Ok so I’ll admit it, I was wrong; there is now a show that I
adore on the same level of American Idiot. I know I don't usually review shows on here but this show is just so DAMN EPIC, and many won't have the chance to see it, and let's face the truth I can't get it out of my head and I am hoping this will help!
Last weekend I went to NYC to see one of my favorite actors in his new
show. I found out the inimitable Kelvin Moon Loh would be appearing in Here
Lies Love at The Public Theatre and was lucky enough to snag the last 2 box
seat tickets (even though I REALLY wanted floor tickets) prior to the rave
reviews to which the show opened. I was
intrigued at the description of the show “an immersive theatrical experience” about
the life and loves of Imelda Marcos, in which the audience stands in a club
like atmosphere and interacts with the actors.
I went into the show knowing the nuts and bolts of the Marcos regime,
the assassination of Senator Aquino, and the emergence of the People’s Power
Revolution in response to the Marcos’ violent “Presidency”, but was completely
unprepared for what I would experience.
Upon picking up my tickets from the box office, I was asked
if I would mind trading seats with a Board Member of the Public Theatre who had
hurt their foot and would be unable to use their Floor tickets (the floor tickets
are actually on the floor of the club and audience members stand and
participate in the show meaning 90 minutes of standing with no intermission) I
gladly said sure since that was where I had wanted to be initially anyhow. Turns out they had asked all the other people
with box seats and no one would even consider giving up their seat! Which is part of what I think is wrong with
humanity, but more on that in another post.
We hoofed it up the three flights of steps and walked into what felt like
the dance bar portion of my favorite drag bar “Play”. I hesitate to call it an assault on the
senses because rarely is an assault as pleasurable as the technical aspects of Here
Lies Love.
Justin Townsend’s
lighting was crazy, with fluorescent and neon and strobes and the colors were
striking and exciting. The pulse of the
music could be heard from the second level and inside the club/theatre thrummed
with the deep pulsing resonance of every good dance song you have ever
heard. In the center of the space where
one would expect a bar was a large platform and at both ends of the room there
were platforms too. These all turned out
to be mobile pieces that morphed and moved throughout the show with the help of
an extremely talented and energetic stage crew.
At first I was nervous about the ever changing setting and interactive
nature of the show but once the DJ and sometimes Narrator (the ever cool
Kelvin) started to get us involved and warmed us up, I was down for
anything.
When the show began the audience was almost immediately
treated to the gorgeously detailed costumes by Clint Ramos. They were opulent, and referenced the time
periods in which the story was set.
However, like most of this show they had a modern sensibility that made them
accessible to the audience and took away the overt “period costume” feel that
would be very easy to step into on a show like this. The projections also
combined modernity with retrospective. From a camera crew filming the actors
interacting with the audience and turning it into a newsreel type projection,
to audio recordings of illicit affairs, and flashy photo montages Peter Nigrini’s
work did not detract from the show but added another wonderful layer adding to
the richness of the show. In fact the
coolest moment of the show for me involved helicopter blade projections
combining with propeller thumping, and wind to evoke the feeling of the U.S. helicopters
coming to evacuate the Marcos’ during the revolution. It was seriously one of the craziest most
epic things I have experienced.
The show itself is beautiful; I mean really, when would you
ever expect to find yourself cheering for a ruthless dictator? But I did, I clapped and cheered when Imelda
and Ferdinand fell in love, and got giddy when he shook my hand and kissed my
head. I saw up close, the intense conflicting
emotions in Imelda played by the gorgeous and talented Ruthie Ann Miles and
sung with voice as smooth as honey. I
was charmed by the suave, and might I add very handsome, Jose LLana and was
completely absorbed in the emotional turmoil and back story that David Byrne,
Fatboy Slim, and Alex Timbers created and presented to us. The way they managed to involve the audience
in the lives of these historical figures yet make them feel relevant was
inspired. And I feel that being on the
floor and feeling a part of it added to the intensity of the show. Aquino (the charismatic Conrad Ricamora)
swings back into our good graces after dumping a young innocent Imelda when he shows
us her inadequacies and the corruption behind the regime and makes us cheer for
a better leader yet all the while we still feel hope for Imelda even until the
end. These dichotomies serve to
enrapture the audience even further.
When we came to the point in the show where Aquino is assassinated, even
though you know it is coming, the gunshot is a jarring emotional moment with
actual footage of the assassination projected on the walls. You then see the deep discord between the Marcos’
you are seeing and the true dictatorship that really was.
A lot of credit goes to the music on this show as well. The songs are so ridiculously catchy that 5
days later I am still singing snatches of them that I can remember and viciously
scouring YouTube to hear them as often as possible. They feel as if they are songs you should
already know, their beats evocative of a girl’s night out in college, or a
house party from my 20’s. The beat pulls
the story along in a seamless fashion moving you through the scenes. The 90 minute show felt more like 30 to me as
the pacing and energy lifted us along, not to mention being taught the dances, encouraged to sing along karaoke style, and getting a little freaky with JFK.
One of the evening’s most emotional moments came for me when
Aquino’s mother sang a song about her assassinated son and how when he was a
boy, when she asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up, he said he wanted
to be a drummer and lead the people. As
a mother, to see the full range of life come about for this character and how
his hopes were simultaneously fulfilled and yet violently destroyed just about
broke my heart and turned me into a sobbing mess. The other intense moment came shortly after
when Kelvin Moon Loh came down from the DJ booth with an acoustic guitar and
sang a song containing actual quotes from witnesses to the People’s Power
Revolution. The first line of the chorus
“God draws straight with crooked lines” is so relevant to my life, and I am
sure to many others, and the song itself so touching and real on top of the
fact that it is so perfectly sung and performed by Kelvin, it also brought on
tears but much more hopeful and joyful ones, never the less I looked like a dead hooker after the show was over w
There are not enough words of praise for this show it is just so absurdly good!!! I believe that is echoed by the fact that
reviewers, with much more credit than I, have had no negative comments about
it. My one and only complaint is with
the Playbill. Most of the actors are
listed as (Ensemble) this makes it very hard to identify and credit the wonderful
performers for their hard work and I wish there was a way to remedy this. As you can tell this innovative and
enthralling show has captivated me and I wish it, and everyone associated with
it, all the success it truly deserves.
And perhaps one day, in the not so distant future, we can all anticipate
a cast recording, because I need Kelvin to sing me to sleep every night!
