NEW YORK — A performance of David Bowie’s trippy, melancholy musical “Lazarus” turned into a memorial for the Thin White Duke on Tuesday night as fans who had bought tickets to celebrate his music instead found themselves mourning his passing.

“It was incredible. I wept a lot,” said Evan Schwartz, a 20-year-old student from Stamford, Connecticut, who saw the show for a second time after scoring a ticket in an online lottery. “It was beautiful.”

Tuesday night’s performance was the first time since Bowie’s death on Monday that the show went on at the 200-seat New York Theatre Workshop in New York’s East Village. Some audience members left in tears.

Cast members did not acknowledge the death or make any changes to the show. They also declined to comment. The only official nod to Bowie’s death was a video screen in the lobby showing a photo of the musician with the words “In Memoriam, 1947-2016.” Fans left flowers near the entrance.

Starring “Dexter” and “Six Feet Under” actor Michael C. Hall, the musical has been a hit since previews began on Nov. 18. Bowie’s death only made tickets more desired, with a single matinee seat going Tuesday afternoon for $1,900 on StubHub.

Bowie wrote the musical with Irish playwright Enda Walsh as a sequel to the 1963 novel “The Man Who Fell to Earth” by Walter Tevis, which inspired the 1976 film of the same name that he starred in. The musical is directed by Belgian avantgarde director Ivo Van Hove. Producers are weighing their options for what happens to the show next.

Bowie was clearly the draw for Roberta Bethencourt, a New Jersey resident who has been a Bowie fan since she was 12 years old.

“I used to go to the library and when other kids were getting books, I was getting ‘Space Oddity’ and bringing it home and playing over and over again,” she said. “I had no idea what an impact he had on so many people. I loved him because he was so different and unique.”

The 18-songs in the musical include some of Bowie’s biggest hits – including “Changes,” “Heroes,” “Absolute Beginners” and “Life on Mars” – as well as new songs like “Lazarus,” taken from Bowie’s latest “Blackstar” album. A few of Bowie’s LPs are displayed on the stage during the show.