Over the weekend, I was lucky enough to get one of the hottest tickets in New York City right now, "Here Lies Love" at the Public Theater. This new show with a score by David Byrne and Fatboy Slim and directed by Alex Timbers follows the life story of Imelda Marcos until the fall of her husband's regime in 1986 and features a largely Filipino cast. Since you have all witnessed my rantings about the lack of diversity in theater and the systematic whitewashing of Asian stories, you can appreciate my happiness to be in the audience of this show. But beyond the strangely unusual experience of watching Asian people play Asian people, I have to say that the show was incredibly innovative, provocative, and just plain old fun. The entire cast sings and dances non-stop for 90 minutes on a club-like set in which the audience keeps moving around like people at a rave. Anyone who isn't singing his or her face off onstage is backstage changing costumes at breakneck pace. The story is told almost entirely through songs with some help from projections. And I left the theater genuinely interested in learning more about that period of Filipino history. I'm a theater artist because I believe in the power of live performance to open the human mind, and last night's show did just that.
So why is there a picture of Bruno Mars on my blog? Well, I'll tell you. In addition to all of its above mentioned attributes, the show also featured some very good shirtlessness. Since it is a surprise in the show, I won't say who, and I won't say when. But it is there, and it is good There are no publicity photos of it to post, and so I had to go with another Pinoy, Bruno Mars, to represent. So I'm just saying. If checking out the future of theater is not enough to lure you to the Public by July 28th, then let the promise of good shirtlessness do it. You won't regret it.
Until Friday, I am...
Yours in shirtlessness,
Nandita
President
IMS
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