David Bowie, who performed an alien in the cult classic film The Man Who Fell To Earth, has composed music for a new stage version in New York. The British musician long known for his experimentalism has written new songs and arranged older music for the production late this year at the New York Theatre Workshop. Based on the novel by Walter Tevis, the 1976 film starred Bowie as a humanoid who lands on Earth in search of water for his parched planet and becomes enamored with alcohol and television. Flashback: David Bowie is returning to The Man Who Fell To Earth by penning a new stage version and original songs for a production on New York's Broadway later this year. The 1976 cult film marked his debut in movies . Cult classic: Bowie played an alien who was in search of water on Earth but fell in love with television . Bowie, 68, is not expected to perform in the production, titled Lazarus, which he has written with award-winning playwright Enda Walsh, who wrote the hit Broadway musical Once. According to sources connected to the adaptation, it has been in the works for years. The show will be spearheaded by Dutch Ivo van Hove, who used Bowie's music in one of his own productions last year. But the production team has cryptically refused to define it. '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,' James Nicola, artistic director of New York Theater Workshop, told the New York Times. 'I'm really excited about it. These are three very different sensibilities to be colliding.' The Man Who Fell to Earth was the first movie for Bowie but he did not write the music amid contractual disputes, instead leaving the task to singer-songwriter John Phillips from The Mamas And The Papas. Adaptation: The movie was an adaptation of the Walter Tevis novel of the same name, published in 1963 . Tweaks: It is not clear what changes will be made in the stage version, Lazarus, by Bowie and Enda Walsh . It has been in the works for years, according to New York Theater Workshop artistic director James Nicola . New direction? The team has refused to categorize the new production as either a play or a musical . Bowie has long been fascinated by space and science fiction, emerging on the scene in 1969 with his astronaut anthem Space Oddity and later writing the probing Life On Mars? Bowie studied acting and is known for his portrayal on Broadway in 1980-81 of severely deformed Englishman Joseph Merrick in The Elephant Man. Bowie, 68, kept quiet for a decade before releasing the album The Next Day in 2013. He last year released the career-spanning collection Nothing Has Changed with new material.
Bowie, 68, starred as an alien enamored by TV and alcohol in the 1976 film .
He has written new songs and arranged older music for 2015 production .
The musician is not expected to perform in the show late this year .
Bowie did not write the music for the original amid contractual dispute .