“Fela!” returns to D.C.’s Warner Theatre

Sahr Ngaujah returns to play Fela Kuti in the energetic,
 genre-busting musical “Fela!” It lands at the Warner Theatre
Jan. 26-29, after a run in Los Angeles.

If you missed it when “Fela!” transformed the Shakespeare Theatre’s Harman Hall into a sweaty, s*xy Ni­ger­ian nightclub for a few weeks in September, you’ve got another chance.

The musical — which traces the story of Fela Kuti, the Nigerian brass player and political firebrand who happened to have a penchant for grass and women — will return to Washington, this time to the Warner Theatre, for six more performances Jan. 26-29, with the magnetic Sahr Ngaujah back in Fela’s tight bell bottoms, rallying his audience to stand up against corruption and intimidation.

Check out a few excerpts from Post critic Peter Marks’s review from the September run of “Fela!” (Read the full review here.)

“Although burdened by a sense of self-righteousness bordering on religious - at nearly three hours, it's way too long - "Fela!" is a madly physical, prodigiously exuberant bio-musical, infused with African brio and outrage.”

“At center stage about 95 percent of the evening is the inexhaustible [Sahr] Ngaujah, who evokes Fela in all his charismatic, self-regarding, bravely outspoken, monomaniacal glory.”

“At one point, Fela reveals that he's written a movie called "Black President." An open-ended question subtly presents itself: Might a President Kuti have been capable of his own sordid excesses?”

Source:WashingtonPost

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