David Byrne has teamed up with Fatboy Slim at Carnegie Hall to trial a rock opera documenting the life of Imelda Marcos. Seriously.
'Here Lies Love' - the phrase Marcos famously wanted engraved on her tombstone - was the name of the performance, which premiered on Saturday night. The show documents the excessive, disco-crazed life of the former Philippines first lady. Her husband, Ferdinand Marcos, ruled the south-east Asian archipelago from 1965 to 1986.The famously eccentric Byrne claims to have been intrigued by the woman, explaining that Marcoses were, to him, in the same vein as John and Jackie Kennedy.
Byrne discussed the project - a mix of music and storytelling - with the sellout crowd, the singer claiming "This is not artistic licence, this is reportage."
He also explained to a New York radio station, "When I saw that she [Imelda] used to go to Studio 54 and she had a disco built in her New York townhouse and converted the roof of the Manila palace into a disco, I thought, here's a person in power who kind of comes with their own soundtrack."
Imelda's infamous shoe collection was not discussed, as the show only covers the years the Marcoses were in power. The shoe collection was discovered after Ferdinand had escaped to Hawaii.
