Here Lies Love (Original Cast Recording)

It's a tricky thing for pop stars to write musicals. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t. David Byrne and Fatboy Slim first collaborated on the 2010 Here Lies Love concept album, and the resulting musical was a success in 2013 at the Off-Broadway Public Theater in New York, and it's been remounted in 2014 A weird premise that ultimately hangs together, the story is about the disco- (and shoe-) loving Imelda Marcus and her humble childhood, rising to become the powerful First Lady of Philippines and descending as the People Power Revolution took control. This recording isn't to be confused with the principal creators' 2010 concept album of the same name (which featured an all-star lineup); this is the musical's original cast recording, with the award-winning Ruthie Ann Miles in the title role. In deference to the subject matter, the music here typically is much more identifiable as Fatboy Slim than David Byrne; the non-dance music material doesn’t sound much like solo Byrne or even Talking Heads. That said, the quirky Byrne comes to the fore on “The Fabulous One,” with actor Conrad Ricamora as a stand-in.