Here Lies Love has returned!- Page 2

[Theater'sBestFriend]

Posted: 5/2/14 at 11:04am

Not sure about member discounts for this open-ended run. However, I heard that prices are lower mid-week, and that there's a rush.

[dreaming]

Posted: 5/2/14 at 11:14am

There is a rush. It's $40 cash only. I did it-got General Admission (standing).

[GilmoreGirlO2]

Posted: 5/2/14 at 12:31pm

Has anyone heard anything about how this run has been selling? With the news that they are going to open in London in the fall (and, I’m pretty sure I read that it would be a “transfer” of the Public production – as in, it would close here before it opened overseas – but, correct me if I am wrong on that), I’m wondering if they didn’t have as big of a reception for this run as they were expecting?

Anxiously awaiting for when they release a new block of tickets – planning on getting mine for the week after they are currently on sale. Can't wait to see the show again.

[FloydJoe2]

Posted: 5/11/14 at 1:55am

I saw this show today at the 5 PM performance. For anyone who is curious, I was able to walk up to the box office at 4:55 PM and buy a $40 rush ticket. As for the show itself, I enjoyed it quite a lot. The music is quite good but it feels like the same after a while of it. Alex Timbers does some really nice work. The staging is always full of life and energy and their are some really nice stage pictures to look at. The cast is strong all around, particularly Conrad Ricamora as Aquino. I think the characters should have been fleshed out more though and for the show to have a distinctive point of view but, all in all, it was an entertaining evening!

[Wildcard]

Posted: 5/11/14 at 2:37am

Regarding GilmoreGirl's question, according to the Hollywood Reporter, the London production is expected to run concurrently with the New York one

[mjohnson2]

Posted: 5/11/14 at 8:38pm

Also in response, from what I've heard, it's selling pretty well.

[GilmoreGirlO2]

Posted: 5/12/14 at 10:21am

Thanks for clearing that up about the London production – from the initial reports, I couldn’t tell if it sounded like the run at the Public would be ending in time for the London production to begin. Glad to hear they are selling well, too. Checking every day for the next block of tickets to go on sale!

[sciencegirl]

Posted: 5/14/14 at 1:16pm

Hey Dreaming - how was your rush experience? When did you show up? Was there a crowd? Floydjoe2 did it on May 11 with ease, but wondering if it was an anomaly due to Mother's Day.....

[mamaleh]

Posted: 5/14/14 at 2:17pm

So I guess one can rush every performance, as available?

[brdway411]

Posted: 5/14/14 at 3:55pm

I did it a few weeks ago. The line did not really pick up until about 20 or 30 minutes prior to tickets going on sale. Easy rush. I think all 10 of the line got tickets.

[haterobics]

Posted: 5/14/14 at 4:04pm

Some shows do say Sold Out on the Public's website, so I would certainly look there before heading down.

Fun time, though, I went last night. David Byrne was hanging out and dancing along...

[GilmoreGirlO2]

Posted: 5/16/14 at 1:46pm

Just a heads up – tickets are now on sale through September 6th!

[nmlhats]

Posted: 5/26/14 at 1:12am

I plan to go next month...I would love to be on the floor in the middle of it all, but have a little problem with being in the middle of crowds. Do you think I could successfully stick to the edge(s) of the room (preferably near doors) or should I just give up and sit upstairs? Basically, I have the kind of claustrophobia where restrictions on my movements can cause panic attacks. If I don't HAVE to "move with the crowd" and can stand my ground near a door, I could probably handle it. But I heard they have crammed more people into the floor this time around, maybe 20 more?

[ads08]

Posted: 5/26/14 at 12:12pm

Although they allow more people in there, it did not feel any more crowded than when I saw it in its first run. I will say that I have managed to find spots along the walls that haven't required me to move much, but I don't know if there is a space where that can be guaranteed. Since the standing room and box seats are the same price, why don't you buy a standing room ticket and approach one of the people in pink jumpsuits asking if there is a place to stand with minimal movement. If there is not, perhaps you can just move upstairs? Either way - it's an amazing show!

[cardamon]

Posted: 5/26/14 at 10:59pm

As a heads up to those considering getting rush tickets to Here Lies Love: if the box office offers you the partial view standing room tickets in the balcony, don't buy them. That section is extremely obstructed, and I could only see maybe half the playing area. I appreciate that they may want to sell as many tickets as possible to people waiting in the rush line, but having spent $40 to see half a show, I felt like I would have had a more enjoyable experience sitting at home listening the cast recording while reading the Wikipedia entry on Imelda Marcos.

[AntV]

Posted: 5/26/14 at 11:47pm

Or you could always just sneak onto the floor anyway?

[cardamon]

Posted: 5/26/14 at 11:56pm

AntV - there was an usher guarding the stairs, so I don't think I could have made it back down there without her stopping me. Maybe I could have gone straight to the floor when I first entered, but I didn't think to try.

