Nov 17 2009
Fela For All!
Paul Libin’s Fela! was truly an exciting show to experience. I have literally never seen so much music, dance, and energy in telling the story of someone’s life. Fela Anikulap Kuti, is definitely an entertaining, empowering, and unique person to immitate, but Kevin Mambo embodied him in an exceptional manner.When I arrived at the theater, I was disappointed to be seated in a corner seat, right next to where the performers exit and enter the stage. But it actually turned out for the better, I was caught right in the middle of all the action–performers jumping over my feet, and rushing passed me to jump up on stage. I have never seen a peformance involving so much dance, while having been so close to the stage. I could see the sweat on the dancers backs and their bellies moving in and out as they inhaled and exhaled from the tiredness. There was so much action and energy throughout the entire play, that I could not help but wonder how the performers could go on doing dances that would go on for even 30 minutes.
Throughout the entire performance there was pure authenticity; A bunch of youthful, energetic people representing their culture with pride. No matter how angry or sad the lyrics of certain songs were, in the end, they would jump right back to the quick paced, percussion-centered, lively Afrobeat dances. Kevin Mambo looked and acted exactly like Fela Kuti. It was great to go to a performance where the audience was involved and was able to get to know a person they have never met.
Kevin Mambo was able to add emotion, humor, and seriousness to the character of Fela Kuti. When he crescendos the music and controls it, you can see the passion that Fela Kuti had for music. The singers’ beautiful harmony portrayed Fela’s followers and the people who believed and trusted in his words. The pictures on the walls of people like Malcolm X and Martin Luther King were amazing. I could not believe how well the theater was transformed to bring across a strong message.
The dancers were outstanding. They danced with so much feeling and energy, that you notice the passion they have for what they are doing. I loved when each of the dancers had their own solo as well. They reminded me of the students in my High School who would dance in the halls and a crowd would stand around and clap for them; It was truly an ideal representation of African culture. The unity and homely feeling that was portrayed by the performers was really warm and welcoming to the audience as a whole, and the funky dancing that went on by the audience throughout the performance proves that so.
While I couldn’t see the dancers with the minute details you were lucky to capture, this show was nonetheless one of the most lively ones I have ever seen.
Just to clarify, I think, the performer during our Fela performance was Sahr Ngaujah, who alternated shifts with Kevin Mambo, due to the demanding nature of the role.
I’m glad you felt the same exact way that I did.
From the moment that I walked into the theater I knew that a truly “authentic” experience was in store for me. I’ve never seen set decorations that extended throughout the WHOLE theater, that was just purely fascinating.
And you’ve pretty much addressed my opinion on everything else as well. I loved how much personality the person playing Fela had. I think to be able to portray someone effectively, one needs to add his own elements into the portrayal. We don’t know what Fela was like, but we can understand better when his character is passionate and interesting.
And the dancers – man, so amazing! I think that if the entire production consisted of just the dancers, I would be perfectly satisfied. They were amazing. I can’t help but wonder how much they had to be choreographed or whether what they were dancing was simply a task of dancing from the heart.
We did have terrible seats, but I think that gave us the ability to see the dancer’s outfits, energy, and dedication up-close. Though all that fast dancing might make us think that its hard for the dancers to do, it is not. I think the music gave them the power to continue dancing regardless of their tiredness. It was so lively and enjoyable that it does make them want to dance forever. You could see on their faces that they were loving every second of it.
In fact, it was so enjoyable that most of the audience members were dancing without any shyness. I could still remember the people in front of me dancing and having a great time.