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Thursday, March 28
The Indiana Daily Student

arts

"Bullets Over Broadway" lead finds self-growth in character

"Bullets Over Broadway" follows the backstage lives of theater people. It comes to the IU Auditorium on Monday and Tuesday.

Although performing in a touring show definitely improves his acting skills, Michael Williams said his experience in the nine-month tour of “Bullets Over Broadway” has taught him more about himself.

The production stops in Bloomington for two shows this week.

“On the road, you have to know what you want, what you need to sustain your show and what your place is within the cast and within your own esteem,” Williams said. “I’ve almost found it more beneficial to find out more about me and what drives me as a person, especially in the throes of working every single day.”

As someone who said he is always looking for something new, such a long run of the same show is difficult for Williams. However, he has found that the blessings far outweigh the potential monotony because touring allows him to see so many new places and to learn how to keep a show fresh.

When the show comes to the IU Auditorium on Monday, Williams will have performed with the same cast more than 150 times. Like every night, his character David Shayne will fall in love with Emma Stratton’s character Helen Sinclair, a diva trying to restart her acting career.

Sinclair manipulates Shayne for the sake of advancing her career, while Shayne worships her and tries to get his play onto Broadway, Williams said. The show, a backstage story about theater people, has some truth to the stereotypical Broadway characters portrayed on stage, 
he said.

“There are lots of people in the theater business that hold a resemblance to each one of them in one way or another,” Williams said. “Every actor has some sort of neurotic tendency that sets them off a 
little bit.”

For Williams, his quirks parallel those of his character, he said. Both Williams and Shayne are intellectuals who get easily upset when the real world does not meet their expectations formed by art and literature.

Williams said many people have told him he is just playing himself.

Williams has learned the importance of taking personal time to read, explore or simply sleep a little more, 
he said.

He said he has also recognized his habit of never being satisfied with the changes that his work necessitates. Knowing there is always room to grow is a good thing, but he said he has learned to be happy with his work in order to not be drained by it.

During every show, Williams said he strives to keep an open mind and an open ear. Paying attention to the little differences every night gives him and the rest of the cast the ability to play with the worlds of their characters within the structure they created during rehearsals.

“As an artist, performer and person, you have no need to justify yourself or the work that you put out,” Williams said. “You are where you’re at for a reason, and if you try to prove yourself every day, you’re basing your entire self-worth on what you do that day. You don’t have to do that. The burden is not on you to justify yourself and the work that you do.”

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