Search - Various :: Lazarus (Original Cast Recording)

Lazarus, the musical presented by the New York Theater Workshop in December 2015 and January 2016, was written by David Bowie and Enda Walsh. The show opened to phenomenal critical acclaim. The New York Times raved "Ice-cold bolts of ecstasy shoot like novas through the glamorous muddle and murk of Lazarus, the great-sounding, great-looking and mind-numbing new musical," while Rolling Stone hailed it as a "Surrealistic Tour de Force... milk-swimming, lingerie-sniffing, gin-chugging theater at its finest." Lazarus is based on the classic sci-fi novel The Man Who Fell to Earth by Walter Tevis. The musical includes both re-worked material from Bowie's iconic catalogue alongside brand new music.

This collection includes the full cast and band of the original New York production with their versions of the David Bowie songs from the show as the Lazarus Cast Album. The album was produced by the show's musical director Henry Hey, who had previously worked with Bowie on "The Next Day" and features vocals from actors Michael C. Hall, Sophia Anne Caruso, Cristin Milioti, Michael Esper and other cast members backed by the seven-piece house band Hey assembled for the New York run. The album was recorded January 11, 2016. Upon arriving at the studio, the musicians and cast were shocked and saddened to learn that Bowie had passed away the evening before. Their emotional performances that day are captured on this recording.

The production of Lazarus in New York also timed with the January, 2016 release of the David Bowie's final studio album . Included alongside the cast's interpretations of classics from his canon of material are the three final David Bowie studio recordings. Co-produced by Bowie and Tony Visconti and recorded with Donny McCaslin and his quartet, the same band that played on Bowie's album, these last three songs "No Plan," "Killing A Little Time," "When I Met You" bring completely new dimensions to their cast counterparts. The original version of "Lazarus" is also included on the Lazarus Cast Album.

Lazarus is based on the classic sci-fi novel The Man Who Fell to Earth by Walter Tevis. The 1976 film starred Bowie himself as a hollow-eyed humanoid alien (this was during Bowie's Thin White Duke phase) who comes to the earth in search of water for his drought-ridden home planet. While Lazarus marked Bowie's first time scoring a stage show, he was no stranger to the world of theatre. His 1979 performance in the Tony-winning The Elephant Man drew rapturous responses from the critics, while of course his myriad musical personas have all had a strong theatrical streak.