Honoring David Bowie with “Lazarus” & “A Bowie Celebration” – UPDATED

It’s been five years since David Bowie passed away. To celebrate both the anniversary of his death on January 10th and his birthday on January 8th, two different streaming events will remind us of his genius.

The first is Lazarus, the musical Bowie created that was inspired by the novel The Man Who Fell to Earth by Walter Trevis. The musical had its world premiere at the New York Theatre Workshop in late 2015. It immediately sold out and was running at the time of Bowie’s death. If the title sounds familiar, it is the same story that inspired Nicolas Roeg’s 1976 in which Bowie starred.

Dice.fm is making a film of the British production available for only three showings this weekend.

The film revolved around Newton who is an alien that arrives on earth seeking a solution to the lack of water on his planet. In Lazarus, considered a sequel to the film and the novel, finds Newton, 40 years later, living in a penthouse in New York, but not having much of a life. His new assistant is not only finding herself falling for Newton, but also taking on the personality of Mary Lou, the earthling who fell in love with him in the movie. Things get complicated by the arrival of a young muse who knows exactly who Newton is and promises to return him to his planet.

Irish playwright Enda Walsh collaborated with Bowie on the book. He’s the playwright of the musical Once, the stunning play Misterman (which featured an absolutely staggering performance by Cillian Murphy) and the films Disco Pigs and Hunger.

Bowie uses many of his classic songs in Lazarus including “Heroes,” “All the Young Dudes,” “Life on Mars,” “Absolute Beginners” and “The Man Who Fell to Earth.” The title song, found on his album Blackstar is in the show as are three other new songs.

Michael C. Hall (Dexter), who played Newton in New York, stars in this film. He is joined by Amy Lennox as Newton’s assistant and Sophia Anne Caruso as the young woman. Ivo van Hove (director of the new revival of West Side Story that opened last year) directed the production.

Here’s the schedule (and there’s no on-demand viewing):

January 8th (Bowie’s 74th birthday): US & Canada – 6pm PST / 9pm EST; Australia & New Zealand – 7pm AEDT ; UK & Ireland – 7pm GMT  and Europe – 8pm CET 

January 9th: US & Canada – 6pm PST / 9pm EST; Australia & New Zealand – 7pm AEDT ; UK & Ireland – 7pm GMT  and Europe – 8pm CET 

January 10th (5th anniversary of his death): US & Canada – 1pm PST / 4pm EST; Australia & New Zealand – 3pm AEDT ; UK & Ireland – 3pm GMT  and Europe – 4pm CET 

Tickets are $21.50 in the United States. Each date listed above is a link to purchasing tickets for that specific showing.

If you want to just hear Bowie’s music without the structure of a musical, you can watch A Bowie Celebration which becomes available on SATURDAY, JANUARY 9th at 9:00 PM EST/6:00 PM PST.

Amongst the artists performing in this concert are Ian Astbury (The Cult), William Corgan (The Smashing Pumpkins), Andra Day, Duran Duran, Perry Farrell (Jane’s Addiction), Peter Frampton, Macy Gray, Michael C. Hall (Lazarus), Lena Hall (Hedwig and the Angry Inch), Gary Oldman, Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails), Gavin Rossdale (Bush), David Sanborn and a wide array of musicians who at one point in their careers were members of Bowie’s band. This includes Omar Hakim, Tim Lefebvre, Carmine Rojas, Catherine Russell, Charlie Sexton and Tony Visconti.

Tickets are $25 (with various package deals including merchandise available at higher prices). Tickets allow you to stream the show for 24 hours, but it is only available just for one day.

Photo: David Bowie (Courtesy DavidBowie.com)

UPDATE: Due to technical issues, A Bowie Celebration has been delayed by 24 hours and will now start on Saturday, January 9th as per the updated information above.