David Bowie is co-writing Lazarus, a stage show inspired by The Man Who Fell to Earth, the New York Theatre Workshop has announced.

Lazarus will feature new songs specially composed by David Bowie as well as new arrangements of his old songs.

The rock legend is working on the project with Irish playwright Enda Walsh, who won a Tony Award for the musical Once.

Lazarus is due to premiere in New York in the winter this year.

The stage show is inspired by 1963 novel The Man Who Fell to Earth by Walter Tevis and centers on the character of Thomas Newton, played by David Bowie in the 1976 screen adaptation directed by Nicolas Roeg.

It will be directed by the Belgian Ivo van Hove.

Bowie is not expected to feature in the cast.

James C. Nicola, the artistic director of the New York Theatre Workshop, said the show had been in secret development for some years.

He told the New York Times: “It’s going to be a play with characters and songs – I’m calling it music theatre, but I don’t really know what it’s going to be like. I just have incredible trust in their creative vision.”

James C. Nicola said the show would not retell the story of the book and film, but would feature some of the same characters.

David Bowie surprised his fans in 2013 when he suddenly released a new single on his 66th birthday – followed by a new album – after a 10-year hiatus.

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