Fatboy Slim’s Broadway musical, Here Lies Love, “turns the theatre into a dance floor”
He’s come a long, long way, baby…
Love Lies Here & Getty / Don Arnold
First, we had Damon Albarn scoring an opera. Now, we have Fatboy Slim providing music for a disco-themed Broadway musical. Here Lies Love, scored in collaboration with David Byrne, made its debut in New York on Thursday.
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The immersive musical, set in a neon-clad nightclub, follows the life of Imelda Marcos, the ex-first lady of the Philippines. The story focuses on the People Power Revolution that led to the removal of her and her husband, dictator Ferdinand Marcos, from power in 1986.
Developed and directed by Alex Timbers, with choreography by Annie-B Parson, Here Lies Love was first written in the mid-2000s. Byrne and Fatboy Slim, real name Norman Cook, then released a concept album soundtracking the story in 2010.
Since then, the show evolved into a complete theatre production, with successful runs taking place at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in 2012, New York’s Public Theater in 2013, London’s National Theater in 2014, and the Seattle Repertory Theater in 2017. This is the first time the musical has been taken to Broadway. Byrne and Cook posed about the show on Instagram, which you can see below:
The show has been a hit among critics. In a four-star review of the show by The Guardian, theatre review Lauren Mechling describes the production as a ”roof-raising musical presented as interactive disco”, writing: “the audience was all too ready to dance off against a modern-day Marie Antoinette.”
When not scoring Broadway musicals with David Byrne, Fatboy Slim is performing expectedly fun stage shows, like the one we witnessed at Glastonbury 2023. However, in a not-so-expected revelation, the Rockafeller Skank star recently told a podcast host about the time he learned to play the violin with Labour leader, Kier Starmer.
The musical runs until September. Find out more information about Here Lies Love and book tickets via herelieslovebroadway.com.
