David Byrne’s Next Broadway Show Will Be ‘Here Lies Love’: Although “American Utopia” by David Byrne has left Broadway, the Talking Heads frontman is planning a comeback with disco.
This summer, Byrne and Fatboy Slim intend to produce their musical “Here Lies Love,” which chronicles the life and times of Imelda Marcos, the former first lady of the Philippines.
It found out that the former beauty queen-turned-wife dictator’s loved to dance and frequently visited discos in the 1970s. She even turned the roof of one of her Manila palaces into a nightclub.
“I thought, ‘There’s the soundtrack,’” Byrne told The Associated Press in 2014.
The 90-minute play by Byrne, which follows Marcos’ path from poverty to wealth and exile, was performed off-Broadway in 2013 and in a number of other places, including London in 2014 and Seattle Repertory Theatre in 2017.
Before it was transformed into a full-fledged theater production with 360-degree staging, the project started as a concept CD that was played in a few live concerts, including one at Carnegie Hall in 2007.
This time, Timbers will be tasked with creating an immersive performance for the 1,763-seat Broadway Theatre. In a dance club setting, where viewers will stand and move with the players, he and choreographer Annie-B Parson “will change the venue’s traditional proscenium floor space.”
Imelda stars as a poor girl who becomes famous after winning a beauty pageant in the opening act of the upbeat, catchy musical. She married up-and-coming politician and soon-to-be president Ferdinand Marcos after a brief romance.
The 15 performers roam around the stage as the standing-only audience follows them. The lyrics are primarily derived from speeches or interviews from all sides during the Marcos era.
Before being forced into exile in Hawaii in 1986 as a result of a public uprising, the Marcoses controlled the Philippines from 1965 to 1986, the final 14 years of which were spent under martial law. This left the nation’s economy in dire straits due to massive debts. Imelda Marcos, at 93, has returned to her own country and entered politics since Ferdinand Marcos’ death in 1989. Philippines President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. is their son.
“I wanted you to understand a little bit what’s motivating Imelda, what’s driving her, what her delusions are, but also what her pain is, what she loves, so you understand what makes her do the things that she does,” Byrne said in 2014.
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Byrne, a pioneer of art-rock progressive music and the singer of the well-known song “This ain’t no party/This ain’t no disco,” claimed he had never been opposed to club music. In reality, he has been recorded by The O’Jays, The Spinners, and Donna Summer.
He claimed that by incorporating disco into “Here Lies Love,” he was able to honor that genre of music while also having the freedom to create songs for other people that he otherwise wouldn’t have. Please forward this to your friends if you find it interesting. Newswatchlist.com is the best place to find the latest and updated information about your favorite celebs.
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