Michael C. Hall will step into a role famously inhabited by David Bowie when he stars as Thomas Newton in Lazarus this winter.
The off-Broadway production is co-written by Bowie and playwright Enda Walsh (Once), and is based on Walter Tevis‘ classic 1963 British sci-fi novel The Man Who Fell to Earth. Bowie appeared as the humanoid alien Newton in Nicolas Roeg‘s cult 1976 film version of the tale about an extraterrestrial who crash-lands on Earth seeking water to save his drought-stricken planet.
Few details have been released about Lazarus, which will be staged by Ivo van Hove, the Belgian avant-garde theater director whose acclaimed London production of Arthur Miller‘s A View From the Bridge, starring Mark Strong, is headed to Broadway in the fall.
Read more David Bowie’s ‘Lazarus’ to Rise on NY Stage
It remains unclear whether Lazarus will be a full-fledged musical or a play with songs. However, the production will feature songs specially composed by Bowie as well as new arrangements of previously recorded tracks.
Preview performances begin on Nov. 18 at New York Theatre Workshop, with official opening night set for Dec. 7.
Best known for his television roles on Six Feet Under and Dexter, Hall is no stranger to the New York stage. He completed a stint earlier this year in the title role on Broadway of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and has also appeared in The Realistic Joneses, Cabaret and Chicago, among other productions.
