Bowie theatre tracks are ‘like classics’

The tracks written by David Bowie for an upcoming musical are “like classics,” the show’s director has said.

It was revealed earlier this month that Bowie was creating new music for Lazarus, a play based on The Man Who Fell To Earth.

And although he played the leading role in the 1976 film of the 1963 novel, he won’t appear in the New York Theatre Workshop production.

Director Ivo van Hove tells the BBC: “Some of the songs sound as if you’ve heard them for ever, like classics. It’s really great stuff.”

Namechecking 2013 album The Next Day alongside 1970s titles Young Americans, Station To Station, Low, Lodger and “Heroes”, he adds: “It’s a mixture of all these things.”

The show will also include material from throughout Bowie’s career. “He’s going to give his songs a new skin,” van Hove says.

“There are romantic songs – because his songs are deeply romantic – and there are songs about violence and the ugly world surrounding us.”

He adds: “He will not be on stage. I don’t think that’s the thing he likes most. But as far as I can judge, it’s a very important project in his life.”

Artistic director James Nicola previously said: “I don’t really know what it’s going to be like. I just have incredibly trust in the creative vision.”

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