HERE LIES LOVE closing November 26- Page 3

[SoCalDirector]

Posted: 11/7/23 at 4:40pm

When I saw Here Lies Love and notice the extensive renovations for the theater. I was thinking if this doesn’t last, this would be a great place to modify for Cabaret.

[JasonC3]

Posted: 11/7/23 at 4:40pm

For some, HLL's innovative and atmospheric staging probably was a real draw. For others, it may have been a deciding factor in not attending.

In general—there always will be exceptions—the more different or innovative something is, the greater the likelihood it will initially struggle to be embraced.

I had seen HLL downtown and felt no need to do a repeat visit for a production design that seemed to amplify theatrical elements that appeal to me less.  I'm sorry it did not gain sufficient traction with theatergoers for whom those elements might be of greater interest.

Updated On: 11/7/23 at 04:40 PM

[quizking101]

Posted: 11/7/23 at 4:44pm

HLPARTY only works through 11/20 (Monday).

All codes were cut off at the 19th for the most part long ago.

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 11/7/23 at 5:16pm

quizking101 said: "HLPARTY only works through 11/20 (Monday).

All codes were cut off at the 19th for the most part long ago."

I tried several codes, and every one was working for the final show long after the announcement. All the performances leading up to it were blacked out, but it was most definitely active for the 3 p.m. on 11/26, and it was offering $20ish-30ish discounts in the mezzanine. They don't work now, but that just happened within the last couple of hours

Updated On: 11/7/23 at 05:16 PM

[steve.sometime]

Posted: 11/7/23 at 5:43pm

The Distinctive Baritone said: "I honestly feel like audiences are straight up rejecting all of these attempts to make Broadway more diverse and have BIPOC stories told unless it's about Michael Jackson or has a movie star in it.A Strange Loop, For Colored Girls, Paradise Square, Ain't No Mo', Fat Ham...addHere Lies Loveto the list of shows that people just didn't show up for. Limited runs have done okay, but commercial productions have generally not done well financially."

Now I shudder for the future of Jason Robert Brown's Farewell, My Concubine musical. It's an epic story that needs expensive staging. How the hell is that going to sell if HLL can't last more than 6 months? 

[inception]

Posted: 11/7/23 at 7:56pm

It was the NY Marathon weekend, one of the busiest tourist weekends in the year. Probably the only weekend many travel to the city.  

The8re phan said: "Was just there another visit Saturday night --- when waiting outside pre-show for the doors to open, overheard the front of house staff say they were pleasantly shocked, that " for the fourth time this week, tonight's show is completely sold out". The floor was packed. I am shocked........ had hopefully thought this was finally getting legs.......



Sadly just bought floor tickets for the final performance "

 

[B212323]

Posted: 11/7/23 at 8:12pm

inception said: "It was the NY Marathon weekend, one of the busiest tourist weekends in the year. Probably the only weekend many travel to the city.

The8re phan said: "Was just there another visit Saturday night --- when waiting outside pre-show for the doors to open, overheard the front of house staff say they were pleasantly shocked, that " for the fourth time this week, tonight's show is completely sold out". The floor was packed. I am shocked........ had hopefully thought this was finally getting legs.......
 

 


Sadly just bought floor tickets for the final performance "

"I was also at a performance this weekend but it wasn't sold out - there were several empty seats in my section (including 3 next to me) but the floor did look packed. 
 

 

[TheQuibbler]

Posted: 11/7/23 at 8:24pm

The Distinctive Baritone said: "rattleNwoolypenguin said: "Well you make the world of broadway only financially viable to the wealthy upper class white ticket buyer as the primary audience member, then you are suddenly only catering to them every time and you run the risk they are gonna decide that they can't immediately relate to it and not put their money towards it.

Broadway said "let's be more diverse" but then changed nothing about how expensive broadway is at all. That's what's so gross. And then they want to blame the shows flopping on "there just wasn't an audience"

True, but although I’m not an economist. I don’t think there are any simple ways to make Broadway tickets less expensive outside of student rush and things like that.

I also don’t think it’s prudent to always assume potential BIPOC ticketbuyers are poor or can’t afford Broadway prices. If half of all adult, middle class, Asian Americans in the tri-state area had bought tickets to Here Lies Love, it would be sold out for like, three years. There just wasn’t enough interest.

There’s also no avoiding the fact that some non-White cultures are generally less inclined to attend the theatre or enjoy certain kinds of plays, and it is going to take a long time for the American Theatre to shake off its reputation as “a White people thing.” The We See You White American Theatre movement was led by BIPOC artists who wanted more jobs, not ticketbuyers. It seems that Broadway and regional theatres have been saying, "Hey! Here are more shows about brown people! You're welcome!" and the general response from a lot of BIPOC Americans is "Um, thanks, but we never actually asked for that."

 

You have to also wonder if these audiences are being effectively targeted. You have to “train” people, in a way, to go to the theater and if these audiences haven’t historically been engaged, why would seeing a Broadway show even be on their radar? I don’t really know the answer to this but can’t help but think this is part of it. 

