HERE LIES LOVE - Broadway Previews — Page 6

jkcohen626 said: "Robbie2 said: "What about her 3000 pairs of shoes? Does the show have a song-production about them?

Also, the seating capacity was reduced from 1761 to 1007 that's a lot less seats?"

I mean... yeah...

They took a 900-seat orchestra and turned it into a 300-space dance floor + 120-seats. They're also only selling half the Front Mezz and aren't selling a significant amount of the rear mezz."

Rear mezz seemed pretty crowded tonight…

Conrad, Jose, Arielle, and the DJ(Moses Villarama) are working their butts off. Especially the latter two who don’t seem to ever leave the performance area. I can’t wait to hear this one become a hit, because the crowd ate it up. I also can’t wait to hear how Lea is as Aurora, Reanne Acasio did a remarkable job tonight.

Updated On: 6/20/23 at 10:33 PM

Which is smart

Y’all. The Hype is real. I have never felt more exhilarated in a broadway theater…Arielle Jacobs is astonishing. Her voice is utterly outrageous & is such a force in the show. The inventiveness of both the design & direction is so massive in size, yet impactful and done in the simplest of ways. I hope that this show catches on because it more than deserves to run for a good while. Fingers crossed word of mouth spreads and helps this one become a hit! I will be returning asap.

Also, the Filipino representation aspect of this musical shouldn’t be seen as anything more than Filipinos being empowered to tell this story themselves. The Philippines is one of the most populous countries in the world and the Filipino diaspora is equally huge. Not all Filipinos had the same experience under the Marcos regime as others if they or their family were even in the Philippines during the regime. For example, Lea Salonga was born during the Marcos regime and was only 12 when Ninoy Aquino was assassinated and 15 when the Marcoses were deposed. It’s great that we have Filipinos telling this Filipino story, but we shouldn’t look at their participation as any endorsement or indictment of the Marcoses unless they individually comment on that point.

If anyone sees this through TDF, can you report back on seat locations? I bought the first week of July and it says we could be seated anywhere.

great performances and a great score. so many fresh hummable songs (with very weak, predictable lyrics at times). i agree wholeheartedly that Arielle Jacobs is doing a phenomenal job in a role that seems like alot of tough singing. Ricamora sounds incredible, too. I saw Jose Llana as Angel in RENT when I was in high school, and he has barely aged. Reanne Acasio's number was especially moving (and I'm surprised Lea Salonga will be coming in for such a small role? Acasio nailed it).

Lets assume for a second that the producers had no choice of theater, or got some huge discount to use the empty (and still criminally-named Broadway). Meaning in a world where this is the space they HAD to work with, kudos to the team for really reinventing the space. An impossible task done well. They use the stage, the "dance floor" and even the front of the Front Mezz to perfection. And I'm glad this is on Broadway because it Fil-Americans telling a Fil story and its different and new and I'm all for it, so great job.

BUT that doesnt mean we should pretend there is something fundamentally off here. This is a show so clearly meant to be enjoyed in a small space. Shoe-horning it into a more traditional space is a leap, but OK. But THEN using a theater thats rough on even a traditional Fiddler or West Side Story only strains things further. I was in the front of the Rear Mezz, and yes they use projections, and yes they move the action to the center of the room downstairs--they do everything they can!-- but I always felt like I was on the outside looking in.

This is made worse by the DJ's attempt to "get up on your feet and dance!!!!!" which interrupts the show 2-3 times. That dancing experience is probably alot of fun downstairs, but is awkward and actually annoying upstairs (in a 2/3 full mezzanine). I'd find it infantilizing and irritating in any event, i guess, but trying to drag the back of the barn into the action made it worse.

As for the book- I can see someone with a deeper knowledge/experience with Filipino history bothered by this, though the show very clearly comes down hard against the Marcos regime. Theres no ambiguity there at all. But the show is shockingly devoid of much insight into the Marcos' themselves.... Llana's role is tiny. Ricamora plays a more pivotal role and is given some nice moments but goes missing for large stretches.

