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<p class="" style><b style><span style="font-family:Palatino"><span style="color:rgb(255,0,0)">•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••</span></span></b></p><p class="" style><b style><span style="font-family:Palatino"><br></span></b></p>
<p class="" style><b style><span style="font-family:Palatino">Afrobeat, political commentary FELA!
rocks the Place Theatre<span style> </span></span></b></p>
<p class=""><span style="font-family:Palatino">Roy Berko</span></p>
<p class=""><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Palatino">(Member,
American Theatre Critics Association, Cleveland Critics Circle)</span></p>
<p class=""><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class=""><span style="font-family:Palatino">At the conclusion of
FELA!, the Afrobeat political awareness musical, now on stage at the Palace
Theatre, caskets are carried onto center stage and piled up.<span style> </span>On top of the stack of caskets, emblazed
with names such as Martin Luther King and Malcolm X and words such as
“freedom,” “bullying” and “oppression,” was a vertical box of death entitled,
“Chardon High School.”<span style> </span>Yes, FELA!
is filled with music, but it is a wrenching tale of genocide, oppression and
death, not only in Nigeria, where the show is set, but across the world,
including a Cleveland suburb.</span></p>
<p class=""><span style="font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class=""><span style="font-family:Palatino">FELA!, which opened
Off-Broadway in September of 2008 and, due to positive reviews and audience
reaction, was moved onto Broadway in November of 2009, ran until January of
2011.<span style> </span>It won three Tony Awards. </span></p>
<p class=""><span style="font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class=""><span style="font-family:Palatino">The show’s path to
production is quite interesting.<span style>
</span>Stephen Hendel, who later, along with Bill T. Jones and Jim Lewis
conceived the script, came across a CD of Fela Anikulapo Kuti, who was not only
a composer, but a Nigerian underground leader opposed to his country’s
controlling and corrupt regime.<span style>
</span>Hendel saw the songs as a strong message for the disenfranchised, and so
the idea for a show was hatched.<span style> </span></span></p>
<p class=""><span style="font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="" style="margin-bottom:6pt"><span style="font-family:Palatino">The musical
centers on Fela’s days when he was targeted by over 1,000 government soldiers
intent on closing down his legendary Lagos nightclub, The Shrine.<span style> </span>A combination of concert, biography,
plea for peace, and opposition to oppression, the dance, music and story make
for intriguing theatre.</span></p>
<p class="" style="margin-bottom:6pt"><span style="font-family:Palatino">Fela Kuti’s
Afrobeat is a mixture of jazz, funk, African harmonies and rhythms.<span style> </span>The sound is created by a blend of
modern and African instruments and uses lyrics that attack not only Nigeria’s oppressive
dictatorships, but the very nature of hate in the world.<span style> </span>Those lyrics tell story after story of
political unrest and human desperation for freedom.<span style> </span>The constant pounding of the music’s beat illuminates Kuti’s
belief that “the drumming is the voice of the world.”</span></p>
<p class="" style="margin-bottom:6pt"><span style="font-family:Palatino">Bill T. Jones, who
is a master choreographer, has combined the dance movements of Nigeria, with
modern concepts to create exciting, sensual and exhilarating staging.<span style> </span>It’s impossible to sit and just
watch.<span style> </span>The audience was swaying,
shouting, singing, and moving, creating an emotional bonding, mirroring Fela’s
mesmerizing effect on his fellow countrymen.</span></p>
<p class="" style="margin-bottom:6pt"><span style="font-family:Palatino">As the so accurate
welcome sign in the Palace lobby stated, “First you’ll feel it in your
feet.<span style> </span>Then you’ll feel it in your
soul.”<span style> </span></span></p>
<p class="" style="margin-bottom:6pt"><span style="font-family:Palatino">The touring
production, though too long, is a spectacle of dance, song, projections, strobe
lights, and energy.<span style> </span>The
performances are excellent.<span style> </span>The
singing and dancing of highest quality.<span style>
</span>The staging creative.</span></p>
<p class="" style="margin-bottom:6pt"><span style="font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="" style="margin-bottom:6pt"><span style="font-family:Palatino">Handsome, sensual
Adesola Osakalumi, who also played the role on Broadway, is compelling as
Fela.<span style> </span>He has a fine singing voice,
plays various musical instruments, dances well, and totally populates the
role.<span style> </span>Part of the show is audience
participation, and he handles that difficult task with charm and ease.<span style> </span>Sometimes he is a little hard to
understand due to his fidelity in using Nigerian accented English, but this is
usually a moot factor as many of the words spoken on stage are projected onto
the stage’s backdrop.</span></p>
<p class="" style="margin-bottom:6pt"><span style="font-family:Palatino">Michelle Williams,
best known as a member of the R&B/Pop group, Destiny’s Child, sings and
acts the role of Fela’s main woman, Sandra Isadore, with ease.</span></p>
<p class="" style="margin-bottom:6pt"><span style="font-family:Palatino">Melanie Marshall
displays a wonderful singing voice as Funmilayo, Fela’s mother and muse. </span></p>
<p class="" style="margin-bottom:6pt"><span style="font-family:Palatino">The rest of the cast
sings, dances, and develops the correct sounds, movements and concepts.</span></p>
<p class="" style="margin-bottom:6pt"><span style="font-family:Palatino">The ten-piece
on-stage band is Afrobeat powerful!</span></p>
<p class=""><i style><span style="font-family:Palatino">CAPSULE JUDGEMENT:<span style> </span>FELA! has a compelling story, fantastic choreography, and
high production quality. It’s a shame that it was only booked into the Palace
for a three-day run.<span style> </span>Positive word
of mouth would have propelled the show into a long running box office hit.<span style> </span></span></i></p>
<p class=""><span style="font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class=""><span style="font-family:Palatino">Tickets for<i style> FELA!</i>, which runs only through March 4,
2013 at the Palace Theatre, can be ordered by calling 216-241-6000 or going to <a href="http://www.playhousesquare.org/"><span style="color:windowtext;text-decoration:none">www.playhousesquare.org</span></a>.</span></p><p class="">
<span style="font-family:Palatino"><span style="color:rgb(255,0,0)">••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••</span><br></span></p><p class=""><br><span style="font-family:Palatino"></span></p>
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