‘Here Lies Love’ Review: David Byrne and Fatboy Slim’s Musical About Imelda Marcos Sacrifices Substance for Style
variety.comNaveen Kumar Imelda Marcos demands to know, near the end of “Here Lies Love,” why we don’t love her. The unlikely belle of this propulsive and glittering ball, from musicians David Byrne and Fatboy Slim, is perched in the front mezzanine of the radically transformed Broadway Theatre, where the immersive musical opened on Thursday night.
The answer to her question seems all too obvious. In the world of “Here Lies Love” — a title that refers to the convicted former first lady’s desired epitaph — Marcos is addressing the Filipino people, over whom she ruled alongside president-turned-dictator Ferdinand Marcos until they were airlifted out of the country in 1986, after two decades of corruption, scandal and human rights abuses.
To the show’s American audiences, many of whom may be learning of the Marcos’ regime for the first time, the character of Imelda (played by Arielle Jacobs) is not a power-hungry, multidimensional world leader.
She is rather a high-gloss glamazon in a vibrant, infectious and surface-skimming summation of Philippine history — one that distracts from disturbing details with seductive beats and eye-popping dazzle.
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