You feel that people could break into a dance at any second, or open a fire hydrant, or maybe even storm a barricade. Not for nothing do we celebrate both the American and French Revolutions in sweaty old July.
If you have even an ember of this energy within you — and who doesn’t right about now? — you can expect “Fela!” to fan it into a flame. This exultant and unorthodox biomusical about a singing African revolutionary, first staged on Broadway in 2009, reopened with perfect timing for a limited engagement on Thursday night, smack between Independence Day and Bastille Day.
Running only through Aug. 4 at the Al Hirschfeld Theater, “Fela!” incorporates the spirit of summertime insurrection as infectiously as any show I can think of. As staged by the choreographer Bill T. Jones, and written by Mr. Jones with Jim Lewis, “Fela!” translates one man’s life into a nonstop banquet of movement both sensuous and angry. And though this production has been on the road — in Europe as well as the United States — pretty much nonstop since it last saw Broadway, it shows no signs whatsoever of flagging.
The production’s title character, the chart-topping Nigerian pop star and government-baiting political agitator Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, is still portrayed by the electrifyingly insolent Sahr Ngaujah (with Adesola Osakalumi taking over for some performances). But the show’s leading ladies — Melanie Marshall (as Fela’s daunting and undaunted mother) and Paulette Ivory (as one of his 27 wives), who both appeared in the National Theater version in London — will be new to New York audiences.
Ms. Marshall’s uncanny, range-roving singing in itself justifies revisiting “Fela!” Yet while it seems strange to say of a musical that chronicles the impact of a charismatic leader, “Fela!” isn’t about individual performances. Or rather, it’s about a lot of individual performances — and I mean every single dancer, singer and band member — forming a collective whole in which singular style is never sacrificed. “Fela!” is about as close as showbiz gets to a democracy of talent.
That, above all, is what strikes me in seeing “Fela!” for the fourth (or is it the fifth?) time. Choruses of Broadway musicals are traditionally most notable for their synchronicity, with everyone executing exactly the same steps at the same time. Kathleen Marshall’s recent revival of “Anything Goes” was the ne plus ultra example of the effectiveness of this approach.
But while all the performers in “Fela!” are moving to the same beat — Afrobeat, to be exact, and mostly via songs written by Fela, who died in 1997 — each does so in his or her own distinctive way. And while the costumes by Marina Draghici (who also designed the kinetically charged, graffiti-splashed set) reflect a single sensibility, an urban-tribal hybrid, they are worn with highly individualized style. Even in rigorously choreographed ensemble numbers, each figure onstage remains a distinct and inviolable personality.
They’re a reminder of the infinity of movements that can be achieved with arms, legs and, above all, hips. The pelvis is the true solar plexus of “Fela!,” and it is put to extraordinarily potent use by the dancers here. This is true not only of the exquisite, multiform and definitely nonsubservient women portraying Fela’s wives (who present the best argument I’ve seen for polygamy) but also of the spliff-sucking male dancers, whose choreographic vocabulary ranges from tap (but as you’ve never seen it before) to acrobatics.
The show, which takes place during what is advertised as the last concert in Fela’s self-contained nation of a compound in Lagos, features a variety of striking set pieces. These include a stately but sassy funeral procession, a biographical montage of Fela’s years in the United States (where he meets the still baffling and underwritten character played by Ms. Ivory) and a hallucinatory visit to the ancestral afterlife.
But the number that best captures this production’s essence comes early. It’s a piece resonantly titled “Originality/Yellow Fever,” and it allows the different performers to embody the elements of Afrobeat style. There’s no question that they’re all drinking from the same musical source, but each also emerges as a brilliant solo artist.
When these dancers later move robotically in a satirical song called “Zombie,” you may find yourself feeling bereft. These people, like most people, were never meant to be identically programmed. And though Fela’s political platform may be hazy at best (peace, love, rock ’n’ roll and marijuana, man), you have a visceral awareness of the individual freedom at stake and in danger here. In “Fela!” dancing isn’t just entertainment — it’s life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Fela!
Book by Jim Lewis and Bill T. Jones; music and lyrics by Fela Anikulapo-Kuti; additional lyrics by Mr. Lewis; additional music by Aaron Johnson and Jordan McLean; based on the life of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti; conceived by Mr. Jones, Mr. Lewis and Stephen Hendel, inspired by “Fela: This Bitch of a Life” by Carlos Moore; directed and choreographed by Mr. Jones; sets and costumes by Marina Draghici; lighting by Robert Wierzel; sound by Robert Kaplowitz; projections by Peter Nigrini; wig, hair and makeup design by Cookie Jordan; production stage manager, John M. Atherlay; general manager, Roy Gabay; technical supervisor, Paul Rambacher; company manager, Judy Wilfore; music direction and coordinator, orchestrations and arrangements by Mr. Johnson; musical arrangements by Mr. McLean; music consultant, Antibalas; creative director/associate choreographer, Maija Garcia; associate director, Niegel Smith. A Broadway/National Theater of London production, presented by Ruth and Stephen Hendel, the National Theater of Great Britain, Ahmir Thompson, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Fela LLC, Mr. Gabay, Edward Tyler Nahem, Slava Smolokowski, Chip Meyrelles/Ken Greiner, Douglas G. Smith, Steve Semlitz/Cathy Glaser, Daryl Roth/True Love Productions, Susan Dietz/M. Swinsky/J. Deitch and Knitting Factory Entertainment. At the Al Hirschfeld Theater, 302 West 45th Street, Manhattan; (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. Through Aug. 4. Running time: 2 hours 40 minutes.
WITH: Sahr Ngaujah and Adesola Osakalumi (alternating performances as Fela Anikulapo-Kuti), Paulette Ivory (Sandra), Rasaan-Elijah Green (Djembe-“Mustafa”), Ismael Kouyaté (Ismael), Gelan Lambert (J. K. Braimah/Tap Dancer/Egungun) and Melanie Marshall (Funmilayo).