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Nobel Laureate,
Wole Soyinka, has endorsed ‘FELA! in Lagos’, the Broadway musical which
opens on Wednesday, April 20 at Expo Centre, Eko Hotel, Victoria
Island, Lagos.

The production,
about the life and music of inimitable afrobeat legend, Fela
Anikulapo-Kuti, is making its highly-anticipated debut in Nigeria after
successfully touring the US and Britain. The musical opened on Broadway
at the Eugene O’ Neill Theatre on November 23, 2009, after an acclaimed
run off Broadway in 2008. It ran for three months at London’s National
Theatre last year.

Soyinka endorsed
the musical, which heralds this year’s Lagos Black Heritage Festival,
at an interaction between the press and the crew and cast of the show
on Thursday, April 14. The writer and cousin to the afrobeat great,
said it was a pleasure to have Fela back. “You know he was my aburo
(younger brother) and he was dear to me. This is a show Nigerians will
see and enjoy,” he said, adding, “It’s emotional that Fela is back.”

Lead producer and
co-conceiver of the musical, Stephen Hendel, apologised for the absence
of director and choreographer, Bill T. Jones, reputed to be “America’s
most ferocious, fierce and political dance theatre choreographer.”
Hendel said Jones and his colleagues have created something special for
the audience and that FELA! is not a typical Broadway production. He
disclosed that the musical has reached thousands of appreciative people
around the world and that he was looking forward to its opening next
week.

Actor Sahr
Ngaujah, who plays Fela in the production, disclosed that he has been
involved in the show since its inception seven years ago. The Sierra
Leonean recalled Jones once saying that Fela “was a tornado of a man”
and that the show is not definitive of the late Fela, who died in 1997.
Ngaujah said what the producers have done is to take aspects of Fela’s
personality and from it “craft something we could offer to the world.”

Art producer,
Edward Tyler Nahem, disclosed that they had a lot of challenges
packaging the show but that the production crew is happy to be bringing
Fela back to Nigeria.

More than a show

Associate
choreographer Maija Garcia recalled that they started preparation for
FELA! in 2006, saying, “This is more than a show.” She expressed her
joy at the fact that FELA! is in Lagos at last, and also touched on why
Americans are telling Fela’s story. “Why are we the people that are
making it? The mystery is beyond our comprehension but it was one of
the most challenging and invigorating projects of my life.”

The choreographer
added that she had no doubt the Lagos show will succeed. “The show was
breaking doors, breaking bounds and I think that, essentially, is what
Fela is about… The greatest lesson I have learnt from Fela is not
only his resistance and resilience but also his attitude of performance
art.” Garcia reiterated that it is not just dance and songs that will
be offered to Nigerians when FELA! opens but “a show that will wake
people up.” She concluded, saying, “I’m honoured to be here, I’m
blessed as we all are.”

Fela’s former
manager, Rikki Stein, reiterated that the crew was proud to bring the
show to Nigeria and expressed hope that it will sell out. Yetunde
Sekoni of Broken Shackles, a Nigerian production company, acknowledged
sponsors of the musical and disclosed that prices of tickets range from
N5,000 to N35,000.

The production
manager of the show in Nigeria echoed Garcia when he said FELA! is more
than a show. He noted that the Nigerian production involves a skills
exchange between the majority Nigerian crew and their colleagues from
abroad. He noted that it is typical of foreign shows to downsize when
they come to Nigeria, but this is not the case with FELA!. The musical
is in Nigeria with the original Broadway cast, the stage set, the
lighting – everything. No cutting corners for a Nigerian audience
whatsoever, he assures. The production manager also won himself
applause by declaring that the crew comprises a ratio of six Nigerian
to every foreigner involved.

Homecoming

Cast members also
shared their experiences on the latest leg of the musical. All members
of the multicultural cast expressed joy at featuring in the production
and being in Fela’s home country. Farai Malianga, Oneika Phillips and
Lauren De Veaux were among those who spoke. Malianga disclosed that he
heard Fela’s music while growing up in Zimbabwe. Another cast member
drew on the significance for an African-American coming to Africa for
the first time, saying of the musical, “This is evidence of who we are
as people of African descent. I’m very humbled to be here. I’m proud to
call myself an African.”

Iris Wilson who
plays Najite, one of Fela’s queens, waxed poetic about her homecoming.
“I am an African born in America; that’s what I call myself. It is a
privilege and honour to be here in Lagos, Nigeria. My first time of
coming home to the motherland where my soul rejoices and my spirit
moves with the drums. It’s an honour to be here sharing Fela’s legacy.”
Lilias White, who plays Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, was not at the press
briefing but it was revealed that she had been so moved by the journey
to Lagos that she cried on the plane.

American Fela

Responding to why
no Nigerian is featured on the cast, Hendel said repeatedly that FELA!
is not a Nigerian show but an American one. “What moved myself and Bill
T. Jones and all the performers here wasn’t that Fela was a Nigerian
cultural export, which certainly he was. But that Fela was perhaps the
world’s most courageous musician during our lifetime and that the
legacy and artistry of Fela was not a Nigerian message, it’s a total
universal message. And in many respects, it is a message that resonates
more universally in 2011 much more than it resonated in 1977. The show
is always intended to have a subversive effect, but the subversive
effect is really intended firstly on American culture. For American
culture; for American theatre culture, for Broadway culture…The piece
is designed to be a universal global story about one of the world’s
geniuses who sacrificed everything in the fight for human dignity. it’s
not a Nigerian story, it’s a human story.” He added while answering a
related question that FELA! doesn’t presume to be a Nigerian show and
that he can’t do a show on Fela in under three hours.

Esoteric success

Hendel also
commented on the value added to the show by its superstar executive
producers, hip-hop musician Jay-Z and celebrity couple Will and Jada
Pinkett Smith. It all started with a blog post by Roots musician,
Questlove, championing the show after seeing it off-Broadway, and
calling for the African-American music community to embrace FELA! The
Musical. His glowing endorsement eventually led to Jay-Z and the Smiths
coming on board to provide financial backing for the show. “It was
fantastic to have these talents and celebrities endorse the show
publicly in the United States because in the United States the culture
is very US-centric. The US does not go beyond its borders for artistic
inspiration,” Hendel declared.

He gave commentary
on the show’s success in an otherwise insular American culture. “When
you have a show about an esoteric subject and you bring it to a
mainstream American audience – they said it would not last a month.”
Happily for all, the reverse has proven true. Michelle Obama, Spike
Lee, Alicia Keys, Mo Ibrahim and Madonna are among those who saw the
show during its Broadway run.

‘FELA! in Lagos’ is at Expo Centre, Eko Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos from April 20 to 25.