Fela is on Broadway…well sort of!
By Rab Bakari • Sep 5th, 2008 • Category: Africa, Features
Fela Anikulapo-Kuti is one of Africa’s and possibly the world most revered, innovative musician of the latter part of the 20th century. He was from Nigeria. Fela is usually branded as a musician first then political activist second.
He recorded over 40 albums and 500 hundred songs. His self-titled Afro-Beat fit right in with the music of the late 60s throughout the early 80s. He passed away in Nigeria in 1997.
Fela now has another item to keep him in the memories of us mere humans… A Broadway musical!
This is the passionate project of Bill T. Jones, who won a Tony award for his choreography of “Spring Awakening”. Unfortunately; this musical is presented as a documentary. So you as the audience are hit with almost three hours of ’suffering and smilin’.
Be prepared to juxtapose the timeless Fela music with the disturbing grittiness of Nigeria Fela knew. From what I hear; Bill T. Jones does not do well in presenting the show of Fela’s expansive life into one single evening show.
Tickets are going for $51 - $76 USD
The show can be seen in New York City @
37 Arts, 450 West 37th Street through September 21st. This location is NOT exactly on Broadway. After that, it will move to other cities.
Check the website for more accurate info about the Writer/Director, the cast and Sahr Ngaujah who plays Fela throughout the showcase.
http://www.felaoffbroadway.com/
Rab Bakari is Tech; Africa; Politics & Culture; Djaying; Graffiti, Food; Sci-Fi and Music all make up me! :`)
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Did I read “from what I hear . . .” and then a negative comment about this show? If you haven’t seen the show, how can you possibly publish an opinion about the verisimilitude of this project.This seems very sloppy to me, particularly for someone who features an ad for The Lion King on their blog.
@ LEC: This is true. I have have NOT witnessed the show myself. To be accurate I should have listed the names of my three friends who actually saw it along with their quotes. To be fair they did mention bright spots of the stage show. I will have to re-visit them again or better yet … set a date aside and go enjoy the performance with my own eyes and ears.
Looking forward to the rewrite after you see the show for yourself.