In a genre that often veers towards the naff, Lazarus should bring a little alienation and desperation – and makes oddly perfect sense in the context of his career

A musical version of David Bowie’s 1976 film The Man Who Fell to Earth can’t have been high on many people’s lists of likely projects for the increasingly reclusive star. Yet last week the New York Theater Workshop announced it will be staging just such a production later this year, featuring new songs from Bowie. Lazarus will be based on Walter Tevis’s 1963 novel – the plot sees alien Thomas Jerome Newton land on Earth seeking to ship water back to his drought-stricken home planet where his family are dying, but he ultimately descends into an alcoholic haze, betrayed by those around him, thus suffering a two-fold alienation. But as unlikely as it seems, this project honours some enduring themes in Bowie’s work and looks set for creative success…

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