Fela!

Fela Kuti was an interesting and controversial man. He was a multi-instrumentalist musician, composer, dancer, founder of Afro-beat, protest singer, revolutionary, political activist, polygamist and dope smoker. He founded a commune called the Kalakuta Republic and declared independence from the repressive Nigerian state, and began his own political party: MOP - Movement of the People. For his outspoken criticism of the government and military he was harassed, beaten, tortured and jailed. But above all he was a great musician.

It was with this in mind that I went to see the show Fela!, a Broadway musical. I don’t normally like musicals and this one was no exception. The story was lost and hard to follow and the music was not as powerful as it should have been. The choreography and dancers were great and I liked the fact that the stage was made to look like his Shrine, with the actors dancing on stage and through the aisles, as the stage extended throughout the seats. The actor playing Fela tried to give a dance lesson but honestly, the majority of the audience was white and white men’s hips cannot move like the African booties. I was disappointed because I thought I was going to enjoy an amazing musical event and it ended up being a boring very American show.

Hopefully next week’s concert of Fela Kuti’s son, Femi Kuti, will be a lot better.