Bowie's 'Lazarus' gets off-Broadway debut

Legendary rocker David Bowie and Enda Walsh, the playwright behind Once, have teamed for Lazarus, a new play to make its debut later this year.

The New York Theatre Workshop announced today that the work, inspired by the novel, The Man Who Fell to Earth by Walter Tevis, will have its world premiere during the 2015-16 season at the off-Broadway venue.

Lazarus features songs specially composed by Bowie, 68, for the production, along with new arrangements of previously recorded songs. The story centers on Thomas Newton, the alien character Bowie portrayed in the 1976 film. But Bowie, at this point, is not slated to be on stage.

The work will be directed by Ivo van Hove (Hedda Gabler).

James C. Nicola, the artistic director of New York Theater Workshop, tells the New York Times that the project, which might qualify as a musical, has been in secret development for some years.

"It's going to be a play with characters and songs — I'm calling it music theater, but I don't really know what it's going to be like, I just have incredible trust in their creative vision," Nicola said. "I'm really excited about it. These are three very different sensibilities to be colliding."