David Byrne and Fatboy Slim's Imelda Marcos Musical Is Happening [Link]
Spin, April 9, 2012
By Devon Maloney

'Here Lies Love' will hit a NYC stage in 2013

When he's not busy giving new collaborations terribly self-deprecating names, David Byrne has been hard at work revamping an old one, with Fatboy Slim. The concept compilation he released two years ago almost to the date, Here Lies Love, will at long last be brought to the stage, as was promised back in 2010, the New York Times reports. Byrne and Slim intended for the 2010 disco-infused (hello, it's Fatboy Slim!) record — released by Nonesuch and featuring guest vocals from artists like Florence Welch, Sharon Jones, Sia, Santigold, Martha Wainwright, Tori Amos, and Cyndi Lauper — to chronicle and pay tribute to "the stories of Imelda Marcos, former first lady of the Philippines, and Estrella Cumpas, the woman who raised her," and was intended to be transformed into a musical "deconstructionist" production soon thereafter.

In case you're wondering what drew Byrne and Slim to the ex-stateswoman's life: Marcos, who was exiled to Hawaii for five years following her husbands overthrow was well-known for her extravagant lifestyle, which included 2,700 pairs of shoes and a penchant for disco music. Before she returned to the Philippines in 1991, she was the first wife of a foreign head of state to stand trial, for racketeering and fraud, in an American court — she was acquitted, too. In other words, she lived an interesting life.

The new musical production, also titled Here Lies Love and announced to have been in development when the 2010 record was released, will come to the stage April 2 through May 5, 2013, so we still have yet another year to wait, but considering it'll be directed by Alex Timbers, the Tony- and Emmy-nominated director of rock musical Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson and The Pee-Wee Herman Show, we're guessing this thing will be worth the wait.