HERE LIES LOVE Reviews

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 7/20/23 at 3:05pm

[uncageg]

Posted: 7/20/23 at 8:23pm

Positive from Theatermania.

 

https://www.theatermania.com/news/review-david-byrne-and-fatboy-slims-here-lies-love-is-the-party-to-end-all-parties_1708759/?fbclid=IwAR0km4zyHY-AP_fmxAhBNPmnlOskRs5ucHl2-LWZXuLv6M3MAymzJ412dYQ

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 7/20/23 at 8:49pm

Four stars from TimeOut:

Broadway gets a stunning makeover in David Byrne's disco biomusical.

https://www.timeout.com/newyork/theater/here-lies-love-musical-broadway-review-imelda-marcos-david-byrne

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 7/20/23 at 9:01pm

Two four-star reviews from NY Stage Review:

https://nystagereview.com/2023/07/20/here-lies-love-its-a-vibe/

https://nystagereview.com/2023/07/20/here-lies-love-innovatively-immersive-musical-retains-disco-sheen-mostly/

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 7/20/23 at 9:02pm

NYT/Green is mixed:

Review: Dancing With Dictators in David Byrne’s ‘Here Lies Love’

A new Broadway musical tells the disturbing story of Imelda Marcos by putting her, and the audience, in a disco.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/20/theater/here-lies-love-review-david-byrne.html

 

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 7/20/23 at 9:03pm

Deadline is mixed to positive (or positive to mixed?):

‘Here Lies Love’ Broadway Review: Don’t Cry For Imelda When David Byrne & Fatboy Slim Provide The Music

https://deadline.com/2023/07/here-lies-love-broadway-review-deadline-david-byrne-fatboy-slim-1235438965/

" Here Lies Love offers only a half-hearted stab at bridging the two chronological extremes of Imelda’s life, with little attempt at explaining the making of this particular political monster. Perhaps that’s why Here Lies Love, for all its impressive confidence, feels a bit thin in afterthought. Maybe a musical needs a central character who can sing “Why Don’t You Love Me?” without it coming off like an anthem to cluelessness."

Updated On: 7/20/23 at 09:03 PM

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 7/20/23 at 9:05pm

Theatrely is positive

 

HERE LIES LOVE Still Shines and Shimmies — Review

https://www.theatrely.com/post/here-lies-love-still-shines-and-shimmies-review

"Despite Imelda’s glossy facade, Here Lies Love does not rest on its surfaces. Though, with Alex Timbers’ immersive, dynamic direction, Annie-B Parson’s kinetic choreography, Clint Ramos’ specific, dance-ready costumes, and Justin Townsend’s lighting, it easily could. But Byrne’s concept, impeccably executed through his lyrics, and the music he co-wrote with Fatboy Slim, is a digestible, hip-shaking challenge. With most of its lyrics lifted directly from actual words spoken by its subjects, it asks us to keep a critical eye, even as we’re bombarded with feel-good slogans and unchecked vanities, made doubly dangerous by the Studio 54 beats underneath. It asks us to embody the ambition, mendacity, and ruthlessness we carry with us, even when we think we’ve danced them off, and question our complicity. After the non-stop party, the show’s sobering end reminds us that dancing can be as inattentive as it is cathartic."

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 7/20/23 at 9:06pm

The Daily Beast is negative:

Review: David Byrne’s ‘Here Lies Love’ Is a Weird Dictatorship Song and Dance

 

PAST CRIMES

There is nothing feelgood about the rule of Imelda and Ferdinand Marcos. Yet “Here Lies Love” tries, and fails, to find it.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/review-david-byrnes-here-lies-love-is-a-weird-dictatorship-song-and-dance

"Here Lies Love doesn’t just trivialize dictatorship and real-life horror—especially egregious given the political period we are living in—it is also yawns arrogantly and lazily at history. Yes, the show looks and sounds distinctive. Yes, it’s admirable to try something new in a Broadway theatre to engage a wide audience, but not at the expense at minimizing gravely consequential politics. There is really nothing to sing and dance about here. Here Lies Love ends up feeling almost magnificently grotesque."

[chanel]

Posted: 7/20/23 at 9:07pm

Bigger and becomes somewhat relentless, but great visuals and cast.

https://chelseacommunitynews.com/2023/07/20/review-immersive-imelda-show-here-lies-love-is-bigger-than-ever/

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 7/20/23 at 9:08pm

Vulture is positive:

Here Lives Love Is an Unsettlingly Good Time

https://www.vulture.com/2023/07/theater-review-here-lies-love-marcos-byrne-fatboy-slim-broadway.html

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 7/20/23 at 9:10pm

The Wrap praises the direction and little else:

‘Here Lies Love’ Broadway Review: David Byrne and Fatboy Slim Roast Imelda Marcos

But the real star of this flashy musical is director Alex Timbers

https://www.thewrap.com/here-lies-love-broadway-review-david-byrne-musical/

"The score is tuneful in a generic jingly-jangly sort of way, which ultimately becomes tiresome in its extreme repetition over 90 minutes. The life story of these two Filipino dictators is handled with efficiency, if not much finesse. "

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 7/20/23 at 9:12pm

Chicago Tribune/NY Daily News is positive:

Review: Philippine first lady Imelda Marcos is focus of artfully inventive ‘Here Lies Love’ on Broadway

https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/theater/broadway/ct-ent-broadway-here-lies-love-20230721-gdvwukmworgjjexzhh25zgpmdu-story.html

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 7/20/23 at 9:17pm

Washington Post is mostly positive:

Don’t throw a shoe: David Byrne’s ‘Here Lies Love’ gives Imelda sizzle

The pop opera about Imelda and Ferdinand Marcos marks its official opening night in a Broadway theater converted into a lavish disco

https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/theater/2023/07/20/david-byrne-imelda-marcos-love/

"The show’s reductive politics — clarified to some degree by the song of revolution, sung by Moses Villarama, that ends the production — is one of its least compelling attributes. Indeed, as it spends a lot of time compassionately examining the roots of Imelda’s vaulting ambitions, the musical could have been subtitled “The Seduction of Imelda Marcos.”

