AmericanTheaterWeb Original News & Reviews

UPDATES FOR 9/11/08

Time Out New York

Review: Fela!
Director-choreographer Bill T. Jones brings an Afrobeat icon back to life in living color.

ny1

Review: “Fela!”

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UPDATES FOR 9/10/08

Village Voice

Afrobeating the Dictators in Fela! by Michael Feingold

New York Observer

Is Broadway Ready for Afrobeat? Swivel Those Hips!

UPDATED 9/9/08

New York Journal-News

Explosive Afrobeat from Bill T. Jones
Those of us who were riveted by Bill T. Jones' work in "Spring Awakening" couldn't wait to see what the 56-year-old choreographer from Valley Cottage would pull off next. He hasn't disappointed.

Bergen Record

Off-Broadway review: "Fela!"

Back Stage

Fela! reviewed by David Sheward
Fela! is an exuberant musical exploring the life of Fela Anikulapo Kuti, a Nigerian musician and activist as renowned for his compositions as protests against his country's regime.

CurtainUp

Review: Fela!
Whether you arrive knowing Fela through his music, his politics or (as with most of the audience) not at all, you will leave infused with everything Fela; the sensory experience is that complete. And you will be better for it.

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FIRST NIGHT REVIEWS

AmericanTheaterWeb

A Rebellious Musician's Life Story Told Through His Songs

New York Times

Afrobeat’s King, Recrowned
“Fela!” is the pulse-racing new show about the Nigerian musician and activist Fela Anikulapo Kuti.
* Slide Show: The King of Afrobeat

New York Daily News

The infectious revel of 'Fela!'
A new show at 37 Arts celebrates the life and music of Fela Kuti, a Nigerian artist and activist who in the 1970s pioneered a sound called Afrobeat - a cat...

amNY

Not a Happy 'Fela'
It's never a good sign when you need not only a plot synopsis, but also a glossary to understand a show.

New York Post

'Tis the most snappy 'Fela!'
Don't expect to sit on your butt or your hands at "Fela!" This rousing new bio-musical - full of the pulsating, rhythmic...

New York Sun

Shaking Hips and Raising Fists: 'Fela!'
If any musician were to warrant a jukebox musical right now, it would be the one with the moxie to release an album called "Black President" and the chops to back it up. That record came out almost 30 years ago, and it's one of many scorching titles…

Star-Ledger

A most energetic 'Fela!'

Associated Press

Music and dancing lift an exuberant 'Fela!'
It may seem incongruous to make a musical by combining exhilarating Afrobeat music and lively, often sensual dancing with grim stories of a military government's oppression of its citizens. But when the result is the exciting new off-Broadway show ''Fela!,'' the messages and the music meld into near-nonstop exuberance.

Financial Times

Fela!, 37 Arts, New York
The life of the late Afrobeat pioneer and Nigerian political agitator Fela Kuti has been turned into a musical with thrilling spectacle, writes Brendan Lemon

Bloomberg.com

Jones's Rousing `Fela!' Brings Nigerian Singer, Gadfly to Life
Words come uncomfortably close to failing when called on to describe the musical ``Fela!'' about the life and music of the Nigerian artist ...

Variety

Review: Fela!
Like last season's "Passing Strange" and this summer's "Hair" revival, this dance-intensive bio-portrait aims to be less traditional musical theater than cathartic experience, lacing its communicative passion with infectious euphoria, rebellious anger and heartfelt despair.

TheaterMania

Review: Fela!
Bill T. Jones' exuberant choreography is the main reason to see this bio-musical about Afrobeat founder Fela Anikulapo Kuti.

Talkin' Broadway

Review: Fela!
When facing down troublemakers, is it better to engage them directly, or to just let them burn themselves out? That’s the central question of the new musical Fela!, which just opened at 37 Arts. It’s addressed both directly and indirectly, with regards to its subject, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, and itself, one of the most energetic, thrilling, and exciting musicals that never delivers either thrills or excitement.

nytheatre.com

Review: Fela!