HERE LIES LOVE - Broadway please?

[PiraguaGuy2]

Posted: 3/28/10 at 4:21pm

For any who don't already know, "Here Lies Love" is an album due out next week but already leaked produced by the Talking Heads' David Byrne and Fatboy Slim, which has been alternately described as a disco opera, a song cycle, and a concept album. The album roughly traces the life and times of the famous Filipino first lady Imelda Marcos, best known for her alleged 3000-pair collection of shoes and the fact that she and her husband spent lavishly while their country fell into abject poverty. Seeing as Marcos installed a disco ball in her palace and was an admitted fan of American disco, it's fitting that the album plays like a Studio 54 mix. But listen to the lyrics of the songs and you're taken from Imelda's poor upbringing to her exile from the Philippines in 1986.

Sound a lot like disco Evita? That's 'cause it is. But it's awesome. Each song has a different female vocalist, ranging from Florence and the Machine's Florence Welch to Tori Amos to Cyndi Lauper. I could easily see more parts and songs added, in preparation for a Broadway adaptation. Anyone else familiar with the album and see this happening? It seems like the ultimate goal in this case.

Give the opening track (which would ostensibly be a spectacular opening number) a listen.
David Byrne, Fatboy Slim and Florence Welch - Here Lies Love

[emg_sound]

Posted: 3/29/10 at 7:09pm

I remember hearing that Marianne Weems of the Builders Association was at one time associated to direct this. But frankly, this feels much less broadway and more St. Anns Warehouse fare.

This project was also originally conceived as a stage piece, with it's premier in Australia a couple of years back... you should look at David Byrne's website for a more comprehensive discussion of both his goals and intentions behind the piece. All that being said, I'd love to see this fully staged somewhere on this side of the Pacific!

[PiraguaGuy2]

Posted: 4/10/10 at 5:59pm

Album's out - bump?