POV
30
DECEMBER2015
AMERICANWAY
ILLUSTRATION
PABLO LOBATO
PHOTO
SHARLAND/CONTR I BUTOR
BlameItontheCosmos
DavidBowie’snewsecret theaterproject, “Lazarus,” takesusback to themothership
INACAREERSPANNING
halfacentury,
chameleonicrock iconDavidBowiehasalways
stressedreinventionoverrepetition—
fashioninghimself through thedecadesasa
slewofquirkycharactersranging froman
Egyptiangod toanandrogynousrecluse.
Perhapshismostnotablealterego is
ThomasJeromeNewton, thealienhumanoid
strandedonEarthwhileseekingwater forhis
parchedandperishinghomeplanet in
thecultclassic
TheManWhoFell
toEarth
.
Thismonth,Bowieshows
he’sstillgothishead in the
starswith theoff-
Broadwaypremiereof
“Lazarus,” themusical
stageshowbasedon the
film.ThoughBowie isno
stranger to theater—he
famouslyplayedThe
ElephantManonBroadway in
1980—with“Lazarus,”hegives the leading
role toMichaelC.Hall,bestknown forplaying
the lovableserialkilleronShowtime’s
Dexter
.
Inadditiontoasmatteringofclassichits,
theproduction—which isbeingstagedbythe
NewYorkTheatreWorkshop— introduces
severalnewBowienumbers,describedby
directorIvovanHoveas“deeplyromantic”
and“aboutviolenceandtheuglyworld
surroundingus.”
Tony-winningIrishplay-
wrightEndaWalsh (“Once”)has
beenbroughtonboard tohelp
Bowieemulate thesuccessof
rocker-dramatists likeDavid
Byrne (“HereLiesLove”)
andCyndiLauper (“Kinky
Boots”), rather than
enduring the failuresof
Sting’s“TheLastShip”and
U2’s“Spider-Man:TurnOff
theDark.”
—TODDAARONJENSEN
SUITUP—JUSTNOT
INBROWN.
Sinatradisapproved
of the term “Rat
Pack” andpreferred
callinghis crowd “the
Summit.”He asked
that all his friends don
suits and ties for an
eveningout— as long
as theyweren’t brown.
Sinatra absolutely
hatedbrown.
INSTEAD,WEAR
SOMETHING
ORANGE.
Orange, Sinatra said,
was thehappiest col-
or.Heoftendonned
orange cashmere
sweaters for casual
occasions. For fancier
evenings, hewore
anorangepocket
square, neatly folded.
STAYUPLATE.
Sinatra reallydid love
greeting thedawn
after an all-nighter
— somuch so that he
named the color of
the sky at sunrise “five
o’clockVegas blue.”
He also claimed to
havegone “nice and
easy” on thebooze,
never (OK, rarely)
allowinghimself to
get drunk.Always
good advice.
—E.C.
SummonYour
Summitfor
Sinatra’s100th
FrankSinatra
wouldhave turned
100onDec. 12.
Here ishowyou
shouldcelebrate
inhishonor.
GET
LOW
BEFOREYOUGO
The 1977album, recorded immediatelyafter the
filmingof
TheManWhoFell toEarth
, was
constructed frompieces intended for Bowie’s
motion-picture soundtrackbut killedby the studio.
Bowie reportedly sent the completed
Low
album to the studioanddirectorwitha
note telling themwhat they’d
missedout on.
