Fela!
Fela! | |
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Broadway revival |
Fela! is a jukebox musical with a book by Bill T. Jones and Jim Lewis, based on music and lyrics by the late Nigerian singer Fela Kuti, with additional music by Aaron Johnson and Jordan McLean and additional lyrics by Jim Lewis. It is based on events in the life of groundbreaking Nigerian composer and activist Fela Anikulapo Kuti. It portrays Kuti in the days when he was the target of 1,000 government soldiers assigned to end his public performances at the legendary Lagos nightclub The Shrine.
The musical ran
Productions
Fela! opened at the Off-Broadway
The
For both productions, Kuti's music has been arranged and performed by the Brooklyn-based Antibalas and featuring the tenor saxophone soloist Stuart D. Bogie.
The London production, staged at the
Fela! toured in North America. Its opening performance was held in September 2011 at the
Musical numbers
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Response
The 2008 Off-Broadway production received generally positive reviews. Ben Brantley of The New York Times observed:
This is music that gets into your bloodstream, setting off vibrations you'll live with for days to come.... If you set aside your basic nervous and circulatory systems, though, you might observe that by the standards of the well-made musical, Fela! leaves a lot to be desired. The structure of the book ... feels slapdash to the point of confusion. For all the impudence and exuberance of the wall-to-wall music ... a pious haze of hagiography hangs over the show, creating the blinkered view of a great man martyred. Yet the ascendancy of the music in Fela!, and the three-dimensional translation of it by Mr. Jones and his vibrant design team, makes such criticism irrelevant for as long as you're in your seat (or out of it, since the audience is regularly encouraged to stand and undulate). Mr. Jones and company have given us an African variation on the same theme [of the energetic rebel] that triumphantly stakes out its own pioneer territory in the expanding land of musicals.[11]
David Rooney of
The touring production received a positive review from The Globe and Mail′s J. Kelly Nestruck, who cited Sahr Ngaujah's performance for particular praise, as "channelling the life force of the titular singer" in a "sweat-soaked performance". Nestruck observed that
Lewis and Jones do focus on the more crowd-pleasing elements of Kuti's politics – his embrace of marijuana and attacks on militarism, corruption and corporate imperialism – while slightly brushing over the less palatable elements [...] His own sexually imperialist attitude toward women is underplayed in favour of an emphasis on his worship of his mother, an operatic, otherworldly presence voiced by Melanie Marshall.[14]
Disputes and lawsuits
In July 2010, New York photographer Marilyn Nance sought damages from the show, claiming the unauthorized use of one of her images.[15][16][17]
In November 2010, writer and historian Carlos Moore, author of the 1982 authorized biography of Fela Kuti, Fela, Fela! This Bitch of a Life!, sued the producers of Fela! for copyright infringement,[18][19] and asked the courts to close the show.[20][21] In December 2011, the lawsuit was settled out of court, and it was agreed that all playbills and associated materials would henceforth bear an acknowledgement stating that the musical was inspired by Moore's book.[22]
Plot
Fela! takes place around 1977, at the height of Fela Kuti's influence as a composer and performer in Nigeria. Kuti was an originator of the Afrobeat sound, and the musical opens with him addressing the audience from a concert at his club, the Afrika Shrine in Nigeria's largest city, Lagos. Kuti indicates that the Afrika Shrine had become a hugely popular venue, and a gathering place for youth opposed to Nigeria's military dictatorship. As one critic describes much of the first half of the show:
It's part musicology lesson as Kuti explains how he discovered the Afrobeat sound by pulling together the drums from West African highlife and the ragged guitars from James Brown with traditional call-and-response vocals. As a front-man-in-training rambling around London in the early 1960s, he absorbed the influences of the two different shades of cool represented by Frank Sinatra and Miles Davis.[23]
Kuti reveals how torn he is between his respect for the example set by his mother, Funmilayo, a teacher and Nigerian civil rights activist, and his quest for fame and sometimes hedonism. He gradually becomes more involved in open opposition to Nigeria's military regime, and his lyrics become overtly political. The regime responds to the provocation with increasingly violent retaliation. Kuti perseveres and releases Zombie, an international hit openly critical of the Nigerian government. The show depicts the army raid of Kuti's compound (a commune he called Kalakuta Republic[24]), reportedly by 1000 soldiers, which followed the release of Zombie. The raid culminates with the torture of Kuti, his wives and other commune residents, and the murder of his mother. The show concludes with a protest staged by Kuti in October 1979, accompanied by his family and members of the Young African Pioneers. The protest was held on the day before General Olusegun Obasanjo was to retire from the Nigerian presidency for the first time. Kuti held Obasanjo responsible for his mother's death, and publicly defied the regime once again with his protest, leaving a symbolic coffin in front of Obasanjo's residence at the Dodan army barracks. The show concludes with symbolic coffins being laid on the stage to protest injustices suffered by the people of Nigeria and throughout Africa.