[Rainah]

Posted: 11/7/23 at 8:44pm

The Distinctive Baritone said: "I honestly feel like audiences are straight up rejecting all of these attempts to make Broadway more diverse and have BIPOC stories told unless it's about Michael Jackson or has a movie star in it.A Strange Loop, For Colored Girls, Paradise Square, Ain't No Mo', Fat Ham...addHere Lies Loveto the list of shows that people just didn't show up for. Limited runs have done okay, but commercial productions have generally not done well financially."

I think it's more complicated than that. Right now the primary audience of broadway in general is white, wealthy, etc. Many shows market towards them, because they're the audience that's already 'plugged in' to the show.

Then you have a show that wants to appeal to a diverse audience, such as HLL targeting Filipino audiences. But you've got an uphill battle, because those communities aren't plugged in to broadway (broadly, there are exceptions). A lot of ticket buying is habit/routine, that's why the loss of subscribers is such a big deal in regional theatres. Filipino audiences aren't generally in the habit of seeing broadway, so first you have to reach them, then convince them.

I remember seeing some stats saying HLL WAS reaching significantly higher Filipino audiences. But it wasn't enough, and they risk alienating that core wealthy white audience if they go too hard. Unfortunately, shows do better when they can appeal to minority audiences AND wealthy white straight audiences too.

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 11/7/23 at 8:44pm

That song where she says “Why don’t you love me” over and over was the self-fulfilling prophecy with this one. 

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 11/7/23 at 8:52pm

I'm so sad the bold and brilliant ''Here Lies Love'' is closing, but I'm also so glad I got to see it multiple times on Broadway and Off-Broadway.

Bravo to the brave producers and everyone onstage and off who brought something so original and unique to the Great White Way.

It will always be one of my favorite all-time musicals, thanks to its thrilling theatricality, amazing music and dazzling design.

As an Asian-American, I'm especially proud it showcased a sexy and stellar, all-Filipino cast, led by Arielle Jacobs, Jose Llana and Conrad Ricamora.

When it closes Nov. 26, it'll have racked up 149 performances, alas, shy of the 193 that was posted by another one-of-a-kind, all-Asian musical: ''Pacific Overtures.''

Like ''Pacific Overtures,'' ''Here Lies Love'' will be a special and historic show fondly remembered by its most fervent fans (and, I hope, by Tony nominators in May 2024).

Updated On: 11/7/23 at 08:52 PM

[DrMonicaDeMoneco]

Posted: 11/7/23 at 9:48pm

Wayman_Wong said: "I'm so sad the bold and brilliant ''Here Lies Love'' is closing, but I'm also so glad I got to see it multiple times on Broadway and Off-Broadway.

Bravo to the brave producers and everyone onstage and off who brought something so original and unique to the Great White Way.

It will always be one of my favorite all-time musicals, thanks to its thrilling theatricality, amazing music and dazzling design.

As an Asian-American, I'm especially proud it showcased a sexy and stellar, all-Filipino cast, led by Arielle Jacobs, Jose Llana and Conrad Ricamora.

When it closes Nov. 26, it'll have racked up 149 performances, alas, shy of the 193 that was posted by another one-of-a-kind, all-Asian musical: ''Pacific Overtures.''

Like ''Pacific Overtures,'' ''Here Lies Love'' will be a special and historic show fondly remembered by its most fervent fans (and, I hope, by Tony nominators in May 2024)."

Bravo to the producers...???  you mean the producers that didn't produce this show to what it could have been and should have been?  The producers DROPPED the ball MAJORLY.  

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 11/8/23 at 12:42am

i dont know if this ever belonged in a big bway house but lets give kudos to the producers throwing money at new, innovative art, even if not executed perfectly, and lets hope Arielle Jacobs and Jose Llana are remembered fondly come awards season.

[dangeresque49]

Posted: 11/8/23 at 12:55am

I think this show for serious Broadway fans will be remembered as a great production and a missed opportunity for those who could not see it and frankly one of the big time wish I was there shows due to the inability or anyone to dump so much money into a production of this show and reconfigure a venue like this. 

I can not help but imagine a show running in a non local market about the say the trump family or any corrupt ruling family with access to billions in resources and propaganda networks supporting them.

There is a lot of talk about blaming the success of this show on the show marketing, and that may be true in part about not being direct about the shows message, but what if conservative propaganda networks took that Marcos disco footage and used it to sell everyone that this show is just letting the Marcos family off easy or celebrates them so you better not see it. Some people on this forum probably do not realize how much these kind of things happen. I was directly undersold on this due to mixed messaging on Broadway boards that was bull****.

I have seen people on here and other places very confused about the idea this made the marcos look good. The whole party atmosphere was made to mock them. 

[Theatrefan2]

Posted: 11/8/23 at 2:44am

Personally Here Lies Love appealed in terms of story, but the staging/immersive nature just put me off.

