Exclusive: Bassist Bobby Wooten III on juggling multiple duties on David Byrne’s American Utopia
When it comes to being on stage, one has to be able to act, sing, and dance if the role calls for it. There are musicals and there are plays and then there’s David Byrne’s American Utopia, which is currently playing at the St. James Theatre.
The show features David Byrne with returning band members Jacquelene Acevedo, Gustavo Di Dalva, Daniel Freedman, Chris Giarmo, Tim Keiper, Tendayi Kuumba, Karl Mansfield, Mauro Refosco, Stéphane San Juan, Angie Swan and Bobby Wooten III.
The show is about men and women from a diversity of races and cultures coming together to create something new, alive and beautiful that helps people connect. Also streaming on HBO Max, Spike Lee’s pre-recorded version of the show received a Special Tony Honor and won Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards for Rob Sinclair and Brian Spett's Lighting Design/Lighting Direction for a Variety Special as well as Paul Hsu, Michael Lonsdale and Pete Keppler's Sound Mixing for a Variety Series or Special.
For band member Bobby Wooten III, the Chicago native gets to play many roles on the show. While it can be challenging to some, especially after the show returned from being sidelined due to the pandemic, others have embraced the comeback and are ready to entertain audiences again.
Blackfilmandtv.com caught up with Wooten III as he spoke about being a member and meeting Spike Lee.
What part do play in the band and how long have you a part of it?
Bobby Wooten III: I’m a bassist, singer and dancer in the show. I’ve been with the band since the beginning. We started rehearsals in February of 2018. I worked with David on a separate project the year prior. It was Joan of Arc and I played bass on it. It was all his music, and at the end of that he said he was going to be me calling soon. I wasn’t singing in that capacity but now I am in this one.
When you have to do so much, is it all challenging when doing on stage?
Bobby Wooten III: It's a great challenge. I really loved it, because it did stretch me in ways that I hadn't been taught before. Naturally, I like to move around the stage. First, there’s the bass part I'm doing versus when I'm singing. Some of the parts, a lot of them are much higher and I have a bass voice, low range. And some of these are a bit higher in ways that can be difficult with the parts that I'm playing while singing. Also when you add on dancing as that third sort of layer. I can recall when when I was prepping for the show, and with the bass I can't even be thinking about that. It needs to just be like second nature, right? So I the voice to get there. It was the singing and playing, then it was the second, playing and dancing. I remember after being out on the road for the first two weeks, they recorded a show. I watched the first one and it was it was good. But there was some things I saw when doing the dance move while singing, and it gets messed up here. So when I was in my hotel room for the next two weeks, I was isolating. Just working on the bass, singing, and dancing till it got to the point where I like where it's at now.
How long were you a fan of David before you started working with him?
Bobby Wooten III: I was a fan from a distance. I was introduced to Talking Heads through my absolute best friends from my music career, but we met when we were in college. He was the first person to show me Stop Making Sense. And I just recall shaking, “Man, if I was on guitar, and next to David, I would just be doing those dance moves." He was foreign to my background in dancing and stuff. I remember thinking that and then that if I was there, I'd be like that. So certainly, for me, it’s wild to be doing it now. I didn't do the deep dive until I started to work with the band in 2017.
Unless you come to New York, not everyone gets the opportunity to see the show now, but then Spike Lee came along and filmed it for all to see. How was that experience?
Bobby Wooten III: It was a complete honor. I don’t know Spike personally, but that’s definitely on top of the list. Even past that, getting to meet him…with Spike, I learned a lot about dedication and focus. He just saw so many shows before we worked and I remember the first time he ever came and he wasn't even like hired at this point. He was watching the show and taking notes. Then I hear Spike's on board. Months go by and I get invited to some film screening. I'm sitting in the theater I hear someone call my name. I look over and it’s Spike Lee. He knows my name! Okay, that's tight. He says "I'm coming to the 5:30 show today." He just hands me his coat to sit down and says to hold his seat. He goes up and gives an intro speech to the film screening. He comes back and I'm just like, "wow, now I'm just gonna watch a film premiere with Spike Lee," which is crazy. Then it was like a real conversation about backgrounds, etc, etc.
What's the thing that you hear from audience members that makes you smile?
Bobby Wooten III: I think what David was able to do with this one conceptually, it's the most simplistic design. When you’re out there in grey suits and barefoot, you’re not thinking about that. That’s cool. You're not thinking about any of those things. The only thing you need to think about is I'm looking at this person right now. and I'm seeing this character, this person and their personality and this thing that lends itself to this idea of the utopian aspect, just like these different characters. We're obviously all close as a band, and so that none of that's acting. That's real joy. When people are there, without even knowing it, you're getting it in the most simple of ways. You just have not seen live music done that way before. There's no smoke machine. There's no spectacles to wow you like that. It’s merely, as David says at the start of the show, us and you. Get rid of all the things that don't really matter., this is what it is. I think people, not even knowing anything about music, that's what taps into their imagination like that. And if you are a musician, or artist, performer, whatever, then you're looking at this and seeing how this opens up for even more further imagination.