NY1 Theater Review: "Fela!"
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After a hit run off-Broadway last year, the new musical "Fela!" has opened on Broadway, where it's being co-presented by some high-profile Broadway newcomers, Jay-Z and Will and Jada Pinkett Smith. NY1's Roma Torre filed the following review."Fela!" has returned. Conceived and staged by the celebrated choreographer Bill T. Jones, this inspired show that took off-Broadway by storm hopes to repeat the thrill for broadway audiences. Shortened by about 10 minutes it remains a unique art piece. Or is it a dance concert, or perhaps story theater set to music? Whatever it is, "Fela!," much like its late namesake and subject, Nigerian performer Fela Kuti, defies definition.
You can feel the energy pulsing from the stage floor, which is suitable since Kuti was an unstoppable force of nature himself. The Nigerian musician and activist had an unquenchable lust for life - the good, the bad and the ugly - and Jones, along with co-writer Jim Lewis, captured that essence with an unconventional, abstract, loosely-drawn book.
Set in The Shrine, Kuti’s famed club, on a summer night in 1978, the action is seemingly spontaneous. The amazing dancers, though clearly disciplined, are rarely synchronized and when Fela’s not performing a number, he talks to the audience in what comes off as stream of consciousness.
The show reveals that Kuti's traveled the world, performing his signature "afrobeat" music - a mix of African, jazz, Caribbean and Latin sounds - with often provocative lyrics aimed at the corrupt and repressive Nigerian regime. The magnificent Sahr Ngaujah, who alternates with Kevin Mambo in the lead role, embodies Fela Kuti’s passion as if possessed.
Jailed and beaten hundreds of times, Kuti is defiant, even after his mother, also an activist, is murdered by government soldiers. As the mother, Lilias White takes a small role and magnifies it a thousand times with her star wattage.
Jones works wonders on that stage alongside the musicians of the Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra, crafting a new dramatic language. Melding music, story and dance, he’s enabled Kuti’s unique artistry to live on.
Despite a bigger budget and some reshaping, the show is still too long and challenging for many of those with more traditional tastes. But "Fela!" speaks to Broadway’s next generation, whose embrace of the work gives hope for the theater’s future.