Sahr Ngaujah

Sahr Ngaujah (Fela Anikulapo-Kuti) directors from all over the world, including Gerrit Timmers and Faulk Richter. Film/TV: Passing Glory (TNT), A Lesson Before Dying (HBO), The Signal (Magnolia), Stomp the Yard (Sony), Blood Done Sign My Name. Sahr began as a director under Freddie Hendricks, National Black Arts Festival, Tweetakt Festival, Antwerp. During eight years of work in Amsterdam, he was theatre director and developer with Rotterdam’s Lef, ACT Festival and collaborator with Made n da Shade. Dasarts graduate, Amsterdam, 2006, Alida Neslo/Moniek Toebosch. Sahr is a first generation Sierra Leonean. He is currently art director for the Sierra Leone hiphop act Bajah + The Dry Eye Crew.

Kevin Mambo

Kevin Mambo (Fela Anikulapo-Kuti) two-time Emmy winner for Guiding Light, comes to FELA! from Off- Broadway’s Ruined. Film/TV: Cadillac Records, One Life to Live (recurring), Soul Food (recurring), Any Day Now, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Deadline, Trial By Jury, Special Victims Unit, Spin City, Family Matters, Freshman Dorm, The Firing Squad, One of Us Tripped. Other NY theatre includes Hoodoo Love (Cherry Lane), Once Around the Sun (Zipper), Roberto Zucco (Empire Theatre Co.), The Last Detail (Lucille Lortel), Fela Is a Weapon (Shrine). Upcoming recordings from Blaz & the 88Sound, Audio Deluxe, Black Astronauts and Mamborena. Thank you mom for keeping Africa alive in me. Makorokoto.

Lillias White

Lillias White (Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti), received Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for her performance as Sonia in The Life. Other Broadway credits: Barnum, Dreamgirls, Cats, Once on This Island, How to Succeed… and Chicago. Film/TV: Pieces of April, Game 6, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Sesame Street (Emmy), SVU, The Jury, NYPD Blue, PBS performance at the White House, Great Performances South Pacific and Disney’s Hercules. Off-Broadway: Crowns (AUDELCO Award), William Finn’s Romance in Hard Times (Obie), The Best Is Yet to Come (2009 L.A. Ovation Award nom.) and as Dinah Washington in Dinah Was. Recordings: Dreamgirls in Concert and From Brooklyn to Broadway. Thanks to Mom, Aunt Lillias, Wenndy, Gary, Cornerstone and Freedom!

Saycon Sengbloh

Saycon Sengbloh (Sandra Isadore) is thrilled to join FELA! and portray such an exciting woman! Fresh from the hit revival of Hair, her other Broadway credits include Aida, Wicked (“Elphaba” standby), The Color Purple (“Celie/Nettie” standby;). National Tours: Aida (“Aida”), Rent. Regional credits: Hair (Public Theatre), Dinah Was (Alliance Theatre), Soweto! Soweto! (Freddie Hendricks), I Know I’ve Been Changed (Tyler Perry). TV/Film: American Gangster, Across the Universe, Ditchdigger’s Daughters, Funny Valentines, Law & Order, Prince of Motor City (pilot). Featured vocalist on soundtracks. Saycon’s album, Southern Pin-Up, is available on CD and for download at CDbaby.com and Itunes. www.myspace.com/saycon

Corey Baker

Corey Baker (Ensemble) Co-founder of Noir Production and co-artistic director of Ballet Noir. He performed as a principal dancer with Philadanco, and has work with Ballet X, Complexions, Creative Outlet, and Forces of Nature. He also danced with Phildanco, Creative Outlet, Forces of Nature, Ballet X, Complexions, Harlem Opera, Inspirational Ensemble, Ujamma Theatre, FELA! (Off-Broadway), Kug Tut. Presented work: Montreal Fringe, Toronto Street Festival, Jacob's Pillow, Harlem Stage, Riverside Church, Burial Grounds. Songwriter: Stand Boogie Shout, This World of Mine. www.balletnoir.org

