When Albie Selznick was 20, he sent David Bowie a letter proposing a circus-inspired act for the rock star’s tour. Inspired by the French clown character Bowie portrayed during his “Scary Monsters” era, Selznick imagined teaching his idol to juggle and walk a tightrope. He hardly expected a reply from one of the biggest singers in the world. Then, one day, a letter arrived in Bowie’s own handwriting. Bowie wrote that he was intrigued and excited by the idea.
“I couldn’t imagine that my idea had actually reached him and that he wrote me back,” Selznick recalled. “My first thought was that it was my friend Michael who wrote that letter. I called him yelling that it’s not nice to play such a prank on me and he swore it wasn’t him.”
The letter was real and Selznick felt elated. Bowie actually took the time to write him, a Jewish kid from Los Angeles, one of many fans around the world.
So, Selznick sat down to write another letter, and then another one, and Bowie replied again.
“He wrote that he often wore the T-shirt I had sent to his hotel room,” said Selznick.
More than four decades later, that extraordinary exchange is the inspiration for “Letter from David,” a solo play at the Santa Monica Playhouse. Selznick uses his talents as an actor, magician and mime to tell his life story.
Magic became Selznick’s refuge after his father, a psychoanalyst, died days before his ninth birthday. He was devastated but found solace in magic after his mom took him to the Magic Castle. It was there that Selznick made up his mind to become a magician.
“It was kind of my way to get away from my sad life,” he said. “I used to believe in UFOs and wished they would take me away, but magic got me out of it. It brought me to a new reality that was exciting and fantastical.”
His second fascination began when he was 13 years old and his magic partner introduced him to David Bowie and his album “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.” Bowie’s constant reinvention and willingness to embrace being different made a lasting impression on Selznick. Without a father figure, he began to look up to the British musician as a role model. “He became my north star,” Selznick said. “I thought that Bowie could understand me. I wanted to be just like him.”
Selznick finally saw his idol perform live when he was 15 and made up his mind that he wanted to create a show of his own and work with Bowie. He held on to that dream for years, and, without giving away any spoilers, it lies at the heart of his one-man show, which he co-wrote with his wife, filmmaker Laura Maccabee, who also directed it. He also trained in mime, juggling and tightrope walking, eventually forming a performance company called The Mums with two other artists. The group found great success, touring internationally and opening for rock bands including Devo, Berlin and Duran Duran.
Selznick wrote several plays and developed a magic show, “Smoke and Mirrors,” at the Santa Monica Playhouse. With the help of favorable reviews in The Los Angeles Times, which repeatedly featured it as a Critics’ Choice in its Sunday theater section, the show attracted large audiences and went on to run in four different theaters around Los Angeles.
Today, Selznick says, it is harder to draw audiences to live theater, in part because The Los Angeles Times no longer has the theater-review section it once did. “We need to get the word out,” he said.
Despite the challenges, live theater remains Selznick’s first love. He appeared in about 250 commercials, including campaigns for Nike and Mountain Dew, and used the money to travel to New York on weekends to see as many as five shows before returning to Los Angeles. As an actor, he has also appeared in television series and films, including “The Young and the Restless,” “Suddenly Susan” and, most recently, the Michael Jackson biopic “Michael,” in which he played a plastic surgeon.
His new show took shape over six months of writing and workshops with friends who offered feedback. After five performances at the Hollywood Fringe Festival, it received an encouraging response, prompting Selznick and his wife to bring it to the Santa Monica Playhouse.
The result is a heartwarming, funny and fascinating show featuring well-known figures such as Mick Jagger and Andy Warhol, but above all, David Bowie.
“Letter From David” opened on Oct. 18 and will run every Sunday until Dec. 20 at the Santa Monica Playhouse. santamonicaplayhouse.com/letter-from-david.html
