David Byrne's Imelda Marcos musical 'Here Lies Love" gets a thoughtful makeover at the Taper

Imelda Marcos’ fetish for fiendishly costly shoes was a moving gag successful the 1980s. But did you cognize that she was besides thing of a disco queen?

The representation of a jet-setting Marcos successful her Beltrami pumps boogieing with arms dealers astatine fashionable New York nightspots is 1 of the inspirations of David Byrne’s philharmonic astir the notorious erstwhile archetypal woman of the Philippines, who sang connected the run way for her husband, Ferdinand E. Marcos, and ruled with an robust fist alongside him aft helium declared martial instrumentality and plunged his federation into a brutal dictatorship.

“Here Lies Loves,” which is having its Los Angeles premiere astatine the Mark Taper Forum, traces the governmental powerfulness couple’s emergence and autumn done a bid of creation cuts that seizure the irrational clasp charismatic leaders tin person connected a nationalist — astatine slightest portion the euphony is blasting.

Byrne, the ingenious Talking Heads co-founder, conceived the amusement and wrote the euphony and lyrics. Fatboy Slim, a Grammy Award-winning DJ, instrumentalist and grounds producer, contributed to the music. The score, a premix of lush disco and synth popular with hints of land breezes and karaoke camp, brings a club-like vigor to the stage.

Aura Mayari and the institution of “Here Lies Love” astatine the Mark Taper Forum.

(Jeff Lorch)

I archetypal saw “Here Lies Love” astatine New York’s Public Theater successful 2013, erstwhile the production, directed by Alex Timbers, was staged arsenic an immersive creation party. Audience members moved on a shifting creation level arsenic the emotion communicative betwixt Imelda, a quality queen from the provinces, and Ferdinand, an ambitious Senator accustomed to getting what helium wants, sourly played retired amid the backdrop of a traumatic nationalist story.

This sung-through philharmonic pulled disconnected thing of a coup of its own. As Ferdinand, present president and philandering husband, and Imelda, his embittered woman dripping successful compensatory luxury, enactment up their “conjugal dictatorship,” theatergoers discovered that, portion partying to the seductive beat, a governmental dystopia was solidifying astir them.

Imagine if, successful “Evita,” audiences members were invited to sing backmost up connected the balcony arsenic Eva Perón belts retired “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina,” accompanying her successful her past manipulative hurrah. “Here Lies Love” seemed to privation its assemblage to permission with an aftertaste of cognitive dissonance.

Audiences don’t usually similar being duped. But voters request to beryllium continually reminded that erstwhile they spell to furniture with a strongman, they’ll apt aftermath up without healthcare oregon voting rights.

“Here Lies Love” astatine the Taper doesn’t travel the Public Theater’s staging oregon the likewise immersive Broadway accumulation by Timbers that followed successful 2023. It’s a much straightforward presumption that keeps assemblage members successful their seats, but for a infinitesimal erstwhile uprising is successful the aerial and a fewer theatergoers are conscripted to articulation the ecstatic rebellion.

Jeff Lorenz Garrido, from left, Joshua Dela Cruz, and Garrick Goce Macatangay successful “Here Lies Love” astatine the Mark Taper Forum.

(Jeff Lorch)

Snehal Desai’s absorption is politically clear-eyed and scrupulous. Corruption, authoritarianism and censorship, arsenic we’re learning firsthand, ungraded aft Constitutional scandal, are nary laughing matter. The question is whether “Here Lies Love” tin carnivore the scrutiny of a much accepted musical.

There’s not a accepted libretto, truthful the communicative is transmitted mostly done opus lyrics. But stump speeches, rallying cries
and the theatrical guidance of Imeldific (Aura Mayari, alum of play 15 of “RuPaul’s Drag Race”) assistance soma retired the chronicle.

This emcee figure, a Taper innovation, replaces the DJ relation of erstwhile productions and establishes the show’s metatheatrical frame. The opening number, “American Troglodyte,” underscores the American imperial relation successful the communicative and provides Imdeldific with a satiric banner that doesn’t fto a smiling superpower disconnected the hook.

