The new musical of Here Lies Love, which explores the life of former Filipino First Lady Imelda Marcos, with concept and lyrics by David Byrne and music by Byrne and Fatboy Slim, receives its world premiere at the Public Theater in New York City tonight. Performances of the piece, directed by Alex Timbers of Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson and Peter and the Starcatcher fame, will take place at the Public's LuEsther Theater and, originally scheduled to run to May 5, have been extended through May 19. The original run of Here Lies Love is a co-production of the Public Theater, Williamstown Theatre Festival, and MASS MoCA in North Adams, Massachusetts, which gave preview performances of the production last spring.

In 2010, Nonesuch Records released a double-disc recording of the song cycle of Here Lies Love, featuring a who’s who of indie rockers, dancefloor divas, and established stars, including Tori Amos, Steve Earle, Cyndi Lauper, Natalie Merchant, Florence Welch of Florence + the Machine, Santigold, and St. Vincent. The Wall Street Journal calls it "a fountain of funk and dance music that's entirely accessible." The Boston Globe calls it a "superb ... sumptuous double album."

In Here Lies Love, David Byrne and iconic deejay-composer Fatboy Slim tell the story of Imelda Marcos's meteoric rise and subsequent descent into infamy, all within a throbbing dance club environment. The immersive spectacle of the Here Lies Love stage production at the Public Theater combines disco beats, choreography by Annie-B Parson, and a 360-degree scenic and video environment, all the while moving beyond Marcos's oft-discussed obsession with shoes to explore questions of power and responsibility. This marks the first theatrical production of Here Lies Love, which was first presented as a song cycle at the Adelaide Bank Festival of Arts in 2006 and in concert at Carnegie Hall in 2007.

For details on the theatrical production, visit publictheater.org. To pick up a copy of the 2010 Nonesuch recording of Here Lies Love, head to the Nonesuch Store, where orders include an instant download of the album at checkout.