14 June 2011
Reality and fiction came together in Amsterdam’s theatre last night.
Seun Kuti, son of the famous music legend Fela Kuti, came on stage during the musical about his father. The show has been a huge success in the USA and UK. Now the show has started in the Netherlands.
“I have seen this show several times on three continents. I’m a big fan”, says Seun after he sang a part of the final song on stage. “I wasn’t skeptical like other Nigerians, because the play was written in the West. I’m more open minded. The message of my father is still relevant, on a global level.” Seun is the youngest son of Fela and also plays the saxophone. He’s performing with his band Egypt 80 in Europe this month. He laughs: “Fela wouldn’t allow a musical about him, because he would want to play the lead role. He would make an eight hour Broadway musical out of it.”
The show has been a huge success. It ran for fifteen months on Broadway and in London too it attracted big audiences. Famous artistic producers like Will Smith and Jay Z gave their support. Almost every night there were celebrities like Prince, Madonna and Obama coming to the show. Reviews called it a phenomenon, never seen on stage before.
No comparison
The secret of its success lies in the fact that nobody has done a show about Fela before, explains Bill T. Jones, the director, choreographer and co-creator. “It’s a musical that you can’t compare with any other musical. The dancing is extraordinary, inspired by the dancing of Fela’s queens. But during the musical it’s done by dancers who are better skilled. Dancing gave the musical its heart. It makes you want to shake your butt.” According to Jones it has been attracting people who never go to this kind of genre. ” The word of mouth about the musical was very strong.”
Sahr Nngaujay, the main character of the show wants to add something to that: “It’s also good timing. When the show opened on Broadway, Obama was running for president. He became the ‘black president’ that Fela wanted to be. But it is also good stagecraft that speaks for itself. We are dedicated to the quality of the show. If you have very good ingredients, prepare the meal properly and you serve it while it’s hot, the people will enjoy it.”
Not well known
But the question remains whether the show will be a success on mainland Europe too. In Amsterdam, it hasn’t sold out and it attracts around a thousand visitors a night. Holland festival, the host of the musical, explains that Fela isn’t that well-known in the Netherlands. Marketing manager Norbert Bode: “The marketing and publicity has been very good, but it’s about a character that people, especially the younger generation, are not familiar with. We must have it from word-to-mouth publicity.” He hopes that after the first reviews people will be encouraged to watch the show.
AllAfrica – All the Time
View article:
Musical Fela ‘Makes You Want to Shake Your Butt’