David Byrne and Fatboy Slim musical ‘Here Lies Love’ to have Broadway debut

Here Lies Love, a musical about the life of Imelda Marcos by David Byrne and Fatboy Slim, is set to have its Broadway debut later this year. The disco-pop musical, staged like a concert with the audience standing as attendees at the fictional Club Millennium, tells the story of the former First Lady of the Philippines, whose husband, dictator Ferdinand Marcos, was removed as leader of state by the People Power Revolution in 1996. 

The musical was conceived in the mid-2000s as a series of music and multimedia works presented by Byrnes and Fatboy Slim at New York’s Carnegie Hall. Music from this performance was released as a concept album featuring guest vocals from a number of artists including Cyndi Lauper, Sia, and Florence Welch in 2010. The album was later adapted into a full stage production which debuted at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in 2012. Performances at New York’s Public Theatre and London’s National Theatre soon followed.

Here Lies Love’s Broadway run is produced by Hal Luftig, Patrick Catullo, Diana DiMenna, Clint Ramos, and Jose Antonio Vargas. In a joint statement, the producers said of the show, “as a team of binational American producers—Filipinos among us—we are thrilled to bring Here Lies Love to Broadway!” They continued, “We welcome everyone to experience this singularly exuberant piece of theatre. The history of the Philippines is inseparable from the history of the United States, and as both evolve, we cannot think of a more appropriate time to stage this show. See you on the dance floor!”

Listen to the title track from Here Lies Love performed by Florence Welch below.