Fela!

I was at the matinee performance of the Broadway musical Fela! at Centennial Hall on Saturday.  I had been looking forward to the performance since Christmas, when I received tickets as a very thoughtful present from my sister.  Even after eagerly anticipating the show for months, the performance did not disappoint me at all.  The music and dance, inspired by the larger-than-life life of Nigerian musician and social activist Fela Kuti, was wonderfully engaging and compelling.  Read on to hear more about the performance and the dynamic life of the creator of Afrobeat music, Fela Kuti.

The musical is set in Lagos, Nigeria, in "The Shrine," which is Fela's nightclub.  During his shows, Fela frequently speaks out against corruption and oppression by the government (among other political and cultural topics).  On the evening the musical is set, it is the late 70's, and Fela's compound has recently been raided by the military, resulting in beatings, sexual assault, and even caused the death of Fela's mother, who was thrown out of a second story window.  While the musical is set on a specific night in the club, the story line is far from linear, and there are multiple flashbacks, history lessons, and exposition by way of conversations between Fela and the spirit of his deceased mother.  The set is sparse, the music and dance is the real showpiece, not the space.

The performances were all around impressive, and the star, Adesola Osakalumi, who played Fela, was incredible.  He brought passion and energy and depth to the character.  One has a sense that Fela was a very charismatic force, and that power shines through in this performance.  Apart from this lead role, there was not really much acting, more playing of music, singing and dancing, all of which were fantastic.  The band was onstage, as they would be in the nightclub, and the djembe (African drum) player was free to move around and interact with dancers (and audience) as he played.  The band was at least ten people strong and churned out a phenomenal onslaught of driving Afrobeat intensity.  The band consists of Afrobeat pros from around the world (though most are out of New York City).  Members of Antibalas and an assortment of musical all-stars drive the Fela! engine.

The music is so compelling, that at some points, the audience is on their feet, dancing along with the cast.  In fact, and in the interest of full disclosure, I was so moved by the music, that I literally could not stop moving.  Even while seated in my chair I had to dance and percuss in a limited, seated (and what I thought was a rather respectful) fashion.  This actually lead to me getting in trouble with some manner of theater manager.  He came by my chair to tell me that while he was glad I was enjoying myself, I was disrupting other audience members.  So, though we were meant to be in Fela's very own (and reputedly very lively) nightclub, and we were asked directly by the star to participate freely in the show ("Everybody say yeah, yeah"), I managed to get myself reprimanded for having too much fun.  I actually wear it as a badge of honor (I really do not think I was disrupting any reasonable humans, I was sitting and moving around in a very angaged yet contained fashion, my sister can corroborate this fact).

According to my sources, there will soon be a blog post here at Rhythm and News which will review the new Fela compilation, The Best Of The Black President, vol. 2.  That entry will provide more information about Fela Kuti and his music.  In the meantime, keep enjoying the music!

Cheers, Brian