There's a starman waiting in the sky, David Bowie sang. But he need wait in the sky no longer: plans have been announced this weekend for the first full-scale musical based on the songs of the totemic British performer. A futuristic fantasy called Heroes: The Musical will tell the story of Major Tom, as well as the starman and a "young dude" called David and will have its world premiere in March at the IndigO2 venue, inside London's former Millennium Dome.

Bowie, who is one of Britain's most successful songwriters, rarely gives permission for his songs to be used and has never allowed them to be used in this way before. "We could not really believe it when they gave us permission," said Deep Singh, who wrote the musical. "His people had warned us that it was very unlikely that he would be interested and that he had been asked many times before."

Singh, a former screenwriter, believes that Bowie gave consent because he emphasised that his story was not a nostalgic recreation of the 1970s but was set in the future and aimed to show the timeless relevance of Bowie's lyrics. Other recent shows featuring the hit songs from the back catalogue of bands such as Queen, Abba, and Madness have all had West End success by offering audiences a chance to wallow in memories of their youth.

"We did not want Mr Bowie to think it was going to be a tribute show, and that seems to have had an effect," Singh added. He is putting the show together for one major showcase performance in the spring in aid of arts and community charities. If the performance is a critical success, he hopes that Bowie, who lives in New York, will grant it a longer life.

"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," said Singh.

The villains of Singh's story are the patrolling Diamond Dogs and the "ruthless Smart Simon" who has created, and now controls, a dystopian empire set in an indeterminate future. Heroes will use a cast of more than 30 performers accompanied by a live band and will feature around 20 songs, including Heroes, The Man Who Sold The World, The Jean Genie and Let's Dance.

The director and choreographer of the show is Matthew Gould, who has worked as resident director on West End shows including Les Miserables and Cats.

"We have a had a lot of freedom when it comes to the dance and the way we tell the story," he said. "Bowie was a big fan of mime and of contemporary dance, and we will use some of his 80s dance music too. But I wanted to use some of the street moves of a group like Flawless as well for our younger performers, combining it with the modern dance ideas you see in a contemporary troupe like DV8."

All proceeds will go to three charities, the Orpheus Centre, Albert & Friends Instant Circus and Youth Music Theatre UK, that use the performing arts to help underprivileged and disabled young people to learn new skills. Some of those to benefit from the charities will also take part in the show. "The key thing for us is that it is not just karaoke, or a singalong," said Gould. "We want the audience to become involved with the characters. There is a fear that a whole generation might not get to hear Bowie's extraordinary music without a show like this."

In 2008 Bowie was said to have agreed to allow some of his songs to be used in a musical version of the cult sci-fi film The Man Who Fell to Earth, directed by Nicolas Roeg. But the musical has yet to be produced and the original 1976 film, which starred Bowie as an alien, did not feature his music.