By Kelechi Silas
So who would have thought a Broadway show will be staged in Nigeria in 2011? Lagosians trooped out in their thousands, to enjoy the popular musical Fela! which attempts to chronicle the life, times and essence of late Nigerian Afro beat creator Fela Anikulapo-Kuti.
If you were a Fela disciple, you’ll love the energy, the passion, and the celebration. You’ll be reminded all over again, why Fela was the strange-queer one; why he was the true black president and, of course, one of the greatest men that ever lived…But you’ll also notice major blunders – like the reference to Fela’s mom as Funmilayo Anikulapo-Kuti, whereas she was a Ransome-Kuti… You’ll notice how Antibalas had modified Fela’s band composition… You’ll notice how the producers remodeled Fela’s relationship with his mom – Mr. Kuti adored and loved and revered his mother. But did he worship her? Nah!
You’ll even notice that the people that saw Fela!; those who could afford to buy the exorbitant tickets; were not the kind of people Fela would have wished to see there. Fela sang against VIPs and Politicians and he criticized high society. Yet these were the people that dominated the audience at Fela! It is even believed that a former Governor of Lagos State Bola Ahmed Tinubu picked the bill to bring the show here! Would Fela have approved? Nah!
You’ll however, quickly forgive Fela! producers for all these blunders if you take a minute to look at the amount of hard work that went into the production.
Lagos has never seen something like Fela! And it’s not likely anything like that will show here again anytime soon!
