Closing Notice For The Most Scrappy Fela!Yesterday, in one fell swoop, the Broadway musical
Fela! not only
announced it would close on January 2, 2011, but that on September 14, singing legend
Patti LaBelle would assume the role of Funmilayo (Fela Kuti's mother), currently played by outgoing Tony nominee
Lillias White.
Evidently, the scrappy, revolutionary tuner isn't going down without a fight. The show will have played 463 regular performances by the time it closes.
What is remarkable is that for a show all about "originality," it appears to be employing one of the stage's most tried and true devices of keeping a Broadway production chugging along:
stunt casting. Now before you jump all over me, keep in mind that I have
long championed Fela! It was undeniably last season's most innovative, new musical, and in my opinion, the
best musical of the past year.
To her credit, apart from
three separate concert series through the eighties and nineties, Patti LaBelle has performed in one Broadway musical. She appeared nearly 28 years ago in the short-lived
Your Arms Too Short To Box With God revival
with another soul legend
Al Green. In addition to appearing in several
films and television shows, she's also portrayed Mama Morton in
Chicago out in Los Angeles.
Also to LaBelle's enormous credit, she has graciously said
this about
Fela!:
After seeing the show, I was struck by the choreography and work of Bill T. Jones, and the passion and joy that overflows from the stage. Fela's mother, Funmilayo, was a strong, truly inspiring woman, and I am so privileged to be able to pay tribute to her on the Broadway stage.
Indeed, she will be. But will LaBelle's new attitude be enough to keep ticket sales humming through the pipeline during the fall when so many other
new shows are opening?
Let me say this, if you haven't already seen
Fela!, do yourself a favor and go. You'll see why I've been saying "Yeah, yeah" since it opened last November 19.
This is
Steve On Broadway (SOB).
In keeping with the new Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulations that unfairly discriminate against bloggers, who are now required by law to disclose when they have received anything of value they might write about, please note that I have received nothing of value in exchange for this post.Labels: Broadway, Closing Notices, Fela, Lillias White, Musical, Patti LaBelle, Replacements, Stunt Casting
Fela! (The SOB Review) - Eugene O'Neill Theatre, New York, NY
Fela! (The SOB Review) - Eugene O'Neill Theatre, New York, New York***1/2 (out of ****)Almost as audaciously as the late Nigerian
Afrobeat pioneer and political activist
Fela Anikulapo-Kuti declared his commune as the
Kalakuta Republic,
Bill T. Jones'
Fela! dares to dream its own stylized mantle of "most original new musical on Broadway."
The verdict? I'd be hard pressed not to say yeah-yeah!
It's exactly that and so much more, empowering
Fela! to stake its rightful claim without being excessively hyperbolic. Infused with the rascally Kuti's radicalism and rhythms, this revolutionary tuner is almost all originality, with little artificiality.
Now that I have your attention, let me explain.
In what has to be the most transcendent musical to descend upon a Broadway stage in years
, Fela! envelopes the senses as soon as you walk into the
Eugene O'Neill. The theatre has been transformed by
Marina Draghici's overflowing scenic design into Kuti's nightclub
Shrine. Kuti's own music is already funking up the place so vitally (compliments
Aaron Johnson's taut musical direction) that it's hard to resist tapping your toes the moment you arrive.
Surely, this is what director and choreographer Jones intends. For
Fela! is clearly a labor of love, and it shows in this most unusual of jukebox musicals that simply defies description and exceeds all expecations.
In co-writing its book with
Jim Lewis, Jones has conceived a living, breathing, pulsating and truly magical musical monument to a man most in America may never have heard of. In telling Kuti's story and showcasing his infectious music, it's a tribute to Jones that he makes us feel
Fela! so deeply.
While enjoying what seems to be a pre-show jam-session playing Afrobeat music, lithe dancers begin to assemble, both in the audience and on-stage in a jubilantly choreographed celebration that's a joy to behold. In fact, Jones may as well start making room now for the Tony he'll likely receive for a second and infinitely more deserving choreography honor. Before you know it, there's a full-fledged concert party taking place with Kuti himself in control (the role of Fela Kuti alternates performances between
Sahr Ngaujah and
Kevin Mambo; the mesmerizing Mambo performed the afternoon I attended).
But this isn't a mere concert staging. Kuti reveals that this is his final time performing in the Shrine. As he looks to an image of his beloved murdered mother Funmilayo (a haunting, stirring
Lillias White), she returns to life via
Peter Nigrini's stunning projection design (one, I might add, that makes the best case yet for a new Tony category). Without missing one single Afrobeat,
Fela! morphs into the story of Kuti's life.
During a late-sixties stay in the United States, Kuti finds himself under the influence of the enchanting Sandra (a terrific, if underutilized
Saycon Sengbloh), who personifies the fusion of American funk and Black Panther politics that would propel him forward in Nigeria. Once Kuti's returned home, his music emboldens him to challenge the Nigerian government's corrupt regime.
Through his music that at once stirs and incites, Kuti becomes an oft-arrested and tortured hero to Nigeria's poor. As his quixotic run for the presidency suggests, he rebounds from each confrontation with the law seemingly stronger and even more willing to take on all comers including big corporations that fund his government's wicked ways and the West for its complicity.
If
Fela! becomes a bit preachy at times, it succeeds in narrowly avoiding a completely hagiographic depiction of Kuti by taking copious note of his affinity for weed and women (he had 27 wives in all). Yet in the show's rousing finale in which the myriad afflications devastating the African continent are symbolically laid to rest, Jones only alludes to the
deadly disease that would take Kuti's life in 1997. While the scene is chilling and even uplifting, it represents a missed opportunity to truly triumph with maximum impact.
Nevertheless,
Fela! is one of the most compelling and affecting musicals you're likely to see this or any other year. As an equally entertaining piece of musical theatre, I can't fail to strongly recommend this captivating and worthy show. Long live
Fela!This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Bill T. Jones, Broadway, Fela, Kevin Mambo, Lillias White, Musical, Sahr Ngaujah, Saycon Sengbloh, The SOB Review
