As someone who spent a few years deeply obsessed with Fela's catalog (the vinyl reissues came with trading cards of his wives!), the idea of an off-Broadway musical based on his life threw me for a loop, even with prominent Afrobeat soundalikes Antibalas as the house band. Still, the guy playing Fela in the above commercial seems believable, and Fela's life story is certainly interesting enough to fill the space between his songs, so maybe this could be the new Rent, or at least the version of Rent that's about Nigerians struggling under a dictatorship, and not pseudo-Bohemians musing on life). The sales of the Mamma Mia soundtrack prove that the musical is back, and who could get upset about Fela's music shooting to the top of the charts? [Official site]









Comments
The sales of the Mamma Mia soundtrack prove that the musical is back
C'mon Dan, be fair -- the sales of that prove that people like Abba even when covered, full stop.
@Ned Raggett: Erasure covering ABBA might just be the greatest thing ever.
@NeverEnough: Now we're talking:
+ Watch video
@Ned Raggett: @NeverEnough: That's it, ABBA-esque is being cued up on the iPod right now...
@How do I say this ... THROWDINI!: ...ahhh, that was the stuff.
I saw the musical a few weeks ago and it's awesome. A really entertaining show that I would recommend to anyone.
So glad to hear about this. Fela's life should go straight to the top! I'm amazed no one's made a major Hollywood movie about him....the material is too juicy for people not to know about it.
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