Back in October 2014, a new show to London opened at the National Theatre, Here Lies Love.
I had read about it, seen reviews on Facebook, seen postings on the walls of friends, in fact one of my friends in the
Filipino community and also Facebook friend, Gia Macuja Atchison was in the cast.
I must confess at this point for those who don't know me, I am also a massive fan of Miss Saigon. Gia was also one of the cast of Miss Saigon. She is also the manager/member of another group, West End Mamas. This group also consists of other Miss Saigon cast and has recently won an award in the Phililppines for the best New group.
It was almost impossible to get a ticket for the show, but Gia very kindly reserved one for me.
I had a choice of a few dates as the show run had been slightly extended. I chose the final night. Wow did I make a big mistake!!!
In fact, I should have chosen every date!!!!
I had a choice of a seated ticket or standing ticket, where you were on the dance floor! OMG, I can't dance to save my life, so I was a bit scared to be honest that I would have made a fool out of myself.
Was I in for a massive surprise and as I said at the start of this blog, a truly unforgettable, yet incredibly sad night.
Even though I am totally in love with the Philippines and Filipino people, I still don't know much about the history of the country, nor do I know much about politics or what happened during the Marcos era.
All I can say is that Here Lies Love is a very interesting, important and relevant story of Philippine history. I am very pleased that writer David Byrne and Fatboy Slim chose to collaborate and feature the Philippines. Historically, whenever the Philippines has been featured in anything going back a few years, there was always a focus on poverty, corruption, sadness etc. However this story focusses on what makes the Philippines a truly unique place to love and respect, from the Filipinos love of singing and dancing, to their fantastic acting abilities. The cast featured many of the cast of Miss
Saigon from around the world, including Natalie Mendoza who was quite remarkable as Imelda Marcos and of course Gia who played her childhood friend, Estrella.
Gia is an incredibly talented singer as well as Actor and this shone through, there is a scene were Imelda and Estrella confront one another and both are incredibly powerful in their portrayal.
I must confess I am also a fan of Philippine TV and cinema, so to see Mark Bautista as Ferdinand Marcos was excellent. As well as being a brilliant vocalist, Mark is also a very talented actor and dancer. Galling Mark, you nailed the performance.
Why was it also a very sad night?
Here Lies Love is a truly remarkable show, witnessing the final performance, actually dancing on stage with the cast, ending up standing on the same step as Natalie Mendoza when she sang Here Lies Love at the end of show encore was truly incredible and unforgettable, like it was meant to be. As I write this blog however, I feel an immense sense of sadness, firstly that I didn't see the show before, secondly, that I didn't bring my family to watch and finally as this was the last night, OMG incredible night. MARAMING MARAMING SALAMAT GIA!!!
To Mark, Natalie and the rest of the incredible cast, thank you, thank you, thank you.
Malcolm Conlan
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