Hettie Vyrine Barnhill

Hettie Vyrine Barnhill (Ensemble) Is happy to be making her debut on Broadway! BA Columbia College Chicago. Companies: The Just Movement Collective, Balance Dance Theater and The Qrew. Choreography Credits: International Wow Theater, 60x60, Solar One, The Lincoln Center Out of Doors Festival, The Ailey School and Dance Chicago. Awards: Young Artist Scholarship (A.D.F) and The Wiesman Grant for Choreographic piece “Homegrown.” Selected Regional Credits: Hairspray (Lorraine), Surrender-Off Broadway (Drama Desk 2009 Nominee), LaCage Aux Folles (Bitelle, Colette), Guys & Dolls (Mimi) and Aida. Other Credits: Second City-Chicago IL, Black Label Movement-Minnesota MN, Arroja-Lisbon Portugal, The Kennedy Center-Washington DC and Amici-Roma Italy. HettieBarnill.com

Lauren De Veaux

Lauren De Veaux (Ensemble) Broadway debut. Originally from Chattanooga, TN, a graduate of Alabama School of Fine Arts and Howard University School of Engineering. Credits: Mama Kadiatou Conte, Ronald K. Brown, Abdel R. Salaam, George Faison, Anna and Barry VanCura, Dame Sonia Arova and Thor Sutowski. Eternal lvoe to her husband, family and friends for support. www.ladeveaux.com

Nicole Chantal de Weever

Nicole Chantal de Weever (Ensemble) St. Maarten N.A, graduate of New York University Tisch School of the Arts, Fairfax Ballet and Motiance. Performed at the Afro Pop Hall of Fame Awards, AUDELCO Awards, Black Film Festival, Dance Africa, West Side Story World Tour and FELA! Off Broadway. Worked with such choreographers as Katherine Dunham, Bill T. Jones, Joey McKneely, George Faison, Rob Ashford, Maria Torres, Abdel Salaam and Jamel Gaines. Principal on commercials on the Oxygen channel, featured dancer on PBS special Dancing with Life: Katherine Dunham, American Library of Congress Documentary DVD on Katherine Dunham Technique and American Gangster. Performed with such companies as Forces of Nature Dance Theatre, Creative Outlet of Brooklyn, Prophecy Dance Works, Seventh Principles and Ballet Noir. Thanks to my family and friends. NMHRK Ashe. nicoledeweever.com

Elasea Douglas

Elasea Douglas (Ensemble, Sandra U/S) Broadway debut. Recently appeared in her first one woman show A Role Once Played by Kuba. Featured actor in Hattie What I Need You to Know starring Vicklyn Reynolds. Danced for choreographers Daryl Robinson and Lacey Phillips. Performed in Tobago, WI, and Mexico. She is currently working on her first music project. Special thanks to her Savior Jesus Christ.

Rujeko Dumbutshena

Rujeko Dumbutshena (Ensemble) is a native of Zimbabwe. Rujeko left in 1992. She has taught dance at prestigious institutions throughout the U.S. and is currently on the faculty at Sarah Lawence College. Rujeko directed conferences, artist in residence programs and cultural tours through Southern Africa. She thanks her ancestors, family, teachers and friends for their unconditional love and support.

Catherine Foster

Catherine Foster (Ensemble) Awards: second place winner of the NFAA. Choreographers and companies: DCYE, Deeply Rooted Productions, Hinton Battle, Darrell Moultrie, Camille Brown, Fred Benjamin Dance Company and Forces of Nature (director Abdel Salaam). Catherine thanks her ancestors and loved ones for her success and guidance!

Rasaan-Elijah “Talu” Green

Rasaan-Elijah “Talu” Green (Djembe Drummer, Ensemble) was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. At a young age, he exhibited his passion for African percussion music after visiting several African countries. His musical training gained him acceptance in Long Island University's Music Department at age 14. Talu has performed in the Afropop Worldwide Gala, Russell Simmons's Diamond Empowerment Fund Benefit, Dance Africa and FELA! Off Broadway.

SHANEEKA HARRELL

Shaneeka Harrell (Ensemble) performed as a dancer and singer with the Bill T. Jones / Arnie Zane Dance Company and Jawole Willa Zollar‘s Urban Bush Women. Harrell was Assistant Choreographer to Bill T. Jones for New York Theater Workshop’s The Seven.She was born and raised in the heart of Miami, Florida.

Chanon Judson

Chanon Judson (Swing) graduated from University at Buffalo with a B.F.A. in Dance. She’s a former member of Urban Bush Women, and currently serves as director for UB2, Urban Bush Women’s performing apprentice ensemble. Her credits include Craig Harris’s God’s Trombones, Victoria's Secret Live, L’Oreal Live, and the Michael Jackson 20th Anniversary Concert.

