(Detroit, MI) Producers Shawn “Jay-Z†Carter, Will & Jada Pinkett Smith presents an encore one week return engagement of the hit multiple Tony Award-winning Broadway musical FELA! at the historic Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts, with -opening Tuesday, February 12th, with performances through Sunday, February 17th, 2013. Fela! is the musical, based on the life of groundbreaking African composer, performer and activist Fela Anikulapo-Kuti.
With the phenomenal success of the 2012 run at Music Hall, we are proud to bring back the same cast for a limited one week run of the Tony Winning Musical experience.
This run will feature Michelle Williams, the Grammy winner and former Destiny’s Child member, will play Sandra Isadore, show producers Shawn “Jay-Z†Carter, Will and Jada Pinkett Smith and Ruth and Stephen Hendel announced on January 3rd. Sandra is the love interest to Fela Kuti.
– Music Hall once again will advance this one week run with it’s effective and innovative series of educational outreach appearances in local High Schools which gives young people a connection between Fela’s music and his human rights activism through live music and dance which helps tell the story of this charismatic musician/activist.
Fela! is the true story of the legendary Nigerian musician Fela Kuti whose soulful Afrobeat rhythms ignited a generation, is a triumphant tale of courage, passion and love, featuring Kuti’s captivating music and the visionary direction and choreography of Tony Award-winner Bill T. Jones.Inspired by his mother, a civil rights champion, Kuti defied a corrupt and oppressive military government and devoted his life and music to the struggle for freedom and human dignity.
The Music Hall performances will feature the best of both the Broadway and London casts as the theater will be transformed into the set of a Fela Kuti stadium concert in 1976. The kinetic and sensual Afrobeat rhythms provide a mesmerizing soundtrack which help tell the story of this phenomenal musician, composer, agitprop firebrand, human rights pioneer and husband to as many of 27 wives, who not only changed the face of music, but also his home country of Nigeria.
FELA! is directed and choreographed by Tony Award®-winner Bill T. Jones, with a book by Jim Lewis and Bill T. Jones. Sahr Ngaujah (2010 Tony Award-nominee for Best Actor in a Musical) plays the title character (replaced at some performances by Adesola Osakalumi) Melanie Marshall shines as Fela’s feminist activist mother, who looms large in the story, providing a conscience and angelic presence to the frenetic and whirlwind pace of the overall narrative. Songs include “Teacher Don’t Teach Me Nonsense,” “Suffering and Smiling,” “Sorrow, Tears and Blood/Shine, “International Thief,” The Fela! Afrobeat rhythms are infectious and sensual, led by musical director-orchestrator-conductor Aaron Johnson’s 10-piece band, the snaking and hypnotic blend of R & B, Jazz and traditional African rhythms will transport you to the humid, smoky environs of a Lagos Nightclub.
See a preview from the Broadway Smash here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqnQC3RODl0
Official Website with various media
http://www.felaonbroadway.com
FELA! Performance Schedule
Tuesdays — Fridays at 8:00pm, Saturdays and Sundays at 2:00pm & 8:00 pm
Tickets are $30, $40, $50, $75, $100 available at Music Hall Box Office 313 887-8501 / www.felaonbroadway.com or www.ticketmaster.com
For more information vista www.sayyeahyeah.com for all things Fela! Detroit
