The world-famous disco pop musical Here Lies Love, which is a retelling and dramatization of former First Lady Imelda Marcos' rise and fall, is finally coming to Broadway.
With a score by David Byrne and Fatboy Slim, it is set to debut at the Broadway Theatre in New York City. Tony-winning director Alex Timbers, choreographer Annie-B Parson, and Tony-winning designer and creative director Clint Ramos is part of the team that will produce the show.
Among the other Filipino co-producers include Miranda Gohh, Celia Kaleialoha Kenney, Rob Laqui, and G Töngi. Its creative team is also made up of the likes of Filipino music director J. Oconer Navarro, casting director Gail Quintos, assistant director Billy Bustamante, and stage manager Sheryl Polancos.
The musical will tackle subjects like the Marcos dictatorship, the First Lady's influence, and the couple's power and the subsequent exile of their family by the end of the '80s.
In an interview with Variety, producer Jose Antonio Vargas explained: “Filipinos are among the largest immigrant groups in America—and also among the most invisible culturally, despite the two nations’ shared colonial histories. While the Asian diaspora can no longer be denied in American popular culture, Filipinas and Filipinos remain woefully outside the spotlight. I’m thrilled to help break barriers on what has historically been an exclusive stage: Broadway.”
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Here Lies Love had first been introduced as a concept album back in 2010. Artists like Sia, Tori Amos, Florence Welch, Natalie Merchant, and Steve Earle, among others, had each contributed vocals. Byrne would replace a third of the music when the official cast album came out four years later.
"Although the emphasis is on contemporary beats, Here Lies Love has the proverbial bit of something for everybody — ingénue ballads, Elton John-style ’70s pop-disco, tropical love songs, angry soul stirrers, political rockers, folk protest tunes, tinges of techno, and pretty straightforward musical theater tunes," Variety wrote of the show's Seattle debut.
The musical's world debut was held at The Public Theater back in 2013. Since then, the critically acclaimed show had even returned to The Public from 2014 to 2015 and premiered at both the Royal National Theatre in London and the Seattle Repertory Theatre in America.
Here Lies Love preview performances will start on June 17. Meanwhile, the official opening night is set for July 20. A variety of seating (mostly standing) options will be made available to the public soon.