Abena Koomson

Abena Koomson (Vocal Captain, Ensemble, Funmilayo U/S) is a Brooklyn based writer, educator and performer. Her one woman show Cozi Sa Wala (NY IT nominee for best solo performance); Funmilayo in FELA! (original Off-Broadway cast); Celebrate Brooklyn 2009 Africa Festival; Urban Voices Inspirational Festival (South Africa).Abena is pleased to make her Broadway debut with FELA!

Ismael Kouyaté

Ismael Kouyaté (African Chanter, Geraldo Piño, Orisa, Tortured Fela, Ensemble) hails from a family of renowned artists and praise singers in Guinea, West Africa. He performed with Guinea's national companies Les Percussions de Guinea and Les Ballets Africains. In New York, he sings with Mandingo Ambassadors, teaches dance and is honored to make his Broadway debut with FELA!

Gelan Lambert

Gelan Lambert (J.K. (Tap Dancer), Egungun, Ensemble) Originally from Miami, FL, of Haitian descent. He is a graduate of The Juilliard School with a BFA in dance. Began his formative training at Dancexchange Inc. and New World School of the Arts. He also trained at The Ailey School, Broadway Theater Project, The Joffrey Ballet School and School of American Ballet. His professional credits include The Martha Graham Dance Company, Sean Curran Company, Fosse (1st National Tour), A Christmas Carol (Madison Square Garden Theater), Encores Golden Boy, NYCOpera's Alcina/Turandot, and a featured performer for Jacob's Pillow Katherine Dunham Tribute conceived and directed by Reginald Yates. He has presented solo concerts at Jacob's Pillow, Stella Adler Studio (Resident Artist), Florida International Univ. and George Faison Firehouse Theater. His awards and honors are: Martha Hill Prize from The Juilliard School, National Foundation for Advancement of Arts-1st Place, Presidential Scholar for the Arts, National Society of Arts and Letters–1st Place and Jerome Foundation Fellow. A principal artist and assistant to Reginald Yates. He has danced the works of Alvin Ailey, Hinton Battle, Margie Gillis, Jiri Kylian, Jose Limon, Donald McKayle, Mia Michaels, Reginald Yates and others. Ayo!

Farai Malianga

Farai Malianga (Swing) born and raised in Zimbabwe, began his career in African Dance in Colorado with Leticia Williams’s Harambee Dancers and Drummers and with Musical Director Judy “Fatu” Henderson. In New York he immersed himself in the drum and dance world, studying with creative pioneers Yousouf Koumbasa, Mbemba Bangoura and Ronald K. Brown. He has performed with the masters: Chuck Davis in BAM’s Dance Africa, Reginald Yates (Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre), Heritage O.P.; with the companies Harambee , Umoja , The New Jersey Chamber Orchestra, Obediah Wrights Balance, BSRC, Def Dance Jam and Opus; with the musicians Roy Ayers, Wunmi Olaiya,, Manchild Black, and as producer for Melanie Charles, Scott Patterson, Saycon Sengbloh and Nakia Henry. Composition credits include commissioned works for Camille Brown, Karen Loves’ Umoja, and Christal Browns’s Inspirit Dance Companies

Shakira Marshall

Shakira Marshall (Ensemble) Queens native Shakira received her dance training from E.S.O.T.A (The Edge School of Arts) under the tutelage of Kerri D. Edge, Roger C. Jeffery, Obediah Wright, Cheryl Godineaux, Darell Grand Moultrie, Brandon Ellis and Kevin ‘Iega’ Jeff. Credits: Sophisticated Ladies (Irving St. Rep.), Scandalous People—NY Fringe Festival (MyChurch Prod.), Willy Wonka (Brooklyn College), Michael Peters Tribute (Debbie Allen Dance Academy). A Purchase College graduate, she is honored to be making her Broadway debut with such a riveting show as FELA!  Shakira would like to thank the Creator, her parents and her wonderful family for their continued support and guidance.

Afi McClendon

Afi McClendon (Ensemble) happily returns to Broadway, where she first was Little TiMoune in the Tony-nominated Once On This Island. Off-Broadway: Nikki – Holiday Heart (Manhattan Theatre Club); Niki -Taking Control (Playwrights Horizons). Regional: Nikki – Holiday Heart (Arena Stage), received a Helen Hayes nomination, Best Actress; Ernestine – Crumbs from the Table of Joy and Comet – Breath Boom! (Yale Rep). Received an Audelco Award – Legacy. Film: Hilary – Fresh; Devina – A Spoonful of Sugar. Television: Ghostwriters; Here and Now; Sesame St. Dance: David Dorfman; Nicholas Leichter; Forces of Nature (Abdel Salaam). My true family, Luvu and to the creator, thank you for seeing me through.

