Terry Fator is such a huge fan of classic Christmas specials of the ’60s and ’70s that he decided to resurrect that holiday magic as part of his show at The Mirage several years ago. A Very Terry Christmas has become an annual tradition for the ventriloquist, who was inspired by yuletide atmospheres created by the likes of Andy Williams and Bing Crosby. Crosby, in fact, became a character in Terry Christmas, with Fator taking the David Bowie part for a cover of Crosby and Bowie’s iconic duet “Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy,” which was first broadcast on a Crosby TV special in 1977.

Fator’s show this year takes that duet to the next level, with Fator adding a Bowie ventriloquist figure to his cast of characters. “It’s a beautiful, beautiful puppet. Just phenomenal, phenomenally done by Keith Lovik, the same guy who did the Bing Crosby puppet,” says Fator. “I’ve been doing Bing Crosby for several years. I just felt like you can’t really have a proper Christmas special without Bing Crosby, at least not an old-fashioned Christmas special the way I wanted to do—a re-creation of an old-fashioned Christmas.”

Fator pays homage to a scene from the special in which Bowie drops in on Crosby’s home as if they were neighbors, proceeding to sing together as Crosby starts in with “The Little Drummer Boy” and Bowie adds the “Peace on Earth” counterpoint composed especially for the TV show. Crosby passed away between the time the special was recorded and its broadcast, but the video clip resurfaced on TV in subsequent holiday seasons and “Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy” became a hit in 1982.

“It’s one of my favorite Christmas memories,” says Fator. “I actually saw it on the original show they did and thought it was really cool. It didn’t seem odd to me because, being young at the time, David Bowie was a popular artist. For Bing Crosby fans it was like, ‘What’s happening?’”

For Fator, who contacted Bowie to see if the late recording artist would duet with him at A Very Terry Christmas, it’s the culmination of a dream. “My original dream was to have David Bowie come in and do it, either in the show or on the television special, and then I was just going to tape him, and then I was going to try to put him on like a video so that my Bing Crosby could sing with the actual David Bowie. Unfortunately that did not work out because he passed away.”

The Bowie puppet joins other new voice-thrown cast members including Latin music singer Fernando V. Francisco and Donald Trump, who sings a snatch of Pink Floyd’s “The Wall.” The Bowie puppet is closest to Fator’s heart, though. “I just think it’s so cool,” he says. “David Bowie and Bing Crosby have not sung together since 1977. In 2016, David Bowie went to heaven, and now Bing Crosby and David Bowie are singing together again for the first time in heaven, and on my stage.”

The Mirage, 7:30 p.m. Mon.-Thurs., $59.99-$149.99 MVP Experience, plus tax and fee, 5+. 702.792.7777