New visiting prof the strong, silent, walking-against-the-wind type

Broadway actor and mime Bill Bowers is bringing his unique brand of performing to Ohio University as a visiting professor through teaching, workshops and two performances of his Off-Broadway production.

The School of Theater was awarded the $30,000 Glidden Visiting Professorship grant to bring the actor to OU for the next four weeks. The university's website explains that the purpose of the professorship is to expose students and faculty to outstanding individuals who have achieved wide recognition based on achievement in their field.

Besides acting in "The Lion King" on Broadway and in the film "Two Weeks Notice," Bowers has taught at New York University, Harvard and other institutions.

"What I like to do," he explained, "is to be able to say, 'I'm you 25 years later, and this is how I make my living; these are the challenges I've come against; these are the ways I've chosen to work. And be able to just share my journey from where they're sitting to where I'm sitting now."

Bowers said that while he puts heavy influence on the art of movement because of his background in miming, he determines what he has to offer each class based on what the students are experiencing at that moment. 

"In America, I'm one of the few people that even does (mime). If you don't teach it, it's dead. It's gone," he said.

Bowers will work with sophomore through graduate student theater classes on voice and movement. He will also provide separate workshops for the School of Dance, the LGBT Center and OU students as a whole.

Students from across campus are invited to attend the latter workshop, which will create a performance shown for the Athens community on March 5 in the School of the Theater.

With rehearsals beginning Monday, Feb. 20, Bowers said that the workshop will focus on "the idea of  'How does an ensemble work together as co-creators?' We'll start with an idea or maybe a theme and the group together… will start to see what the piece will become."

Assistant professor in the School of Theater, Brian Evans, wrote the grant proposal to bring Bowers to OU.

"We decided as a performance faculty that we wanted to bring somebody in who had both a prestigious professional career but more importantly, knew how to work with students," Evans said.

Evans noted that the range of ways in which OU could profit from Bowers' professorship was a deciding factor when applying for the grant. He will also bring his Off-Broadway show to both OU and ARTS/West.

"It's inclusive of another community that we're all a part of, not just the university community," Evans said.

Bowers also hopes to teach through his own performance. His one-man-show, "It Goes Without Saying," was inspired by the question he's always asked: Why miming? The show chronicles his life not only growing up in Montana, but also his outrageous jobs as a performer.

He shares anecdotes from "The Lion King" on Broadway where he played Zazu, and studying with internationally acclaimed mime Marcel Marceau. He even tells of miming with Hugh Grant on the movie set for "Two Weeks Notice."

"I'm a mime because I'm from Montana," Bowers said. "Not that Montana is the center of mime, but it's a big quiet place. And it all begins with silence for me. And being from a big silent, I call it 'the big quiet,' kind of place and growing up with silence in nature and silence in my family, I got very interested in silence."

He said that because of the show's surprising content, he was amazed to see how well it was received in the 25 states where he has performed it. "I'm attracted to places where it might be an uncomfortable fit, and I've never had a bad experience with it."

Bowers said that despite the unusual story of his life, he has found that his audience connects with him on a personal level.

"I keep doing it because it's been a great lesson in how life can be universal," he said.

"It Goes Without Saying" will be shown in the Baker Center Theater Monday, Feb. 20, at 8 p.m. for free and at ARTS/West on Sunday, Feb. 26.