Adesola Osakalumi

Adesola Osakalumi ( Ensemble, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti U/S) Joyfully thanks the Creator, the Ancestors and his family. Broadway: Equus, Off Broadway: Sundance Theatre Lab’s Ngwino Ubeho, Eyewitness Blues (NYTW), Jam On The Groove (Drama Desk Nominee). Films include: The Accidental Husband ( Didier), Across The Universe, Enchanted, Idlewild, The Great Observer. Choreography: Broadway Bares, the Films School of Rock & Marci X, Commercials include PBS Kids, Old Navy, Halifax Bank, Advil, ESPN as well as commercial voice-over work. A special acknowledgment to the Africa I Dance Theatre/Egbe Omo Nago under the direction of R. Francis. www.adesola.com

Jeffrey Page

Jeffrey Page (Ensemble) is an Emmy Award nominated director/choreographer and holds a BFA in Dance from The University of the Arts. As an actor/singer/dancer he’s been apart of Eyes, directed by Woodie King, Jr.; Jazz Actors, directed by Ernie McClentock; Black Nativity (Freedom Theater), directed by Walter Dallas; Soul Possessed (Kennedy Center & Atlanta Alliance Theater), directed by Debbie Allen; Brown Butterfly, directed and choreographed by Marlies Yearby; and Shakespeare Theater’s Oedipus Rex, directed by Michael Kahn. As a dancer Jeffrey has worked with George Faison, Otis Sallid, Rennie Harris Pure Movement, Forces of Nature, Ron K. Brown, and has toured internationally with acclaimed artist Beyonce. Jeffrey was recently accepted as an MFA student at NYU/Tisch.

Ryan Rankine

Ryan Rankine (Ensemble), has performed with Creative Outlet Dance Theatre of Brooklyn, Complexion Contemporary Ballet, Forces of Nature. Credits include: The Wiz (City Center NY), So You Think You Can Dance Season 2 (top 7th finalist) and Int’l Tour, Panasonic, Radio City Christmas Spectacular '08, VH1 Divas 2009. Ryan thanks Mom & God for his Blessings.

Daniel Soto

Daniel Soto (Ensemble, Assistant Dance Captain), born in Brooklyn NY and from a large family, has blossomed to become a respected artist and communal developer. At the age of sixteen, Soto was introduced to the professional world of dance, becoming a company member of Creative Outlet Dance Theater of Brooklyn and later attending SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance. Soto toured internationally and nationally with various dance companies. He feels honored to share the language of art with others and feels blessed with the guidance of great artistic pioneers (Shirley Black Brown Coward, Jamel Gaines, Lakai Worreal, George Fasion) that have molded his career today. Mostly giving thanks to the creator, Soto feels extremely honored to be part of FELA!

JILL VALLERY

JILL VALLERY (Swing, Dance Captain) is exceedingly beholden to all those who have contributed to her journey. Trained at the Alvin Ailey School, became a national teaching artist for Ailey Arts in Education & Community. Off-Broadway: FELA! Film: Lifted. Dance: Balance Dance Company, Opus Dance Theatre, Prophecy Dance, ADTC. She is grateful to Bill T. Jones, all artists and creators of FELA! and her family. jillmvallery.com

Iris Wilson

Iris Wilson (Ensemble): dance educator at P.S./I.S. 268Q, co-founder of It’s Dance, dance school, author of children’s book Boys Dance Too. (www.authorhouse.com). Iris performed nationally and internationally with various dance companies: Opus Dance Theater, Bosou African Dance Company, Dinizulu African Dancers and Drummers, Speak, Haiti Dansco and KaNu. Short Film credits: Earl’s Post Prison Playdate (OGB Productions), Love Train and Coco’s Way (Oreh Productions). A part of the third FELA!workshop and the Off-Broadway run, Iris is happy to return to the cast as it makes its journey to Broadway this fall. This is her Broadway debut. Iris thanks her family and friends for all their love and support. All praises to God. Ase.

J.L. Williams

J.L. Williams (Swing: J.K. Tap Dance u/s) hails from Los Angeles, CA and is extremely grateful and humbled to go from being a Broadway bartender front of house, to making his Broadway debut in FELA! National/ International Tours: Magic of the Dance (The Entertainer), 42nd Street (Andy Lee). Regional: Sophisticated Ladies (The Danseur), Five Guys Named Moe (NoMoe), Grease (Danny Zuko). Workshop: Bring in da Noise/Funk Funk U. Television: The Gregory Hines Show and Strong Medicine. Awards: Los Angeles Music Center Spotlight Award, Los Angeles NAACP ACT-So Award. Thanks to the Universe, Ancestors, The Dance Connection Dance Academy, TRC, NCDA, CSUDH, Harbor Conservatory, Dawn McMahan School of Dance, Dance Magic and Jazz Tap Ensemble. It’s Possible!

Aimee Graham Wodobode

Aimee Graham Wodobode (Ensemble) Enthusiastic Broadway Debut! Aimee was part of the original cast of FELA! Off-B'way. She received her dance training from choreographers Laura Scozzi, Stefanie Session and Christian Bourigault while attending University of Paris XII. When she moved to New York in 2001 Aimee started to study African dance with Abdel Salaam. She has been touring the country with Forces Of Nature Dance Theater for the last four years. In France Aimee has toured nationally with Steffie Session for Reebok and with Opinioni in Movimiento Dance Theater on such renowned stages as L'Opera de Paris Garnier, Le Ballet du Nord, the Theatre of Bakou, Le Theatre de Suresnes Jean Vilar and Le Theatre de Paris. Aimee thanks her Ancestors for guiding her way from Bangui to Broadway. www.aimeegrahamdance.com

Jon Goldman

Jon Goldman (Production Stage Manager) makes his Broadway debut with FELA! Off Broadway: Fault Lines, FELA!, Betrayed, Secret Order, Such Good Friends, Journey to the West, Transatlantic Liaison, The Ticket, Never Tell, Havana Bourgeois. New York Regional (selected): Christmas Carol, At Home at the Zoo, With and Without. Regional & Touring (selected): I Love You, You’re Perfect…Now Change!, Crowns, A Little Night Music, Bat Boy: The Musical, Jane Eyre: The Musical, Book of Days, Shakespeare in Hollywood, All My Sons, 8-Track: The Sounds of the 70s, The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe. Regional Theatres include: American Stage Festival, Ordway Music Theatre, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Worcester Foothills Theatre, and TheatreWorks Palo Alto.

Linda Marvel

Linda Marvel (Stage Manager) Broadway: PSM for The Little Dog Laughed and 33 Variations starring Jane Fonda. Both Tony®-nominated for Best Play. Off-Broadway: premieres of Sam Shepard’s The God of Hell, Michael Weller’s Beast, Julia Cho’s BFE, Howard Brenton’s Sore Throats and Adrienne Kennedy’s The Ohio State Murders, as well as productions at Second Stage, La Jolla Playhouse, Long Wharf, Center Stage, Olney Theatre Center and Westport. Ms. Marvel is currently the Production Supervisor for Seven, a documentary theatre piece about human rights, with performances in London, France, Los Angeles, Aspen and Washington D.C. Member, Actor’s Equity Association.

Hilary Austin

Hilary Austin (Assistant Stage Manager) is thrilled to return for her fourth installment of the FELA! process. Other credits include: Off-Broadway: FELA!, My Life As A Fairy Tale, Miss Julie, Blueprint. Regional: Raven Odyssey (Perseverance Theater, Juneau AK). New York: DR.C, Death of a Salesman, Three Sisters, The Apostle Project, Canticle, Blind Mouth Singing, Hair, Rocket to the Moon, Working, All Good Things, The Winter's Tale, Hip Hop Theater Festival. Resident Stage Manager of Theater Mitu.

Kathy Fabian/Propstar

Kathy Fabian/Propstar (Properties Coordinator) Broadway credits include: Bye Bye Birdie, A Steady Rain, Waiting for Godot, You’re Welcome America, Pal Joey, American Buffalo, Speed the Plow, A Man For All Seasons, Les Liasons Dangereuses, South Pacific, Sunday in the Park with George, The Homecoming, Cyrano de Bergerac, Pygmalion, Old Acquaintance, 110 in the Shade, Talk Radio, Prelude to a Kiss, Spring Awakening, High Fidelity, Barefoot in the Park, Souvenir, Steel Magnolias, Sweet Charity, Match, Fiddler on the Roof, Bobby Boland, Cat On A Hot Tin Roof and Golda’s Balcony. Fabian has created props Off Broadway with Atlantic Theatre Co., The Vineyard Theatre Co., Manhattan Class Company, Manhattan Ensemble Theatre and The Big Apple Circus.

Bill T. Jones

Bill T. Jones (Director & Choreographer) is a 2007 Tony® Award winner and the recipient of the 2007 Obie Award and 2006 Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation CALLAWAY Award for his choreography for Spring Awakening, the recipient of the 2007 USA Eileen Harris Norton Fellowship, the 2006 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Choreography for The Seven, the 2005 Samuel H. Scripps American Dance Festival Award for Lifetime Achievement, the prestigious 2005 Wexner Prize, and the Aaron Davis Hall Harlem Renaissance Award. He is also a MacArthur “Genius” Award recipient in 1994, named one of America’s Irreplaceable Dance Treasures by the Dance Heritage Coalition in 2000, and was awarded The 2003 Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize for which recipients are considered trailblazers who have redefined their art and reshaped the cultural landscape. He began his dance training at the State University of New York at Binghamton (SUNY), where he studied classical ballet and modern dance. After living in Amsterdam, Mr. Jones returned to SUNY, where he became co-founder of the American Dance Asylum in 1973. Before forming Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company in 1982, Mr. Jones choreographed and performed nationally and internationally as a soloist and duet company with his late partner, Arnie Zane.

In addition to creating more than 100 works for his own company, Mr. Jones has received many commissions to create dances for modern and ballet companies including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Axis Dance Company, Boston Ballet, Lyon Opera Ballet, Berkshire Ballet, Berlin Opera Ballet and Diversions Dance Company, and Dayton Contemporary Dance Company’s The Flight Project. He has also received numerous commissions to create new works for his own company, including premieres for the American Dance Festival, the Next Wave Festival at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and for St. Luke’s Chamber Orchestra. In 1995, Mr. Jones directed and performed in a collaborative work with Toni Morrison and Max Roach, Degga, commissioned by Lincoln Center’s Serious Fun Festival and with Jessye Norman, How! Do! We! Do! which premiered at New York’s City Center in 1999 as part of Lincoln Center’s Great Performers New Visions series. The Breathing Show, Mr. Jones’ evening long solo, toured for three years, and his second solo show, As I Was Saying…, toured for more than two. He has directed and choreographed for theatre and opera, most recently choreographing Off-Broadway for the New York Theatre Workshop’s production of The Seven for which he was awarded the 2006 Lucille Lortel Award for Best Choreography and for the Broadway musical Spring Awakening.

Mr. Jones has received honorary doctorates from the Art Institute of Chicago, Bard College, Columbia College, the Juilliard School, Swarthmore College and Yales as well as the SUNY Binghamton Distinguished Alumni Award.

Jim Lewis

Jim Lewis (Conceiver/Book Writer/Additional Lyrics) In 2008, Jim received a Lucille Lortell Award for “Outstanding Musical” for FELA! and two Drama Desk nominations for “Best Book” for both FELA! and This Beautiful City (w/ The Civilians).  Selected works.  B’WAY: Chronicle of a Death Foretold (TONY, Drama Desk nominations), and Dangerous Games (both w/ Graciela Daniele).   OFF B’WAY/REGIONAL: Tango Apaisionado, Ionesco’s The Chairs, Ibsen’s Lady from the Sea.  OPERA/DANCE: Paul Dresher’s The Tyrant, Ballet Hispanico’s Nightclub; Philip Glass's Les Enfants Terribles, PastFORWARD (w/ Mikhail Baryshnikov). DRAMATURG: House Arrest (Anna Deavere Smith), Drawn to Death (Art Spiegelman),; Cymbeline and Waste (w/ Bartlett Sher), Lincoln Center's WOZA AFRIKA Festival.  Previously w/ Bill T. Jones:  Dream On Monkey Mountain, Chapel/Chapter and Still/Here (20th Anniversary Season).

Antibalas

Antibalas (Arrangements/Musicians) Credited with introducing Afrobeat to a new generation, this Brooklyn-based collective has released four critically-acclaimed albums since forming in 1998, and can been heard on numerous Afrobeat compilations.  Antibalas has performed more than 700 concerts around the world including appearances at the Coachella, Newport and the Montreux Festivals.

