The event is being promoted as “Urban Stories: Reflections of History.” But for the first installment of the new Missouri History Museum series Thursday night, the here and now was center stage.
Actor Andre Royo of the acclaimed HBO television show “The Wire,” shared his personal urban experiences from a series believed by many to have changed the face of television.
Royo came to life on HBO as heroin addict “Bubbles” each week in the series that recently ended its five-season run.
In a Q&A talk show format with Tammi Holland and Tony Scott of Majic 104.9 as hosts, fans of the show of all ages and races sat rapt as they focused on the charmingly opinionated actor.
Some – including an elderly white woman, a middle-aged black woman and a white, shaggy-haired college kid – even wore “Property of Bubbles” T-shirts.
Unlike the cop show where the bad guy is caught after an episode of investigation, “The Wire” imitated the everyday dramas that simultaneously unfold in the inner city – from the perspective of the police, politicians and criminals.
For Royo, the show was a learning experience long before it opened the eyes of its viewers.
“I thought, ‘If I can grow up in the Bronx, I’ve seen all ‘hoods and I know all ghettos,” Royo told the American on the eve of the event. “Then when I went to Baltimore, it was a rude awakening. It was a veil removed from my eyes to understand that in every ‘hood in the city, there some similarities, but there are some differences in the energy.”
And according to Royo, the energy of Baltimore when he arrived was that it was the final destination to nowhere.
Royo said, “There was the feeling that, ‘This is it. This is the last stop of where we are ending up. There is no getting better or getting out.’”
For four of the five seasons of the show, he inhabited a character living on the edge and supporting a habit- so convincingly that family members questioned his sobriety.
After having a breakthrough performance as a police informant/junkie in John Singleton’s remake of “Shaft” starring Samuel L. Jackson and Jeffrey Wright, “Bubbles” was a role he didn’t necessarily want to take.
“I first heard that they wanted me to audition for a junkie named ‘Bubbles,’” Royo said. “I was like, ‘No. I’m not doing Pookie or Gaiter again. I don’t want to go through the stereotype of a black man playing a junkie.’”
He was reminded that the job wasn’t his to turn down while being encouraged to audition and meet with the show’s creators to see what stories they were attempting to tell.
“It felt like this was going to be something different,” Royo said. “That it wasn’t going to be a cliché cop show, that it was going to do more… and I needed the money.”
It took a couple of seasons, but the show managed to connect with audiences in a major way and the fan base crossed racial, socio-economic and geographic lines.
Just as quickly as Royo recognized the differences between his New York neighborhood and the one he portrayed on the set, fans and viewers saw similarities between Baltimore and urban areas across the country.
“It’s not a Baltimore show, its about a social awareness that the show has projected on TV,” Royo said.
“‘The Wire’ could have been any city. That could be St. Louis, that could be Cincinnati, Detroit – people recognize that they are going through the same things that they are seeing on TV.”
Everyone in the audience – and especially the hosts – were still so enthralled with the show that it was hard for them to veer off topic. Their stories and inquiries ranged from gun control to politics and substance abuse, illustrating the desire to improve the inner city.
Royo said, “The show was a way of – in a sense – saying, ‘This is what it is, and what are you going to do to fix it?’
The show not only changed television with its new style, but it changed Royo’s views of a person living with addiction and of society’s castaways.
“When you play somebody like Bubbles for five years, it is going to stick with you,” Royo said.
“It made me think that even though you can’t help everybody, you shouldn’t ignore everybody.”
In his closing remarks, Royo praised the Missouri History Museum and its partners for offering “Urban Stories” to the public.
“This is the type of thing that helps communities,” Royo said. “People flourish when they feel that someone is trying to reach out. Communication is key to saving the community.”
Urban word
The next edition of “Urban Stories: Reflections of History” will take place on Sunday, September 21 at 6 p.m. and will feature Marc Bamuthi Joseph, a National Poetry Slam champion, Broadway veteran and featured artist on Russell Simmons’ “Def Poetry Jam” on HBO. Majic104.9 “Soulternative” hostess Selena J will host. For more information, call (314) 746-4599 or visit www.mohistory.org.
