Nov 26 2009
Brantley loves “FELA!”; Read All About It!
I, for one, loved that Ben Brantley gave FELA! such good reviews. If Ben Brantley loves it, that clearly speaks to how amazing the production really is. He emphasizes how I felt throughout the musical: there are no dull moments. I was sucked into the world created through the musical, and I honestly felt as though I was a part of it. The constant interactions between Fela and the audience kept my attention for the entire production (which is usually very hard to do).
When Ben Brantley says, “‘Fela!’ is a show that melts walls,” I can’t help but agree. The production speaks to much more than just Fela’s Afrobeat music. It speaks to what his music deals with. The Nigerian culture, the political resistance, and how influential just one person can be.
I particularly like when Ben Brantley says, “His blueprints for societal change never went far beyond the credo of power to the people. But like all great popular musicians he embodied a culture’s joy, pain and restlessness with an instinctual grasp that politicians can only wish for.” He points out that Fela has his faults. He doesn’t know what the exact answer for solving Nigeria’s problems are; but what he does know is how to bring attention to these problems. He manages to capture all aspects of a culture with his music and share them with the world. Ben Brantly got it right when he gave Fela an awesome review.
He definitely was on the money this time. I did not really agree with the West Side Story review, but this one was exactly the same as my review. He was actually in sync with all of us. Fela! was just an inspirational show and I think almost everyone got that vibe.
I think that even if Ben Brantley gave Fela! a bad review, that shouldn’t change the way we see the musical. I do know that he is a master at writing reviews, but we all have different tastes and if he were to not like it, it cannot be denied that its a truly amazing show. I would have been really upset if he gave a bad review and as a result of that Fela! did not get such a large audience.
Despite Fela being an amazing and captivating performance, I feel you should have your own views on it and not like just because some guy from the NYT says it is good.But I must agree that Fela “is a show that melts walls.” 😉
Fela only got what it deserved- and that was a great review from Ben Brantley. As you said, he made no bones about how much he liked the performance.
I also liked the quotes from his review that you chose, especially, “‘Fela!’ is a show that melts walls”