Aaron Johnson

Aaron Johnson (Musical Director)Born in Iowa City and raised on Long Island, Aaron Johnson began studying music at the Mannes Prep program in New York, and continued at The New School, where he now teaches. He has become an in-demand trombonist, arranger, and composer in the New York music scene, and has recorded and performed with such artists as Paul Simon, Medeski, Martin, and Wood, TV on the Radio, The Roots, Wu-Tang-Clan, Angelique Kidjo and Femi Kuti. He joined Antibalas in 2000, and began conducting the band in 2001. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and sons.

Jordan McLean

Jordan McLean (Assistant Musical Director) has been active as a composer, band leader, trumpeter and music educator for over 15 years. He has brought his unique performance style to stages and recording studios throughout the US and twenty countries, having collaborated with a multitude of musicians, ensembles and arts organizations. As a charter member of Antibalas he has performed in hundreds of clubs and dozens of the world's major music festivals. He currently leads his “play anywhere chamber ensemble” Piano Music & Song Trio, and is a founding partner of Sound Chemistry Records. Jordan graduated summa cum laude in composition from SUNY Purchase.

Niegel Smith

Niegel Smith (Associate Director) is the Artistic Leadership Associate at The Public Theater and a founding member of 425D, a director’s lab. As PERMISO with Co-Artistic Director Todd Shalom, Niegel has co-conceived and staged so you’re one of them now?, this was the only place i knew to go, December 31, Procession and Fallout, mass rituals in public settings. New York directing credits include We Declare You a Terrorist, Rainy Days & Mondays, Maud– The Madness, One For The Road and LIMBS: A Pageant. Niegel has received grants and fellowships from Theater Communications Group, the Van Lier Fund, the Tucker Foundation and Dartmouth College. He grew up in the North Carolina Piedmont, fishing with his dad, shopping with his mom and inventing tall-tale fantasies with his two younger brothers.

Maija Garcia

Maija Garcia (Associate Choreographer) Harlem-based movement artist Maija Garcia is director of Organic Magnetics, a sustainable theater collaborative bridging art forms and borders; creating urban folklore for the future. Garcia’s work has been staged in all of the places she calls home: New York City, La Habana Cuba, Ann Arbor, MI and San Francisco CA- where she earned a degree in sustainable development from the California Institute of Integral Studies. In 2009 Garcia directed Volcano’s Birthright{s} at 45th St. Theater and the collective experiment, YaYa Dreams a Future at the Coney Island Performance Festival. Touring internationally with Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company since 2005, Maija is blessed to be working with the creative team, phenomenal cast and crew of FELA! An offering of gratitude to the ancestors and family (born and chosen) for your spiritual inspiration… Ase-O!

Marina Draghici

Marina Draghici (Scenic/Costume Design) Marina was born in Bucharest, Romania, She emigrated to the United States where she graduated from the Yale School of Drama in 1988. Prior to FELA! Marina has collaborated with Bill T. Jones on Dream on a Monkey Mountain (Guthrie Theatre) and 24 Images Secondes (Lyons Opera). Her work has been seen at the Paris National Opera, Zurich Opera, Grand Theatre de Bordeaux, Opera de Nice, NYCO, Edinburgh Festival, Glimmerglass Opera, National Theatre of Prague, Public Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club and Lincoln Center among many other venues in the US and abroad.Awards: Lucille Lortel, Obie and numerous nominations. Film/TV: The Grey Zone, Heights, Dexter, Twelve and Holding, S.O.P., Rage, The Cake Eaters, Precious: based on Sapphire’s novel Push.

Robert Wierzel

Robert Wierzel (Lighting Design) has collaborated with Bill T. Jones and the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company for more than 23 years including work at the Lyon Opera Ballet; Berlin Opera Ballet and  The Louvre Museum (Walking the Line).  Broadway: David Copperfield’s Dreams and Nightmares.
Off-Broadway: New York Shakespeare Festival/Public Theater, Signature Theatre, Roundabout Theatre Company, Playwrights Horizons. Regional: Chicago Shakespeare, Hartford Stage, Long Wharf,Goodman Theatre, Guthrie Theater, MarkTaper Forum. He has collaborated with Grace  Jones (Hurricane Tour), the composer Philip Glass and  with opera companies of Paris (Garnier), Tokyo, San Francisco,Seattle, Houston, Washington, Chicago and New York. He is the recipient of numerous awards including several Bessie-Dance and Performance Awards for his collaborations with Bill T. Jones.

