Noted Actor and Mime Captures Audience’s Imagination

How can so much be communicated without words was surely on the minds of the audience when actor and mime Bill Bowers visited Westminster Jan. 8 to give a performance for students and faculty in the Werner Centennial Center.

Bill began his presentation by talking about his background and mime. “When people find out I’m a mime, they ask me why,” he explained. “I’m a mime because I am from Montana. It is big and quiet, and can render you speechless. A lot of work I do as a performer was inspired by growing up there.”

Bill’s performance included magical and moving stories titled “Silver Dollar Saloon,” “Montana Moon,” “Cow on a Rope,” “Prayer for a Boy” and “Sweet Medicine.” He also showed the audience how to do the hand movements for an imaginary wall, one of the basic vocabularies in mime.

“I give imaginary objects energy,” he explained. “It is more about what happens to you.” He added that a lot of work that he does uses pantomime, a classical art form that has been around for hundreds of years.

Bill took a number of questions from the audience including one about how he learned to communicate using body language. He explained that as the youngest of six kids, he was not interested in talking much as he was growing up, and at age 14, he did a book report on silent acting. Captured by the idea, he began teaching himself mime and kept practicing. He said his initial interest was in what you have to do to communicate if you are not going to use words. Later in his career, he studied with Marcel Marceau for three years.

During his Westminster visit, Bill also gave a workshop for students who will be presenting the musical “Godspell” next month. He explained to them the difference between pantomime and mime and said he prefers to do pantomime without using a white face. “Pantomime won’t happen unless the audience has a willingness to believe,” he said. “It lives completely in the imagination. Mime is an art form that looks at shape in space. It creates feelings, ideas, shapes and motions, and it doesn’t have to be quiet.”

Bill has performed throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe. He appeared on Broadway as Zazu in Disney's “The Lion King,” and as Leggett in “The Scarlet Pimpernel.” His original shows, “It Goes Without Saying,” “Night Sweetheart,” “Night Buttercup” and “Under a Montana Moon” have been produced Off Broadway and received critical raves.

His television credits include “Law and Order,” “One Life to Live,” “All My Children,” “Remember W.E.N.N.,” and Disney's “Out of the Box.” He was also featured in the film “Two Weeks Notice.”

Bill earned an M.F.A. from the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University and an Honorary Ph.D. from Rocky Mountain College. He regularly presents master classes and residencies at major universities and arts organizations.

Bill's Westminster visit was made possible by the Connell Fund.