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David Bowie is apprently writing new music for a new play based on The Man Who Fell To Earth, 39 years after he starred in the film adaptation.
Bowie, who starred in Nicolas Roeg's film version of Walter Tevis' 1963 book of the same name, played an alien marooned on Earth in his first cinematic role. According to COS, the stage version will feature new songs by Bowie as well as unheard arrangements of older material.
The production is entitled Lazarus, and will focus on Bowie's film character, protagonist Thomas Newton. Produced on Off-Broadway by the New York Theater Company, the play is unlikely to see the rock icon himself take to the stage, but he will share co-writing credits with Tony Award-winning Enda Walsh, who took the award for Best Book of a Musical for 'Once' as well as co-writing the Camera d'Or-winning IRA biopic Hunger.
Jame C. Nicola, the NYTC's artistic director, explained: "[It has] been in secret development for some years...It’s going to be a play with characters and songs — I’m calling it music theatre, but I don’t really know what it’s going to be like, I just have incredible trust in their creative vision. I’m really excited about it. These are three very different sensibilities to be colliding."
The third party he mentions is Belgian director Ivo van Hove, known for his avante-garde production on Off-Broadway. With three highly distinct minds coming together on the project, Nicola's excitement seems well-founded, and fans of Bowie will doubtless be desperate to find a way into a venue where capacity will not be more than 500 and tickets will sell at incredible speed.
Watch the original trailer for David Bowie in The Man Who Fell to Earth below:
