![]() “The entire musical becomes a powerful representation of the liminal space between death and life” Around Newton revolve alter-egos, which are very characteristic of Bowie’s oeuvre. Intoxication is literally at the center of the stage, as symbolized by the bottle of gin that Thomas Newton often reaches for. The entire world of Lazarus is centered around Newton’s disengaged, drunken world. His portrayal of a man destroyed by regret, disillusioned, and delusional was superbly compelling. Nevertheless, this musical was most definitely (and literally) an out-of-this world experience, dipping into the fractured psyche of Thomas Newton, played by Michael C. The soundscape of this musical, created with both songs from final albums, as well as three new tracks, presented us with music that was agreeably familiar, yet reconfigured. If you are expecting to watch this play for light-hearted entertainment with famous rock songs, Lazarus might not be for you. Yet I also wonder if this was deliberate, because it would be disappointing for Bowie’s last work to be… normal. "David Robert Jones might have left us, but David Bowie will never die" Geograph There is something deeply fractured about the bloody scenes clumsily interspersed with humour, as well as the pell-mell of various narratives of Lazarus. The first obstacle that I am confronted with is that it is seemingly impossible to characterize what the narrative arc of this musical was. Yet many Bowie fans, like myself, had never even heard of this musical. A month later, the world learned that David Bowie had died. Lazarus first began at the East Village’s New York Theatre Workshop in November 2015, opening on December 7. Lazarus, can be considered the continuation of the story of Thomas Newton, played by Bowie in Nicolas Roeg’s adaptation of Walter Tevis’ novel The Man Who Fell to Earth. This streaming was an opportunity to re-discover Bowie, his last album ‘Black Star’ still haunting us, interpreted as the farewell from a terminally ill man. To commemorate this, the 2016 streaming of the show directed by Ivo van Hove was uploaded on dice.fm, offering the opportunity to discover Bowie’s last offering of creativity. Two days later, it was the five-year anniversary of Bowie’s death. On January 8, 2021, Bowie would have turned 74. It goes without saying that I was excited for the streaming of Bowie’s final project – the Lazarus musical, written with Enda Walsh and directed by Ivo van Hove – but the final product left me in the end with mixed feelings. His entire personage resonates with creative freedom. Bowie’s music goes beyond the melody – he’s not just a rock icon, but an artist of unparalleled cultural influence. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m a huge David Bowie fan.
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