Inside Rehearsal for David Bowie’s New Alien Musical

“For the first quarter of an hour, I was thinking, Here I am, this boy from Belgium, sitting opposite David Bowie,� director Ivo van Hove recalls of his initial meeting with the rock idol, who would become his colleague on the new musical Lazarus. “But I was immediately aware he was searching for an artistic collaborator, not a fan — somebody who would push the production to the extreme.�

Lazarus picks up the story of alien visitor Thomas Newton (played by Michael C. Hall) 30 years after the events of the 1976 sci-fi film The Man Who Fell to Earth (which starred Bowie). Of the 20 Bowie songs used, four are new compositions. “The songs are always there to drive the story,� van Hove explains. “There are more violent songs about the world outside, and then very romantic songs, about the longing for something more poetic and tender in life.�

As you may be able to infer from the accompanying rehearsal photos, the story is told entirely within one setting, Newton’s apartment. “In an intimate space, things start to happen,� van Hove says. “It felt very good to be close to the actors. The relationship between an actor and director is a very intimate one, and a very physical one, too. My theater productions are not only about talking heads — they’re about talking bodies.�

Lazarus opens at New York Theatre Workshop on December 7.

*This article appears in the November 30, 2015 issue of New York Magazine.