[VotePeron]

Posted: 5/27/14 at 1:02am

I rushed this past Saturday. Was in line at 3, and was 13 people back. We all got tickets, and it was truly wonderful! I even saw the understudy for Imelda, but I would have NEVER guessed it, until I saw the insert in the playbill we got after the performance. Truly shocking that she was an understudy - in a show where her character never stops moving (or singing), she nailed it and didnt miss a beat!

On another note, the ending of this show was so unbelievably powerful for me.
(SPOILERS)
When Ninoy gets shot, I couldn't breathe. When the platform turns into bleachers to watch his mother belt "Just Ask Flowers," with the lighting silhouetting them, I was floored. The original song was wonderfully placed, and I did love how they ultimately end by going back to the party vibe and reprising "Here Lies Love."

It also hit me how much immersion affects me. I've seen hundreds of shows, but in the times when the ensemble came through the crowd to plead us to vote, or not to vote, I felt so involved. When Imelda walked through and patted my shoulder and said, "Thank you," after the election, I felt like I was there! It was incredible.


Can't wait to go back.

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 5/27/14 at 8:18am

My bf and I rushed the 5:00 p.m. Friday show. We got there at 3:30 and were 6th and 7th in line. We got tickets (general admission standing), and so did the woman behind us.

I wasn't exactly bored with the show, but never fully engaged. It plays like a frenetic music video, where you're compelled to keep looking not because it's dramatically interesting, but because it's so stimulating visually, aurally, and bodily. (I'm not a dance-y person by any stretch, but I confess I bopped along to a couple beats... though the recurring "Electric Slide"-type dance, complete with instructions, was beyond annoying.)

I found the music, characters, and performances too broad and generic, with the exception of "Just Ask the Flowers," which also boasted the best staging of the night, as though the disparate elements of the show were able to coalesce, finally, around a song worth singing. The actors performed with an air of conviction, mechanically energetic, but without fire. My bf felt the show's writing and design limited the actors' chances to exhibit any real spark, and though I'm not sure I agree with him entirely, that comment further illustrated to me the rote and mechanical feeling of the piece as a whole.

(He's also doing his PhD on immersive theater and sound design and said HLL might enter his dissertation as an example of unsuccessful immersive theater.)

We saw 9 shows in 5 days, and both of us ranked this second to last (just above BULLETS OVER BROADWAY... but that's another story entirely).

Updated On: 5/27/14 at 08:18 AM

[forgetmenotnyc]

Posted: 5/27/14 at 1:29pm

I rushed this after waiting in line for more than an hr. I was like the 17th or 18th tkt sold & the line ended up doubling so I doubt everyone got in. I suggest anyone try & listen to the score beforehand if possible because you are not going to be able to pick up all the lyrics from the live performance. The comment here about the show not being all that technical except for moving platforms is just unaware. The amount of lights, speakers, projectors, screens/monitors, curtains, etc is monumental IMHO. Maybe where I was sitting just helped emphasize that. I don't normally have issues with fog/haze - but I was having sinus burn that carried over to the next day - just to alert anyone who may bave issues with excessive use of that stuff. The dancing is pretty stupid, esp. in a show dealing with some serious drama. At times it seemed like a (well done) kiddie show in it's forced audience participation but all in all quite the unusual opportunity that you should experience. So, your homework is to listen to the score first & read up a little on the political regime of the era. Here's a start: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imelda_Marcos

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 5/27/14 at 3:26pm

Matt, I agree with your assessment of Here Lies Love-- a good try at an immersive experience, but ultimately a disappointing show with a score that just kept delivering less and less rewards as the night wore on. (I agree that "Just Ask the Flowers" was one passage that did work for us.)

Not to threadjack too far, but since you mention your bf "doing his PhD on immersive theater and sound design and said HLL might enter his dissertation as an example of unsuccessful immersive theater," I'm curious to know if you made it to THEN SHE FELL. If so, did you think it's version of audience immersion worked better?

[nmlhats]

Posted: 5/28/14 at 1:14am

I have to say that some of my favorite songs from the concept album (Every Drop of Rain, How Are You?, The Whole Man) seemed to have been dropped from the reincarnation-as-show. I am guessing it is because the whole subplot of Estrella Cumpas relationship with Imelda has been cut?

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 5/28/14 at 7:34am

"I am guessing it is because the whole subplot of Estrella Cumpas relationship with Imelda has been cut?"

She's there, but doesn't do a whole lot. She's introduced strongly at the beginning, re-appears most prominently to be bribed by Imelda to keep quiet about their impoverished past, but overall she's kind of a non-character. I'd be interested in a version where she plays a larger role because then the show would seem more like a multicharacter story, rather closely than following an EVITA trajectory before suddenly throwing focus to Ninoy in the last half-hour.

Someone in a Tree2, neither of us have been to THEN SHE FELL. My bf is very interested in it, but since performances often sell out far in advance and we often plan things last minute, he’s been unable to secure a ticket. I’d be curious to hear his account of it – secondhand, as, not being a great fan of SLEEP NO MORE, I’ll probably skip it.