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Wednesday, November 08, 2023
David Byrne and Fat Boy Slim’s ‘Here Lies Love’ to Close on Broadway
The Hollywood Reporter: Here Lies Love, the immersive Broadway musical about the rise and fall of Imelda Marcos, the former first lady of the Philippines, will be ending its Broadway run on Nov. 26.
3 comments:
Sam Regardie
said...
It is always very sad when a show closes so soon after it opens - so many people put so much time, money, and effort into a production that lasted for what was likely a much smaller period of time than what they expected. For this show in particular, I greatly appreciate the effort put into finding a new approach to theater on Broadway. I saw a show with a similar format, with audience members standing around actors on platforms in London. It was a very unique experience that elevated the show. While maybe this exact format doesn't follow the recipe for success, I do see the potential for more interactive productions like this becoming a bigger part of Broadway. Innovation and change of art forms are very important things for many fields, so trying out new things and potentially failing along the way is undoubtedly a vital process to the formation of theater.
This article really reminded me just how difficult it is for a musical to survive on Broadway. Here Lies Love did so much innovative work in terms of the seating arrangement and orchestration for this show, but ultimately, it too could not survive. I’m very curious about what will happen to the theater that Here Lies Love performed in. It would be such a waste for the 22 million dollar renovation to be returned to the archaic theater that existed before it, and personally, I would find another show with the same seating configuration interesting. While I prefer the seated option, the standing room area seems really interesting. Reading how difficult it is for shows to succeed on Broadway makes me more and more interested in working in the regional theater circuit. While still difficult, the lowered commercial pressures make me believe that there’s more opportunity to make good interesting art.
This is so saddening. I remember hearing about this show a little while ago and thinking it would be so cool to go see, I’m sorry I won’t be able to see it before it closes - it had such an unfortunately short run! I hope they can release the show recordings and maybe it will get a second wave through other audiences? Possibly because the show was new and a little more niche than certain ‘classics’ it didn’t hit on too quickly, however I wish it was able to run longer and then perhaps it would’ve formulated that audience it needed. Finding the right audience is so crucial for something, and sometimes/often it doesn’t always happen immediately. I mean A Princess Bride and other cult classic films weren’t exactly giant marketed hits when they first came out, but have amassed such a great following since then. Maybe the theater crowd for this production will come a bit later (after it is possibly released online?) and will rally for a renewal of the Broadway production.
3 comments:
It is always very sad when a show closes so soon after it opens - so many people put so much time, money, and effort into a production that lasted for what was likely a much smaller period of time than what they expected. For this show in particular, I greatly appreciate the effort put into finding a new approach to theater on Broadway. I saw a show with a similar format, with audience members standing around actors on platforms in London. It was a very unique experience that elevated the show. While maybe this exact format doesn't follow the recipe for success, I do see the potential for more interactive productions like this becoming a bigger part of Broadway. Innovation and change of art forms are very important things for many fields, so trying out new things and potentially failing along the way is undoubtedly a vital process to the formation of theater.
This article really reminded me just how difficult it is for a musical to survive on Broadway. Here Lies Love did so much innovative work in terms of the seating arrangement and orchestration for this show, but ultimately, it too could not survive. I’m very curious about what will happen to the theater that Here Lies Love performed in. It would be such a waste for the 22 million dollar renovation to be returned to the archaic theater that existed before it, and personally, I would find another show with the same seating configuration interesting. While I prefer the seated option, the standing room area seems really interesting. Reading how difficult it is for shows to succeed on Broadway makes me more and more interested in working in the regional theater circuit. While still difficult, the lowered commercial pressures make me believe that there’s more opportunity to make good interesting art.
This is so saddening. I remember hearing about this show a little while ago and thinking it would be so cool to go see, I’m sorry I won’t be able to see it before it closes - it had such an unfortunately short run! I hope they can release the show recordings and maybe it will get a second wave through other audiences? Possibly because the show was new and a little more niche than certain ‘classics’ it didn’t hit on too quickly, however I wish it was able to run longer and then perhaps it would’ve formulated that audience it needed. Finding the right audience is so crucial for something, and sometimes/often it doesn’t always happen immediately. I mean A Princess Bride and other cult classic films weren’t exactly giant marketed hits when they first came out, but have amassed such a great following since then. Maybe the theater crowd for this production will come a bit later (after it is possibly released online?) and will rally for a renewal of the Broadway production.
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