And so its Jacobs as Imelda that is center stage the majority of the time but SO LITTLE is devoted to who she is/was, what motivated her. I kept waiting for some moment where shes exposed as a monster, or is given some exposition about how it all went wrong, but it never comes. She's cruel to her childhood friend. Shes callous. But she's never tied to the actually murderous regime she is semi-leading. We see a few scenes of her taking some pills along the way, which seemed like a half-assed, unspoken excuse for her greed? I dont know. I once again find myself disappointed for wanting more. And to be clear: Arielle Jacobs is great with what shes given here.

Since the music is so great and so loud, sit anywhere you want. But to really be IN it, you're gonna either want to be on that dance floor or in the front mezz, which seats are a pretty penny.

After seeing tonight's preview, I'm going to join the small group of dissenters who have mixed feelings about this show. I think there's a lot to like about it -- it's a fun show and a good time, and it's ambitious in what it tries to do. It's engaging and interactive -- the latter of which can't really be said about most Broadway shows. As a show and spectacle, I think it has the potential to be an unbelievably good experience.

But as a theatre piece, I found myself wanting more. I never saw the off-Broadway productions, so I don't know whether this would've worked better in a smaller, more intimate space. As a poster above said, I wanted more from the characters -- probably more than a 90-minute musical can afford.

Arielle Jacobs is terrific on vocals, but her heel turn as Imelda was too abrupt for me. If the idea behind the show is to have Imelda lull you into a sense of adoration, only to use that adoration against you as she furthers her brutal, autocratic, and kleptocratic conduct, I didn't get that from this show. And it's not Jacobs' fault -- as PipingHotPiccolo mentioned, we don't really dive into the why of Imelda, even though it's supposed to be a story about her (and the response to her).

Aquino only popped up when he was needed for exposition. I also wasn't sure why we were doing the same line dance for Aquino as we did for Imelda. The Order 1081 and Gate 37 sequences ran a little too long -- and some parts of those songs (among others) didn't really move the plot forward. I realize that's difficult to do with music like this, and I assume a lot of this will get tightened up during previews.

Perhaps the most concerning aspect of the show is the fact that it might be inaccessible to audience members who know nothing (or very little) about Imelda's story. I was with a friend who went in blind, knowing very little about Imelda Marcos (other than the name). He didn't understand the story, and found that it (1) moved too quickly, and (2) didn't dive deep enough for him to care. (And FWIW, the friend watches plenty of theatre, so the disconnect isn't due to theatre apathy.)

I think one change that they could make is for the audience interaction to go both ways -- not only to immerse people in Imelda's story, but also immerse people in the prelude to the People Power Revolution. There was some of that during the Just Ask Flowers sequence (and maybe elsewhere, too), but you need more immersion than just shuffling people around to and fro.

All that said, I'll go back to support the cast and see what changes get made. I don't know if there are ways to work out the shortcomings of the book, but if the powers that be figure it out, I think this could be a musical that does very well for a long time.

RippedMan said: "So he can’t possibly build a set … because he doesn’t have the same experiences as the characters? Huh?"

This one got me too. I think there is some truth to the idea that this show could have been stronger if a FIlipino was part of the writing team and/or if there was one directing or co-directing. But the set? Really? Isn't it supposed to be inspired by Studio 54? Any good designer can make a nightclub!

blaxx said: "The creative team is mostly white?

Why is it ok to try to legitimize a production with the cast when the creators are obviously white people? What do Timbers or Korins have to do with Philipinos? Nothing. It's all smoke and mirrors.

Don't try to sell this production as "authentic"."

As with most modern attempts at progressivism, there is a point buried under this self-righteousness, but "legitimize" is what kills me. This show is ILLEGITIMATE! Hilarious every time.

Looks like they've done a good job making the theatre feel at least a little more intimate, and the raised floor of the orchestra definitely helps a lot. All those pics are in landscape mode, too, which means it looks significantly closer in person.

Updated On: 6/25/23 at 12:07 PM

For those who have seen it, does the audience appear to be a fairly typical Broadway audience or is it skewing younger and/or more diverse?

While the responses in this thread have been largely positive I've noticed that the number of responses from those who have seen it are fewer for this first week than they were for, say, Some like It Hot, Shucked, New York, New York etc. which got me to wonder about the composition of the audience.

Updated On: 6/25/23 at 02:53 PM