FELA! Reviews

[blaxx]

Posted: 11/23/09 at 7:53pm

I'm sorry, but the other thread already has nothing to do with professional reviews of the show.

Variety is Mixed

Crafting a show that's more impressionistic than informational has its limitations as well as rewards. Despite minor tightening since it premiered Off Broadway last fall, "Fela!" remains undershaped; at times, it's repetitive and self-indulgent.

http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117941667.html?categoryid=33&cs=1

Updated On: 11/23/09 at 07:53 PM

[blaxx]

Posted: 11/23/09 at 8:02pm

Talkin' Broadway is Mixed-to-Positive

It’s just that when “Kere Kay” hits - it's used as the finale for both acts - it's treated as an all-purpose wrap-up moment that builds to a barking, two-armed “black power” salute. The song as implemented here demands revolution without ever actually having to earn it. It’s a fitting symbol for Fela!, even if it doesn’t do justice to the man the show is about, who dreamed of bringing justice to everyone..

http://www.talkinbroadway.com/world/Fela.html

[Sauja]

Posted: 11/23/09 at 8:03pm

I swapped your mixed and mixed-to-positive rankings in the other page. We are clearly stepping on each others toes, blaxx, and I now leave it in your very capable hands!

[blaxx]

Posted: 11/23/09 at 8:10pm

You can contribute to the thread if you find more, love.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 11/23/09 at 8:12pm

Hollywood Reporter is positive but wonders about its chances for commercial success:

The increasing adventurousness of Broadway producers is well demonstrated by "Fela!," the high-powered new musical about legendary African performer Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. A smash hit Off-Broadway, this wildly entertaining show will need all the help it can get to attract mainstream audiences, though the late addition of producers Jay-Z and Will and Jada Pinkett Smith will surely help.

Hollywood Reporter Updated On: 11/23/09 at 08:12 PM

[adamgreer]

Posted: 11/23/09 at 8:15pm

North Jersey Newsroom is positive, but also wonders how well the show will do:

Broadway has never before witnessed a musical quite like "Fela!" â?? an explosive mix of catchy Afrobeat rhythms, wild, sexy dancing and raw bio-dramatics â?? and while its unique charms certainly are powerful, one frankly wonders whether this unusual show will catch on with the mainstream public.

North Jersey Newsroom Updated On: 11/23/09 at 08:15 PM

[Smaxie]

Posted: 11/23/09 at 8:24pm

Michael Sommers no longer reviews for the Star Ledger. He's writing specifically for that website, New Jersey Newsroom. The Star Ledger no longer employs a Broadway theatre critic.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 11/23/09 at 8:32pm

Thanks, Smaxie. I fixed it.
Updated On: 11/23/09 at 08:32 PM

[gustof777]

Posted: 11/23/09 at 9:10pm

http://www.broadway.com/videos/tag/word-mouth/word-of-mouth-review-fela/

Good old Word of Mouth. They liked it. If only they would've sent Ellen!

[adamgreer]

Posted: 11/23/09 at 9:37pm

USA Today is a rave:

It may be worth nothing that this decade's most exhilarating new Broadway musicals were developed, at least in part, by creative carpetbaggers.
Like Spring Awakening in 2006 and Passing Strange in 2008, Fela! (* * * 1/2 out of four), which opened Monday at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre, owes its electrifying score to artists who built their careers outside musical theater. In this case, they're the lavishly gifted Nigerian bandleader Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, who died from AIDS complications in 1997, and the Brooklyn-based group Antibalas, among his numerous disciples.
USA Today

[broadwayman17]

Posted: 11/23/09 at 10:17pm

Entertainment Weekly: Positive (B+)
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20322276,00.html

[adamgreer]

Posted: 11/23/09 at 10:30pm

The Faster Times is a rave, though it explicitly refrains from referring to the show as a musical:

â??Fela!â?? has opened at the Eugene Oâ??Neill Theater, giving to those who had only heard about Fela a chance to learn as if first-hand the life of this extraordinary man and a chance to see a musical that is unlike any that has been on Broadway.

Theater people like to say things like that, and of course some of the best musicals in Broadway history were unlike any that preceded them in some ways. â??Fela!â?? is so awesomely different that even to attempt to describe it in Broadway terms risks being laughed off the Internet â??â??Lion Kingâ?? meets â??Rentâ??? That doesnâ??t contain it.

The Faster Times Updated On: 11/23/09 at 10:30 PM

[blaxx]

Posted: 11/23/09 at 10:36pm

Theatermania is Very Positive

There's no better dancing on Broadway than what's currently on view in Fela!, directed and choreographed by Bill T. Jones and now playing the Eugene O'Neill Theatre following a successful Off-Broadway run at 37 Arts last year. The sheer exuberance of the performers makes this bio-musical about Nigerian activist, composer, and performer Fela Anikulapo Kuti an exciting and richly rewarding theatrical experience

http://www.theatermania.com/broadway/reviews/11-2009/fela_22982.html

[Sauja]

Posted: 11/23/09 at 11:16pm

The New York Times is a rave. Congrats to all involved!

http://theater.nytimes.com/2009/11/24/theater/reviews/24fela.html?pagewanted=2&ref=arts

"In a season dominated by musical retreads and revivals, “Fela!,” which stars the excellent Sahr Ngaujah and Kevin Mambo (alternating in the title role), throbs with a stirring newness that is not to be confused with novelty."

