A Disco Rave with Some Controversy: Here Lies Love

Here Lies Love finally comes to Broadway in June with a fully Filipino company.

Written by Alexandra Brigino
June 6, 2023

Ruthie Ann Miles as Imelda Marcos in Here Lies Love.

Celebrating the first-ever all-Filipino Broadway company, Here Lies Love marks a bittersweet milestone in its return to the stage on June 17.

The musical written by David Byrne and co-composed by Norman Quentin Cook, also known as Fatboy Slim, was initially released as a concept album in 2010 and adapted into a musical in 2013. It previously ran off-Broadway in 2013 at The Public, at the National Theatre in London in 2014, and Seattle Rep in 2017.

Receiving mixed reviews, the controversial disco-pop musical dives into a creative retelling of the rise and fall from power of the Marcos family from the perspective of the lavish Imelda Marcos, former First Lady and wife of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

Ruthie Ann Miles as Imelda Marcos performing “Dancing Together.”

Beginning with Imelda in her youth, the production dramatizes her supposed relationship with former senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, eventual marriage to Ferdinand Marcos (including the then President’s affair with American starlet Dovie Beams), extravagant lifestyle, and immersion into politics. It is told entirely from the viewpoint of the Marcos matriarch, in an attempt to give its own take on the controversies of the Marcoses and dark time in Philippine history during Martial Law.

The play will be headlined by an all-Filipino cast, which includes Arielle Jacobs as Imelda Marcos, Jose Llana as Ferdinand Marcos, and Conrad Ricamora as Ninoy Aquino. Other members of the company include Melody Butiu, Jaygee Macapugay, Julia Abueva, Aaron Alcaraz, Kristina Doucette, Jeigh Madjus, Geena Quintos, Shea Renne, Angelo Soriano, along with Moses Villarama, Jasmine Forsberg, Reanne Acasio, Renée Albulario, Carol Angeli, Nathan Angelo, Roy Flores, Timothy Matthew Flores, Sarah Kay, and Aaron "AJ" Mercado. The 23-member company will be joined by Lea Salonga as a guest in a limited engagement from July 11 to August 13. R&B singer H.E.R. is also on board as a member of the producing team.

Jose Llana as Ferdinand Marcos Sr. and Ruthie Ann Miles as Imelda Marcos in Here Lies Love.

David Byrne, the playwright and co-composer of the concept album and musical, staged the play in a disco–inspired by the fact that Imelda loved going to such places and dancing. The off-Broadway production encouraged the audience to stand up and dance amidst the dance club atmosphere. With the musical having nearly no dialogue, Byrne describes the experience as “euphoria that you feel in that world in a dance club and the euphoria that a person in power has.”

Here Lies Love captures the Filipino disco culture and aesthetic in the mid-20th century up to the 1980s, with colorful lights and costumes, a sparkling production, and beats of the musical score recalling the disco vibe in the local setting. The vintage fashion and set design changes throughout as the story progresses, featuring cultural and historical references that span four decades. Unafraid to come off as cheesy in its depiction, Byrne leans into “corny cliches” because of how it resonates with the characters and the real people they are depicting.

Conrad Ricamora performing as Ninoy Aquino in Here Lies Love.

An examination of the psyche of people in power, the musical highlights their origins, desires, and myth-making. Though Here Lies Love aims to explore the consequences of the abuse of power and to show nuanced layers in its characters, turning Imelda’s story into a disco musical may gloss over her complicity in the Marcos regime’s corruption, authoritarianism, and human rights abuses, as well as downplay her current role in Philippine politics as the mother of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Despite achieving Filipino representation on the international stage, the production could potentially skew public perception of historical events.

With its disco-infused production and all-Filipino cast, the musical aims to explore a dark era in Philippine history through the eyes of Imelda Marcos, who was half of what was considered a conjugal dictatorship. Is the musical too sympathetic to the former first lady? It will be up to audiences to decide for themselves.