i loved 'passing strange' and i love 'fela!'. they aren't that similar, other than that they both have much more contemporary "non broadway" scores and they both are highly theatrical pieces. i would recommend 'fela!'. i have a feeling you will enjoy it. sadly, you will find a lot of 'fela!' haters on this board because: (a) it's not "traditional" broadway (whatever that is) and (b) although it's upbeat, it's not frivolously fun. some also claim it lacks character development and a book, which is just isn't true.
you can sample the cast recording on their website. give it a listen a see what you think.
fela's website
"the stage too must experiment - with ideas, with the psychological relationship of men and women, with speech and rhythm forms, with dance and movement, with color and light - or it must and should become a museum product. in an age of terrific implications as to wealth and poverty, as to the function of government, as to peace and war, as to the relation of the artist to all these forces, the theatre must grow up. the theatre must become conscious of the implications of the changing social order, or the changing social older will ignore, and rightly, the implications of the theatre." - hallie flanagan, director of the federal theatre project
*blame e.e. mings*