[blaxx]

Posted: 11/23/09 at 11:19pm

And, in the end, not commercial enough for Broadway. Taking the risk, however, is admirable.

NY Times rave included, I doubt it will survive for much longer.

[blaxx]

Posted: 11/23/09 at 11:25pm

AP is also a Rave:

Colorful costumes and the amazing set, both designed by Marina Draghici, enhance the party atmosphere, particularly in a riveting, surreal dream sequence when Fela travels through the spirit world. Draghici's recreation of The Shrine includes Nigerian folk-art and political graffiti from the 1960s and '70s. Robert Wierzel's magical lighting, Robert Kaplowitz's sound and Peter Nigrini's projection design complete the feeling of being in a hip, slightly dangerous nightclub.

The political messages do not detract from the terrific work by the cast, the overriding musicality and outstandingly sensuous dance performances.

"Fela!" is a unique Broadway experience that leaves the audience on their feet and wanting more.

http://www.newstimes.com/entertainment/article/Review-Fela-dance-party-finds-its-way-to-B-way-262086.php

[Q]

Posted: 11/23/09 at 11:26pm

It seems to me this screams out for an alternative marketing campaign. I wish I could see it.

[blaxx]

Posted: 11/24/09 at 1:14am

Backstage raves but worries about its chances of survival

When it opened Off-Broadway for a limited run last season, "Fela!" did not quite coalesce into a compelling portrait of the fascinating Nigerian musician-activist Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. The production by Bill T. Jones, who directed, choreographed, co-wrote the book with Jim Lewis, and co-conceived with Lewis and Stephen Hendel, was way too long and loose. The inspiring and harrowing story of the rise of Fela's Afrobeat sound and his challenging of his country's military dictatorship was somewhat lost amidst too much extraneous material and too many clichéd scenes in which the conflicted artist lashed out at the onstage band and then launched into yet another monologue. For this Broadway transfer to the Eugene O'Neill, Jones has cut the excess and delivered a tight, sizzling staging that hits you with the force of a tidal wave. But are Main Stem audiences ready for it?

http://www.backstage.com/bso/reviews-ny-theatre-broadway/ny-review-fela-1004046556.story

[blaxx]

Posted: 11/24/09 at 1:17am

John Simon really loved it. **** stars.

Perhaps the closest I can come to conveying my experience of â??Fela!â?? is to call it a great humane and transcendent fable come to life, with everything â??fableâ?? implies: mythic, fabulous and a supreme lesson in living, here supplied magisterially by choreographer Bill T. Jones and his star, Sahr Ngaujah.

Transplanted from off-Broadway, â??Fela!â?? is less structured than your typical Broadway musical but surely more encompassing than most.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=aNekI98AswaA

Updated On: 11/24/09 at 01:17 AM

[blaxx]

Posted: 11/24/09 at 1:30am

Updated On: 11/24/09 at 01:30 AM

[blaxx]

Posted: 11/24/09 at 1:33am

Well, I think this might be the best reviewed new musical of the season.

Updated On: 11/24/09 at 01:33 AM

[blaxx]

Posted: 11/24/09 at 1:37am

NorthJersey.com is overall positive but still has some issues with the book.

It's understandable that much book time is devoted to Fela's politics. That's who he was and what many of his songs, such as the hit "Zombie," were vibrantly about.

After a while, though, the generalized condemnations of oppression and exploitation become repetitious. We feel the heat, but there's not much light.

http://www.northjersey.com/arts_entertainment/theater/72196262.html?c=y&page=2

[blaxx]

Posted: 11/24/09 at 1:46am

Time Out NY raves giving it ****

Although Jones proved in 2006’s Spring Awakening that he could play the Broadway game, adapting his modern-dance aesthetic to musical storytelling (and garnering a Tony), who knew he was this much of a showman? Working with book cowriter Jim Lewis, a fierce dancing corps and the sexy, commanding Ngaujah, Jones has orchestrated a soul-scorching mash-up of pounding African dance, political protest and intoxicating Afrobeat—the style Kuti pioneered, which mixes funk, jazz and drumming. Fela! is more than a musical; it’s an ecstatic phenomenon.

http://newyork.timeout.com/articles/theater/80875/fela-at-eugene-oneill-theatre-theater-review#ixzz0XkyQBQWz

[joe5]

Posted: 11/24/09 at 8:27am

congrads ya kutupwa na crew! matumaini kwa muda mrefu

[bjh2114]

Posted: 11/24/09 at 8:38am

Well, I think this might be the best reviewed new musical of the season.

Well, it is only the second one to open, and we all knew it was going to get better reviews than Memphis. (I guess it's the third if you count Burn the Floor). I will be curious to see how the Addams Family, Come Fly With Me, and Sondheim on Sondheim reviews are when those shows gets to Broadway.