[Dancingthrulife2]

Posted: 11/8/23 at 3:18am

The production is an interesting experiment to see how people are flamed and instigated by political propaganda/mobilization in action, especially if you are on the dance floor. This experience, however, is abrogated with the constant instructions from the staff that interrupt the spontaneity and a shoehorned in ending that, beautiful as it is, imposes on its audience a specific view, which breaks the pathos of the experimentation.  

[Kad]

Posted: 11/8/23 at 7:03am

This production never once had the buzz and the must-see energy that it did a decade ago at the Public. I truly think this was a foolhardy attempt to capture old lightning in a bottle, and the producers didn’t seem to understand they were essentially starting back at square one and couldn’t count on people being just as excited as they were in 2013. The show largely dropped out of the public consciousness. 

It also didn’t help that the spat with the musicians union overshadowed the weeks leading up to their first performances. They could have recovered from that but never seemed to regain momentum. 
 

I don’t know that opening at a different time of year would’ve mattered at all. Doing it like this was always going to be a bad bet. 

Updated On: 11/8/23 at 07:03 AM

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 11/8/23 at 11:30am

Even under more ideal conditions, like opening in the spring or playing a smaller theater, ''Here Lies Love'' was always going to be a tough sell: No stars; no name recognition, and ultimately no general interest in the story of the Marcoses. Even if it had rave reviews. Even if it had music by David Byrne. It couldn't count on the acclaim and buzz it got from a decade ago. For those who complain about jukebox musicals or the latest stage adaptation of a hit movie, this was a unique, original musical they could've supported, but I got the sense that many of them didn't even try to see it. 

I also have to point out that Broadway musicals with all-Asian casts don't last long on the Great White Way: ''Pacific Overtures'' (1976), 193 performances; ''Flower Drum Song'' revival (2002), 169 performances; ''Pacific Overtures'' revival (2004), 69 performances; ''KPOP" (2022), 17 performances. And now, ''Here Lies Love,'' 149 performances.

On the other hand, the two longest-running musicals with largely Asian casts (that come to my mind) might be: ''The King and I'' and ''Miss Saigon.'' Did it help that each of them had Caucasian co-leads: Anna in ''The King and I'' and Chris in ''Miss Saigon''? ... Sadly, I fear what happened to ''Here Lies Love'' will make it that much harder to finance the next all-Asian musical. Still, for diversity's sake, I'm proud it was on Broadway; even if its run was fleeting, I'll never forget it.

Updated On: 11/8/23 at 11:30 AM

[GiantsInTheSky2]

Posted: 11/8/23 at 12:01pm

I really am having a hard time understanding why certain shows (especially as of late) have their eyes set on Broadway. Why did we think The Shark Is Broken, Melissa Etheridge, and this all expected to be successful here? They all could have been off-Broadway runs (personally disagree on Etheridge, who should have been a TV special or touring show) like Little Shop of Horrors and with better chances of ROI. Aiming for sales at the speed and price they needed to survive makes about as much sense as Sleep No More reopening the Palace. Completely counterintuitive and sadly the history/future of these shows are now impacted. 

Here Lies Love could have saved themselves a hell of a lot of money finding a different space off-Broadway and been just as great, if not better. 

[Intotheblue]

Posted: 11/8/23 at 12:52pm

Timing is everything. Unfortunately, waiting 10 years to bring it in AND opening in the summer were it’s biggest downfall. 

[sinister teashop]

Posted: 11/8/23 at 12:54pm

GiantsInTheSky2 said: "I really am having a hard time understanding why certain shows (especially as of late) have their eyes set on Broadway. Why did we think The Shark Is Broken, Melissa Etheridge, and this all expected to be successful here? They all could have been off-Broadway runs...

Really? Where? There are very few commercial Off Broadway theaters left that can accommodate open end runs.

The nyc theater model of the past three decades has been to pour money into Broadway theaters and to nonprofits that are essentially repertory houses that aren't made for open end runs. It wasn't a perfect model but it kept the wrecking ball and the condo developers away from Broadway and nonprofit theater buildings.

What got killed is the commercial Off Broadway house. There was little economic incentive for keeping them intact or refurbishing them. The present precarious state of The Orpheum is a good example. 

 

Updated On: 11/8/23 at 12:54 PM

[Broadway Flash]

Posted: 11/8/23 at 1:56pm

Does anyone think this will extend til January if sales pick up?

[quizking101]

Posted: 11/8/23 at 3:26pm

Broadway Flash said: "Does anyone think this will extend til January if sales pick up?"

It’s highly unlikely. When I talked to some cast last night, they said they had already been told and have known for a few weeks that the day was coming, but weren’t 100% locked in on the date. Many of them have already worked through their initial dismay and are very much in a “rally the troops” full out party mode for the last three weeks - calling it their “Farewell Tour”.

[ashley0139]

Posted: 11/8/23 at 10:09pm

I'm very sad this is closing. I absolutely loved seeing such an original musical and concept on Broadway. I'm not Filipino and found the premise very interesting and I learned a lot. I would see it again if there were time.

I thought Arielle was spectacular as well.

[Broadway Flash]

Posted: 11/9/23 at 1:24am

Why did they wait so long to come to broadway anyway?