Lazarus, Wednesday 6 November 2019, De La Mar Amsterdam

Photo: Wo.

Not long before David Bowie's demise his musical Lazarus premiered on Broadway directed by Belgian born, Dutch resident Ivo van Hove. The musical received loads of attention as things Bowie tended to receive through the past decades. New York is far away, so it never crossed my mind to go and look at the musical. Now that it has premiered in Amsterdam, it was an excellent if belated birthday present from My Love.

For readers of this blog it is no surprise that I have been a fan of David Bowie for most of my life. Starting with 'Space Oddity' in 1969 as a kid, to the hits of the mid 70s and first shows I ever went to. Bowie was the first that counted. Although I may not play his albums regularly any more, any time my ears pick up a Bowie song my brain makes a small leap of pleasant recognition. Bowie's music is still fairly omnipresent. It simply comes by regularly. Lazarus thus is a trip down memory lane, but not for 100% as I did not really care for most of Bowie's output until 'Blackstar' since 1985.

I will not give too much away of the show as there are too many visual surprises that you have to undergo if you haven't seen the show and all others have seen them. Those not intending to go? Tough luck.

Circa 10 minutes before the start of the show a man in luxury pyjama's walks on stage and lies down, sleeping. I wondered what would happen when at the umpteenth show he would. Neglected by everyone in the audience he just lies there. It is the star of the show, the Thomas Newton character. Now this is relevant information. If I had not read the November 'Oor' I would not have a clue what this play was about. So here it goes.

Bowie played in a movie in the mid 70s, 'The Man Who Fell To Earth', about an alien on earth, who can't return to his own planet. I remember having seen the movie, at some point, long ago. I did not like it, did not really understand it, I think and it did not interest me as a teenager. The end of the movie is not the starting point of Lazarus, but something like 40 years later, when Newton is lonely, depressed, alcoholic, delusional and who knows what more and a rich man living in a luxurious New York apartment.

The play starts with Ricky Nelson's 'Hello Mary Lou' playing softly in the background. My very first single at an extremely young age and the first song my son heard on earth right after being born as it played on the radio a nurse switched on in the hospital. Weird coincidences are a part of life. "Mary Lou" is the ex-wife or girlfriend of Newton and plays a large role in the musical, but is never present live. On screen she is though. An interesting use of media.

From there a multimedia show starts full of excellent surprises making full use of modern techniques that astonish. The story itself is weird but easy to follow with the pointers to the film in mind. But like in many musicals, the text is the excuse to get to the next song.

Photo: Wo.

The cast? Excellent, there's no other word for it. Totally convincing. Yes, of course in the first song, 'Lazarus', I missed Bowie's voice, the two leading ladies have a musical style of singing, that is distinctly different from rock music, but I forgot it all. The band played great. Together they made me forget David Bowie. From a fantastic version of 'It's No Game', always one of my favourites, there was no looking back. In fact hearing some of these beautiful songs being sung by women gave a whole new perspective to them. The absolutely beautiful 'Absolute Beginners' stood out for me, just like 'Life On Mars' and 'Changes'. The surprise however was the Blackstarised 'Heroes'. This version is absolutely fantastic. The visuals during the song on stage are just as amazing. So basic, just a puddle of white stuff spreading ever so slowly, is enough to create a great effect.

During the show someone became unwell. The show was stopped. Before the show I saw someone barely able to get up from where he was sitting and having to stop at the stairs not able to continue. I thought literally I hope you make it upstairs. Whatever happened, I hope you fully recover, whoever you are. The compliments go to the theatre and cast for handling this situation very professionally. The show was wound back, visuals and all a few sentences and continued. I saw the 'Valentine' character literally hurtling himself back into the concentration needed to play the show. Well done. This is the reason I want to mention the incident. The reason is tragic of course. Great part by the way, this 'Valentine'.

As a final comment - yes, I get to write about 'Joker' on a music blog. In Lazarus as in 'Joker' I was wondering the whole time: 'What is it I'm seeing?' Is it real or imagined'? Fascinating isn't it when the two can just flow into each other and it is for us viewers to decide what was real and what not, in a situation that is not real from the beginning.

Photo: Wo.

Lazarus? Great show, but only for Bowie fans. Well, unless you like everything around the music as well as there is a lot to enjoy, says My Love, who was not a Bowie fan, until 'Blackstar' and had a great evening.

The salute at the end is very much intended. A farewell from the master himself. With Blackstar, truly one of his best albums, the museum, the musical, David Bowie has orchestrated his own farewell into the finest detail. Just like the museum exhibition showed how he orchestrated the finest details of his career from the very beginning (and saved it all!?). Lazarus is a truly great salute from the master to his audience and fans. His legacy lives far longer for sure because of it.

Wo.

Information on Lazarus here:

https://delamar.nl/voorstellingen/lazarus/


or listen to our Spotify Playlist to find out what we are writing about:

https://open.spotify.com/user/glazu53/playlist/6R9FgPd2btrMuMaIrYeCh6?si=KI6LzLaAS5K-wsez5oSO2g