop. Anderson is a talented actor with a solid sense of depth in characterization. Bowie’s turn playing a man he’d actually met comes across like a really fun sort of an impersonation, but with the right kind of distance and a solid script to work from Anderson, who has made quite an impression in a variety of roles over the years, could really offer some insight into the popular conception of the man and his work.
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The show has an excellent cast. The relatively tall and talented Shannon Nettesheim plays the relatively short and talented Edie Sedgwick. Niko King plays...Nico. (Cute.) The cast also includes Grace DeWolff, Amie Lynn Losie, Liz Whitford and a number of others as the Alchemist immerses itself in the heyday of Warhol’s Factory.
Alchemist Theatre’s The King of Pop runs April 30-May 16 at the Alchemist Theatre on 2569 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. in Bay View. For ticket reservations, visit thealchemisttheatre.com.
