There's as much drama as dance, as much pain as pleasure, in "Fela!" the strong, flashy, throbbing musical directed and choreographed brilliantly and with his usual flowing imagination and imagery by Bill T. Jones. I saw it in New York recently, and can highly recommend it to St. Louisans planning vacations.
The rhythmic, pulsating Afrobeat music of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, whose life is celebrated here, is brought to exciting, sensual immediacy by Jones, who directed and choreographed, recently winning a Tony for the latter. The composer, who became a Nigerian legend in the 1970s, was as much a political figure as a theatrical one, and his story is set in 1978, on the last night before the government closed his club, the Shrine, and sent him into exile. He died in 1997 at the age of 59.
Anikulapo-Kuti also is paying tribute to his mother, who was thrown from a second-story window by government soldiers some six months before the play begins and died of the resulting injuries.
The music is exciting, with a heavy, throbbing bass line, and is a blend of American jazz, blues and hip-hop with the traditional African rhythms. In his choreography, Jones emphasizes both the sensual and the sexual aspects of the music, and the dancers offer tribute to old-fashioned bumps and grinds. Rolling hips and powerful pelvic thrusts are almost a constant, and the dancers are spectacular.
Kevin Mambo and Sahr Ngaujah alternate in the title role, a demanding one because the actor is onstage almost constantly, singing, dancing, playing a variety of instruments and always in an angry leadership position. We saw Mambo, who held the audience as if it were a lover, a friend, a supplicant. It's brilliant work. The great Lillias White, a classic singer who was part of the original cast of "Dreamgirls," portrays his mother, Funmilayo Anikulapo-Kuti, as a ghost and as a live person, and she pounds out her songs with passion. Elasea Douglas is brilliant as one of Fela's wives (he had a dozen or so), Ismael Kouyate is an amazing chanter and Gelan Lambert is a show-stopper as a tap-dancer who spreads electricity throughout the theater.
Given Jones' theater history, "Fela!" is as much dance concert as it is theatrical piece, maybe more, but the dance is passionate and immediate, and the performances are thrilling. The dancers often break off into what can be compared to jazz musicians' riffs. The technical work is brilliant. Marina Draghici designed the colorful scenery that covers the theater's walls with portraits, political banners and much visual evidence of a country in turmoil; she also designed the costumes, and won a Tony for them. Robert Kaplowitz' sound design also was honored with a Tony, while Robert Wierzel designed lights and Peter Nigrini the projections that heightened tension and beauty.
Exciting theater in every respect.
–Joe