Awards and nominations
Original Off-Broadway production
Year | Award Ceremony | Category | Nominee | Result |
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2009 | Drama Desk Award[25] | Outstanding Musical | Nominated | |
Outstanding Actor in a Musical | Sahr Ngaujah | Nominated | ||
Outstanding Choreography | Bill T. Jones | Nominated | ||
Outstanding Orchestrations | Aaron Johnson | Nominated |
Original Broadway production
Year | Award Ceremony | Category | Nominee | Result |
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2010 | Tony Award
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Best Musical | Nominated | |
Best Book of a Musical | Bill T. Jones and Jim Lewis | Nominated | ||
Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical
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Sahr Ngaujah | Nominated | ||
Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical
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Lillias White | Nominated | ||
Best Direction of a Musical | Bill T. Jones | Nominated | ||
Best Choreography | Won | |||
Best Orchestrations | Aaron Johnson | Nominated | ||
Best Scenic Design | Marina Draghici | Nominated | ||
Best Costume Design | Won | |||
Best Lighting Design | Robert Weirzel | Nominated | ||
Best Sound Design | Robert Kaplowitz | Won | ||
2011 | Grammy Award
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Best Musical Show Album
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Nominated |
Original London production
Year | Award Ceremony | Category | Nominee | Result |
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2011 | Laurence Olivier Award
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Best New Musical | Nominated | |
Best Actor in a Musical | Sahr Ngaujah | Nominated | ||
Best Theatre Choreographer | Bill T. Jones | Nominated |
References
- ^ "Who's Nominated?". Tony Awards. IBM Corp. Retrieved 13 June 2010.
- ^ Jones, J.R. (September 10, 2014). "Afrobeat giant Fela Kuti: Too big for the screen". Chicago Reader. Retrieved June 8, 2019.
- ^ Gans, Andrew. "Most Happy Fela!: New Musical Extends Off-Broadway Run", playbill.com, September 12, 2008.
- ^ Hetrick, Adam. "Afrobeat Musical Fela! Opens On Broadway Nov. 23" playbill.com, November 23, 2009
- ^ Gans, Andrew."Patti LaBelle Will Step into Fela! in September; Musical to Close in January" Archived 2011-12-06 at the Wayback Machine playbill.com, August 12, 2010
- ^ Blank, Matthew."Fela! Closing night in New York" playbill.com, January 3, 2011.
- ^ Nominees for Tony Awards, 2010 tonyawards.com
- ^ Gans, Andrew and Jones, Kenneth.2010 "Tony Nominations Announced; Fela! and La Cage Top List" Archived May 6, 2010, at the Wayback Machine playbill.com, May 4, 2010.
- ^ "'Fela!' listing" Archived 2010-05-05 at the Wayback Machine nationaltheatre.org.uk
- ^ Bacalzo, Dan."'Fela!' to Return to Broadway for Summer Run at Al Hirschfeld Theatre" theatermania.com, June 11, 2012.
- ^ Brantley, Ben. "Afrobeat’s King, Recrowned", The New York Times, September 5, 2008.
- ^ Rooney, David. "Fela!" Variety, September 4, 2008.
- ^ Gutman, Les. "Fela!" CurtainUp, September 3, 2008.
- ^ Nestruck, J. Kelly (October 26, 2011). "Unique rhythm of Fela! will carry you away". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved October 26, 2011.
- ^ Tajudeen Olutoyin (2016). "A new twist fo [sic] Fela's 'ITT' (International Thief Thief)?". African Outlook. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04.
- ^ Marilyn Nance v. Fela Broadway LLC et al Archived 2014-05-12 at the Wayback Machine, Monday, July 26, 2010.
- ^ Patrick Healy, "Photographer Sues 'Fela!' Producers Over Image Used in Show", New York Times, July 28, 2010.
- ^ Amelia Hill, "Fela! musical is sued by biographer; Show based on life of Afrobeat legend Fela Anikulapo Kuti faces $5m lawsuit", The Guardian, November 9, 2010.
- ^ Dave Itzkoff, "‘Fela!’ Is Sued for Copyright Infringement", New York Times, November 9, 2010.
- ^ Larry Neumeister, "Author seeks shutdown of 'Fela!' Broadway musical", Associated Press, November 9, 2010.
- ^ Jaime Aron, "Author seeks shutdown of ‘Fela!’ Broadway musical", Chicago Defender, November 8, 2010.
- ^ Lemn Sissay, "Carlos Moore resolves case against FELA THE MUSICAL", The Emperor's Watchmaker, December 18, 2011.
- ^ Nestruck, J. Kelly (October 26, 2011). "Unique rhythm of Fela! will carry you away". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved October 26, 2011.
- ^ May, Chris (12 March 2011). "Part 21 – Final Fela Kuti Masterpieces Reissued". All About Jazz. Retrieved October 26, 2011.
- ^ Gans, Andrew."Drama Desk Nominees Announced; 9 to 5 Garners Record-Breaking 15 Noms" playbill.com, April 27, 2009.