David Bowie to co-write The Man Who Fell To Earth stage musical

Legendary rocker David Bowie has teamed up with Irish playwright Enda Walsh to co-write Lazarus, a production based on the film The Man Who Fell To Earth.

According to The New York Theater Workshop, the 68-year-old singer - who starred in the 1976 film as an alcoholic alien - is heavily involved in the forthcoming theatre production. Not only will he co-write, he is reportedly also working on new songs to feature in the production.

James C Nicola, artistic director of the New York Theater Group said: "It's going to be a play with characters and songs - I'm calling it music theater, but I don't really know what it's going to be like, I just have incredible trust in their creative vision.

"I'm really excited about it. These are three very different sensibilities to be colliding."

Lazarus will tell the story of Bowie's character Thomas Newton, who explores life on earth.

While Bowie's acting credits include Zoolander, The Last Temptation of Christ and a three month stint on Broadway playing the title role in The Elephant Man in the 1980's, he is not expected to make a cameo in this stage show.

Belgian-born Ivo van Hove, who featured Bowie's music in a Dutch-language production "Angels in America" has been enlisted to direct the project which is scheduled to open off-Broadway later in 2015.

Meanwhile, Bowie is preparing to unveil his single Changes, taken from the 1971 album Hunky Dory, as a limited edition seven-inch picture disc for this year's Record Store Day on 18 April. That day fans can also expect another clear vinyl seven-inch that combines the musician's 1980 cover of Kingdom Come with the Tom Verlaine original.