Outside the Eugene O'Neil Theater in NYC
Inside the theater, one wall caught the mood of Fela's shrine in Nigeria [photos by y.toure]
The taxi ride from New York's JFK airport to Brooklyn cost a huge $51.50. That was an awful re-introduction to the Big Apple after many years since my last visit, but hey, I was there from Atlanta to see the musical "Fela!", and no thieving taxi system was gonna ruin that.
The 11.Nov.2009 performance on Broadway got deep into the music and the meaning of Fela Anikulapo Kuti, the creator of Afrobeat music.
I came to the performance with doubts that a musical on Broadway in New York would do Fela justice. His music and his politics and his personal life were radical by Western standards, and I was cautious. But--
I was blown away. The show was an uninhibited, unapologetic, unashamed celebration of all of Fela, and I highly recommend it.
Fela was born in Nigeria, raised on the streets of struggle in his country and forged by the Black Power movement in the USA.
I have seen Fela and his band of musicians and dancers perform live, back in the day in Los Angeles. His shows were always a driving, sweating, loud, non-stop, hypnotic high, and it was fueled by drums, horns, bass, sex, politics, the gods, his mother's love and lots of ganja.
And it all came across in this show, directed and choreographed by Tony award winner, brother Bill T. Jones.
The Eugene O'Neil Theater was made over to simulate The Shrine, Fela's club, community center and refuge in Lagos, Nigeria. Images similar to those in The Shrine hung not only from the stage, but also from the balconies and walls of the theater.
This was not just a musical, with some music-and-dance pieces strung together with some talk in between. This was a bold exposition of Fela. We see his mother's radical politics... the influence of the USA Black Power movement on his thinking... images of Malcolm and Garvey... when is the last time you were in a musical where the dancers held books about Black radicals?
Production values were very high. In addition to the walls of the theater decorated like Fela's own Shrine, the show was a multi-media extravaganza, with live video, historical footage from Nigeria, supertitles, and an image of Fela's mother that moved every time he spoke to her.
You were not just surrounded. You were engulfed.
The stage was extended into the audience, troupe members danced through the audience, performers danced on two levels of the stage, and some audience members-- me included-- talked back to the performers.
"Fela!" exposed his ganja smoking, his polygamy, his attacks on Nigerian corruption and dictators, his help of the poor. The influence of one of his wives, a Black woman born in the US, herself a political radical, was well done.
There was little or nothing about Fela's father, about any other members of his family, or about how he died [of Aids-related causes].
This production was funny, passionate, revealing. The murder of Sean Bell and the corruption of the firm AIG were highlighted briefly and well, showing that Fela, though he transitioned in 1997, is still current and relevant.
These lessons from the stage still resonate with me-- "We must take our destiny into our own hands... The future is now!... Music is our weapon... We are going to be here forever!"
Do what you can to bring "Fela!" to your city.
Fela Lives!