The show’s own ambition, though, is to find a hot, modern beat for heated political events, the way Webber and Tim Rice accomplished in their sung-through “Jesus Christ Superstar” and Lin-Manuel Miranda did for “Hamilton.” And Timbers, a Tony winner for the splashy ministrations of “Moulin Rouge!,” knows how to keep things moving."

[jkcohen626]

Posted: 7/20/23 at 9:20pm

MemorableUserName said: "NYT/Green is mixed:

Review: Dancing With Dictators in David Byrne’s ‘Here Lies Love’

 

 

A new Broadway musical tells the disturbing story of Imelda Marcos by putting her, and the audience, in a disco.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/20/theater/here-lies-love-review-david-byrne.html"

 

 

He was mixed at the Public too (or at least had reservations). I think he's soured on it at least a bit since then though. 

https://www.vulture.com/2013/04/theater-review-here-lies-love.html

[verywellthensigh]

Posted: 7/20/23 at 9:20pm

Was there any doubt that Jesse Green would use this as an opportunity to have one of his moral crises? 

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 7/20/23 at 9:21pm

WSJ is positive:

‘Here Lies Love’ Review: David Byrne’s Dictator Disco Party

https://www.wsj.com/articles/here-lies-love-review-david-byrnes-dictator-disco-party-a84cc46d

"the show, first seen off-Broadway 10 years ago, is a disarmingly winning hybrid of disco dance party—replete with a massive mirrored ball hovering over the proceedings—and documentary drama.

...

What may be most remarkable about “Here Lies Love” is how deftly it pivots from the celebratory and even sentimental presentation of Imelda’s rise to the inevitably condemnatory, as we witness the assassination of Aquino at the airport upon his return from exile. Lea Salonga, her luminous voice in remarkable form more than 30 years after “Miss Saigon,” plays Aquino’s mother presiding over his funeral (although Ms. Salonga is performing only through Aug. 13)."

 

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 7/20/23 at 9:34pm

Three stars from NY Post:

https://nypost.com/2023/07/20/here-lies-love-review-david-byrne-musical-hits-broadway/

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 7/20/23 at 9:43pm

DTLI Consensus: Even if it has lost a bit of its scrappy downtown charm, Here Lies Love gives Broadway its first all-Filipino cast and provides audiences with the party of a lifetime.

7 positive, 4 mixed (including the NYT), 1 negative. 

https://didtheylikeit.com/shows/here-lies-love-bway/

Updated On: 7/20/23 at 09:43 PM

[quizking101]

Posted: 7/20/23 at 10:27pm

MemorableUserName said: "Three stars from NY Post:

https://nypost.com/2023/07/20/here-lies-love-review-david-byrne-musical-hits-broadway/"

The fact that Johnny O literally had ANYTHING positive to say about ANY show means that this show is good, because anyone who reads his column can surmise that he pretty much hates everything.

[jkcohen626]

Posted: 7/20/23 at 10:44pm

EDSOSLO858 said: "DTLI Consensus:Even if it has lost a bit of its scrappy downtown charm,Here Lies Lovegives Broadway its first all-Filipino cast and provides audiences with the party of a lifetime.

7 positive, 4 mixed (including the NYT), 1 negative.

https://didtheylikeit.com/shows/here-lies-love-bway/"

BroadwayWorld's review judger disagrees with DTLI's on the classifications for The Wrap and Deadline (both mixed on DTLI and positive on BwayWorld). I'd agree with DTLI on The Wrap, but I think Deadline is a bit harder to parse. It's very positive all throughout and then turns on it in the last paragraph. I suppose it should be mixed, but it really feels like it's 90% rave, 10% pan rather than being actually mixed. 

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Review-Roundup-Immersive-HERE-LIES-LOVE-Opens-On-Broadway-20230720 

[bwaylyric]

Posted: 7/20/23 at 10:53pm

“the most entertaining new show on Broadway right now.” WABC

https://abc7ny.com/here-lies-love-broadway-filipino-case-fililpino-crew/13525892/

[pethian]

Posted: 7/20/23 at 11:07pm

verywellthensigh said: "Was there any doubt that Jesse Green would use this as an opportunity to have one of his moral crises?"

In fairness, the HLL thread on this very forum demonstrates he was not alone in that regard.

[Intercessions]

Posted: 7/20/23 at 11:59pm

You guys talking about reviews and the future of the show. But have you seen Imelda Marcos recently? Click on the link: (9) Photo opportunity with the First Family - YouTube @ 2:25. Looks like Here Lies Love has a Part 2. 

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 7/21/23 at 3:07am

Were any of the outlets able to send a Filipino reviewer to see the show? 

[BETTY22]

Posted: 7/21/23 at 7:14am

I loved this show downtown but so much has happened in the last 10 years.

Post Trump, it was no longer fun to clap and dance with dictators. 

This NYT review is so smart.