Cabaret Scenes Theatre Review

It's vigorous, it's fiery, it's mesmerizing – it's Fela!, directed, choreographed and co-written by Bill T. Jones. Vivid with masks, posters, paintings and graffiti, Broadway's Eugene O'Neill Theatre is transformed into The Shrine, a 1978 nightclub in Lagos, Nigeria owned by Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. The stage blazes with color, flashing video projections and vibrating with the Afrobeat of Antibalas. Kinetic dancers shimmy nonstop on side platforms, racing down the aisles. This is an energizing celebration of the music and spirit of Fela, even demanding audience responses of "Yeah, yeah!" and clockwork movements of motivated theatergoers who try, but cannot approach, the dancers' effortless pelvic flexibility.

The show opens at Fela's final concert during a period of intense Nigerian government violence. A musician/militant, he is wildly popular with adoring fans even as he battles the corrupt officials who are out to destroy him. Egotistically, Fela considers himself head of his own country, which is the nightclub. His swagger and charisma often threaten a balance of reality and fantasy. Except for one grounding factor—the spirit of his mother.

Fela's mother is constantly visible on a photograph at the side of the theater. A feminist revolutionary, Funmilayo Anikulapo-Kuti (Lillias White) appears onstage as a spiritual presence, haunting her son and urging him to remember her lessons. White delivers the show's only new song, "Rain," with theatrical passion in one of the more over-extended segments. Funmilayo was killed by government officials in 1977.

Fela himself wrote most of the songs that propel the story. An early medley called, "B.I.D. (Breaking It Down),” follows Fela leaving Lagos for London and the United States. It illustrates the influence of the hymns and chants of his youth and, later, the jazz of Coltrane, rhythms of Cuba, James Brown's funk and even Sinatra’s smoothness, all becoming an amalgamation of pulsing rhythms of the Afrobeat.

Constantly onstage, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti is alternately played by Kevin Mambo and, in this performance, Sahr Ngaujah. Ngaujah created the role off-Broadway and continues to rule the stage with confidence, magnetic as he leads his band, mock-wailing on the saxophone, swiveling his hips, singing, smoking pot, enticing the women and engaging the audience. The ensemble is stunning, but some members demand mention, like Saycon Sengbloh as Sandra, who appears intermittently as the American who alerted Fela to the Black Panther movement. Ismael Kouyate and Gelan Lambert are outstanding athletic and eclectic performers.

Bill T. Jones and Jim Lewis wrote Fela!'s free-form book with past and present interweaving. Slightly trimmed for Broadway, Fela! still has repetitive moments. As enticing as the music is, the show is further enhanced by Marina Draghici's duplex set and vibrant costumes, Robert Wierzel's theatrical lighting and Peter Nigrini's video design. Onstage, trombonist Aaron Johnson leads the ten-man New York musical company, Antibalas, fully animated from the welcome of "Everything Scatter" to the "Sorrow, Tears and Blood" of the stark but violent ending.

You can't help but be caught up in Fela Anikulapo-Kuti's wrap-around exuberance and hedonistic Afrobeat. Yet, despite the generous length of the show, the details of Fela's story are largely ignored, like his marriages and misogyny. Fela died of AIDS complications in 1997 at the age of 58.

(Pictured: Catherine Foster, Sahr Ngaujah, Nicole de Weever. Photo by Monique Carboni)

Elizabeth Ahlfors
Cabaret Scenes
December 3, 2009
www.cabaretscenes.org



	Fela! Eugene O'Neill Theatre New York, NY
It's vigorous, it's fiery, it's mesmerizing – it's Fela!, directed, choreographed and co-written by Bill T. Jones. Vivid with masks, posters, paintings and graffiti, Broadway's Eugene O'Neill Theatre is transformed into The Shrine, a 1978 nightclub in Lagos, Nigeria owned by Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. The stage blazes with color, flashing video projections and vibrating with the Afrobeat of Antibalas. Kinetic dancers shimmy nonstop on side platforms, racing down the aisles. This is an energizing celebration of the music and spirit of Fela, even demanding audience responses of "Yeah, yeah!" and clockwork movements of motivated theatergoers who try, but cannot approach, the dancers' effortless pelvic flexibility. The show opens at Fela's final concert during a period of intense Nigerian government violence. A musician/militant, he is wildly popular with adoring fans even as he battles the corrupt officials who are out to destroy him. Egotistically, Fela considers himself head of his own country, which is the nightclub. His swagger and charisma often threaten a balance of reality and fantasy. Except for one grounding factor—the spirit of his mother. Fela's mother is constantly visible on a photograph at the side of the theater. A feminist revolutionary, Funmilayo Anikulapo-Kuti (Lillias White) appears onstage as a spiritual presence, haunting her son and urging him to remember her lessons. White delivers the show's only new song, "Rain," with theatrical passion in one of the more over-extended segments. Funmilayo was killed by government officials in 1977. Fela himself wrote most of the songs that propel the story. An early medley called, "B.I.D. (Breaking It Down),” follows Fela leaving Lagos for London and the United States. It illustrates the influence of the hymns and chants of his youth and, later, the jazz of Coltrane, rhythms of Cuba, James Brown's funk and even Sinatra’s smoothness, all becoming an amalgamation of pulsing rhythms of the Afrobeat. Constantly onstage, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti is alternately played by Kevin Mambo and, in this performance, Sahr Ngaujah. Ngaujah created the role off-Broadway and continues to rule the stage with confidence, magnetic as he leads his band, mock-wailing on the saxophone, swiveling his hips, singing, smoking pot, enticing the women and engaging the audience. The ensemble is stunning, but some members demand mention, like Saycon Sengbloh as Sandra, who appears intermittently as the American who alerted Fela to the Black Panther movement. Ismael Kouyate and Gelan Lambert are outstanding athletic and eclectic performers. Bill T. Jones and Jim Lewis wrote Fela!'s free-form book with past and present interweaving. Slightly trimmed for Broadway, Fela! still has repetitive moments. As enticing as the music is, the show is further enhanced by Marina Draghici's duplex set and vibrant costumes, Robert Wierzel's theatrical lighting and Peter Nigrini's video design. Onstage, trombonist Aaron Johnson leads the ten-man New York musical company, Antibalas, fully animated from the welcome of "Everything Scatter" to the "Sorrow, Tears and Blood" of the stark but violent ending. You can't help but be caught up in Fela Anikulapo-Kuti's wrap-around exuberance and hedonistic Afrobeat. Yet, despite the generous length of the show, the details of Fela's story are largely ignored, like his marriages and misogyny. Fela died of AIDS complications in 1997 at the age of 58. (Pictured: Catherine Foster, Sahr Ngaujah, Nicole de Weever. Photo by Monique Carboni) Elizabeth Ahlfors Cabaret Scenes December 3, 2009 www.cabaretscenes.org

Fela!

Eugene O'Neill Theatre New York, NY

Eugene O'Neill Theatre
New York, NY