Here Lies Love, the immersive musical created by David Byrne and DJ Fatboy Slim that follows the personal and political history of Filipino First Lady Imelda Marcos, officially opens April 19 at Seattle Repertory Theatre. Performances continue through May 28.
Here Lies Love premiered to acclaim Off-Broadway at the Public Theater in 2013. Set within a dance club atmosphere, the production had no traditional seating. Theatregoers stood and moved with the actors throughout the performance space for the duration of the show.
The entire creative team from the Public production has reunited in Seattle to test this new version of the show that will be able to play traditional proscenium spaces. Here Lies Love is being groomed for a high-profile return, including a potential Broadway run, should all go smoothly in Seattle.
View photos from the new staging below:
Conrad Ricamora and cast in Here Lies Love at Seattle Rep
Here Lies Love is directed by Tony nominee Alex Timbers (Peter and the Starcatcher), and has scenic design by David Korins (Hamilton), choreography by Annie-B Parson, costume design by Clint Ramos, lighting design by Justin Townsend, projection design by Peter Nigrini, and sound design by M. L. Dogg and Cody Spencer. Music direction is by Justine Levine, with music supervision by Kimberly Grigsby.
Several cast members from the Off-Broadway run star in the Seattle production, including Jaygee Macapugay in the role of Imelda, Conrad Ricamora as Aquino, and Melody Butiu as as Estrella.
“We loved the two runs [of Here Lies Love] in New York, but always wished more people could have seen it. Set designer David Korins had a completely outside-of-the-box idea a year ago about how to take the production at the Public Theater and fit it within a more traditional proscenium theatre—but without losing any of the exciting club experience or the immersive 360-degree staging surrounding the audience,” Timbers told Playbill in December when the news of the Seattle production first broke.
“If this is as successful at Seattle Rep as we anticipate it to be, then it will change the game in terms of where this production of the show can be produced and then anything is possible for the future of it.”
Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 charted a similar path to Broadway following its Off-Broadway premiere. The entire creative team reassembled at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, MA, to adapt the immersive production for a proscenium theatre prior to its acclaimed Broadway arrival.
Seattle Repertory Theatre's Bagley Wright Theatre is located at Seattle Center at the corner of Second Ave. and Mercer St., Seattle, Washington. For tickets, call the Seattle Repertory Theatre Box Office at (206) 443-2222, or go online at seattlerep.org
