The Guardian posted an article last Saturday about a musical in the making, based on David Bowie’s songs. The show, called ‘Heroes: The Musical’ was described as a futuristic fantasy, featuring various Bowie-esque characters like Major Tom, the starman and a ‘young dude’ called David, as well as ‘a cast of more than 30 performers accompanied by a live band’, and was supposed to premiere in London next March.
However, since Saturday, a lot has apparently happened! Bowie’s representatives released a statement denying to have given permission to the project:
‘Neither the David Bowie Organization, nor its co-publishers EMI Music and Chrysalis, has issued a license for a Bowie musical at the O2, as has been reported in the U.K.’
‘There are no negotiations pending for a long-running musical featuring the music of Mr. Bowie.’
If Deep Singh, the writer of the musical, had declared his amazement to the Guardian, he had definitively confirmed to have received the approval of Bowie’s people:
‘We could not really believe it when they gave us permission, his people had warned us that it was very unlikely that he would be interested and that he had been asked many times before.’
‘Mr Bowie's representatives have been incredibly supportive when we have asked them for things and yet hands-off in terms of letting us get on with the project.’
Well I guess, the project didn’t really please Mr. Bowie after all, and even the perspective of seeing the proceeds going to three charities helping underprivileged and disabled young people to learn new skills, was not enough to convince him.
Talk about some miscommunication! A real case of ‘Can you hear me, Major Tom’.