William Carlos Angulo’s choreography is unfailingly kinetic, but participating successful a enactment is much energizing than watching 1 astatine a remove. Yet the governmental lawsuit of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos, a communicative of personage and tyranny marching successful lockstep, speaks truthful straight to our ain clip that I recovered myself gripped by the entity acquisition of this nationalist saga, adjacent if it’s not ever casual to link each the fragments, ne'er caput separate betwixt hard information and fictional license.

I was peculiarly fascinated by the portrayal of Imelda (Reanne Acasio), whose governmental quality seems to beryllium shaped by idiosyncratic disappointments and run-of-the-mill humiliations. Imelda is wounded not lone by the philandering of Ferdinand (Chris Renfro) but by an adjacent much achy wounded inflicted by her archetypal love, Ninoy Aquino (Joshua Dela Cruz), a person determined to go the dependable of his people.

Ninoy recognizes an indispensable incompatibility betwixt them. Imelda lives for emotion portion helium has governmental enactment to do. He bids her adieu successful the opus “Opposite Attraction,” though destiny volition bring them unneurotic aft Imelda and her hubby summation powerfulness and Ninoy, arsenic the starring absorption figure, becomes their captive and eventual unfortunate of the chaos unleashed by their regime.

Joan Almedilla and the institution of “Here Lies Love” astatine the Mark Taper Forum.

(Jeff Lorch)

Unfolding nether the theatrical auspices of Imeldific, “Here Lies Love” retells the past of the Marcos years arsenic a philharmonic pageant. Imelda’s transformation, from shy, lowly state miss to “Iron Butterfly,” covering up her shame with jewelry from Tiffany and revealing a volition each spot arsenic hard arsenic the diamonds she flaunts, is presented with euphony truthful catchy and compulsive that it has the unit of humanities inevitability

The grooves supplied by Byrne and Slim instrumentality not conscionable the characters but the assemblage connected a thrust done a brutal anti-democratic period. Does the disco spectacle aesthetic dainty this past excessively lightly?

The accumulation seems wary of this criticism. A programme enactment from dramaturg Ely Sonny Orquiza, attuned to the sensitivities of the ample Filipino diaspora successful Los Angeles, notes that the production, “featuring an all-Filipino formed and majority-AAPI originative team, is not intended arsenic a definitive oregon broad history, but arsenic an introduction constituent for dialog and inquiry.”

The standard of harm perpetrated by the authorities is inactive being collectively processed. One victim, Estrella Cumpas (Carol Angeli), makes the mistake of confronting Imelda, a puerility friend, and is taken into custody. She volition person to basal successful for thousands of others.

The plan strategy surely doesn’t privation to spoil anyone’s bully time. Arnel Sancianco’s sets, Marcella Barbeau’s lighting and the much glittering of Jaymee Ngernwichit’s costumes look to spot america successful a retro Euro-style disco world, wherever amusive is typically a relation of the spot of the cocktails consumed.

But there’s a countermovement successful the show, the People Power Revolution that gains momentum aft the assassination of Nimoy. The ceremonial code of his parent (Joan Almedilla) is turned into the galvanizing protestation song, “Just Ask the Flowers,” successful which thing arsenic basal arsenic maternal emotion wakes the state to the madness astir them. Desai, whose directorial enactment astatine the Taper frankincense acold has brought unneurotic rave and rebellion, smoothly merges the Dionysian frenzy of the euphony with the nonviolent gyration that ended Ferdinand Marcos’ protracted dictatorship successful 1986.

Della Cruz’s stirring Ninoy lasting gangly against the patriarchal savagery of Renfro’s Ferdinand and the petty vindictiveness of Acasio’s well-drawn Imelda is simply a almighty telephone to action. Byrne and Slim’s people insists that not adjacent decease tin halt the bushed of this antiauthoritarian spirit.

The accumulation points retired astatine the extremity that different Marcos, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., Ferdinand and Imelda’s son, is present president. Perhaps the show’s last fig tin shed light: “God draws straight, but with crooked lines.”