• John Cameron Mitchell will pay homage to David Bowie in Charlotte, North Carolina.
• Blackstar served as a “mausoleum” of sorts for the late singer-songwriter.
• Mitchell is best known for his 1998 stage musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch.

John Cameron Mitchell is an American actor, playwright, screenwriter, and director. Best known as the writer, director, and star of the 2001 film Hedwig and the Angry Inch, he portrayed the role of Joe Exotic.

Mitchell, best famous for making the 2001 film version of his 1998 stage musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch, drew a cue from Bowie when it came to giving Hedwig life as a glam rocker evocative of Bowie’s alter ego Ziggy Stardust.

He will now pay tribute to the late English singer-songwriter once more when Blackstar Symphony, The Music of David Bowie has its global debut in Charlotte, North Carolina, on September 16 and 17. The performance will feature songs from Bowie’s final album. In the two-night production, Mitchell will appear as a guest.

He tells people, “This is a no-brainer,” adding that Blackstar served as a sort of “memorial” or “mausoleum” constructed by the late Bowie himself. The track was released two days before Bowie passed away from liver cancer in January 2016 on his 69th birthday.

Although Bowie and Mitchell have a special bond, they have only ever met once, shortly after the singer watched a late 1990s Off-Broadway performance of Mitchell’s play Hedwig and the Angry Inch.

Mitchell says, “Thank God I didn’t know he was there until after — and he didn’t come up to the dressing room, so [we assumed] maybe he disliked it.

The first openly transgender vocalist in rock, Jayne County, was among Bowie’s friends who were present that night.  “It was only later — my boyfriend was working at Complete Music Studios, where Bowie would rehearse — and I think he told me to come on over because he was there, and late photographer Mick Rock was there, too,” explains Mitchell.

“John, you got it right, David sort of swiveled his lighthouse grin toward me and remarked. I thought, “Wow, I can die now,” “Mitchell says.

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