Robert Kaplowitz

Robert Kaplowitz (Sound Design) Broadway: Heather MacDonald’s An Almost Holy Picture (Roundabout/ American Airlines).  Off Broadway: 200+ credits for music and/or sound design include Bill T. Jone’s Fela (37 Arts); John Beluso’s The Poor Itch, Tracy Scott Wilson’s The Story, Lemon Anderson’s County of Kings, and Neil LaBute’s Wrecks (Public); Tarell Alvin McRaney’s Wig Out and Anne Washburn’s The Internationalist (Vineyard); David Adjmi’s Stunning (Lincoln Center); Adam Bock’s The Thugs (SoHo Rep); Abbie Spalin’s Pumpgirl (MTC) and Eric Jackson’s drag adaptation of Carrie (PS 122).  Residencies include The O'Neill Playwrights Conference and Sundance Theater Festivals.  Awards include an Obie for Sustained Excellence in Sound Design (2006-7), an Audelco and a handful of Lortel nominations.

Peter Nigrini

Peter Nigrini (Projection Design) has designed projection on Broadway for 9 to 5: The Musical and Say Goodnight Gracie. Other designs include the Grace Jones Hurricane Tour, Haroun and the Sea of Stories (City Opera), Blind Date (Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance), The Orphan of Zhao (Lincoln Center Festival), Notes from Underground (Yale Rep), Angels in America (Fort Worth Opera), Sweet Bird of Youth (Williamstown), Dido and Aeneas (Handel Haydn Society), Biro (the Public Theater). For Nature Theater of Oklahoma: No Dice (2008 Obie Award), Romeo and Juliet (Salzburger Festspiele) and Life and Times (Burgtheater, Vienna). Selected fine art projects include Local Currencies: Diogenes/Barnum, (ICA London/SF MoMA) and Cosmicomics, (Sequitur Ensemble).

Mungioli Theatricals

Mungioli Theatricals, Inc. (Casting) Currently: Francesca Zambello’s Little House on the Prairie starring Melissa Gilbert (National Tour); Recent tv/film: Nickelodeon; The Entertainer (E!); Broadway/Nat’l Tour: Ragtime, Fosse, Show Boat, Candide, Sunset Boulevard, Kiss of the Spiderwoman, Joseph… with Donny Osmond; Off-Broadway: Jewtopia, Evil Dead The Musical; Marko The Prince, Richard Maltby’s Sixties Project; Disney: High School Musical, Lion King, Aladdin, When You Wish; Regionally: Trinity Rep, Actors Theatre of Louisville; Cleveland Playhouse; Pittsburgh CLO; North Shore Music Theatre; Casting Director ARNOLD J. MUNGIOLI is a Member of the Casting Society of America, and has been honored with two Artios Awards and the CSA Media Access Award. www.mungiolitheatricals.com

Richard Kornberg & Associates

Richard Kornberg & Associates (Press Representative) represents Hairspray, Rent, Spiegelworld, New York Theatre Workshop, Canada’s Stratford Shakespeare Festival, Performance Space 122, Intar, Les Freres Corbusier, dance companies produced by The Joyce Theater, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet and MOMIX. Past productions include The Little Dog Laughed, I Am My Own Wife, Death of a Salesman, Fences, American Buffalo.

Art Meets Commerce

Art Meets Commerce (Advertising, Online Marketing & Website Design) is a new media advertising/marketing company. Clients include Rock of Ages (Broadway and Off-Broadway), Finian’s Rainbow, Burn the Floor, FELA! (Broadway and Off-Broadway), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Broadway and West End), Space Panorama, Young Frankenstein, Stitching (New York and Los Angeles) Ethan Coen’s Almost an Evening, Vineyard Theater, Classical Theatre of Harlem and Nightmare: New York’s Most Horrifying Haunted House. www.artmeetscommerce.net

HHC Marketing

HHC Marketing (Marketing) Current: FELA!, Jersey Boys, The 39 Steps, The Marvelous Wonderettes, Yank, 20@20, Tony N Tina’s Wedding, BroadwayBox.com, Lunchtix.com, TicketsThisWeek.com, BroadwayInsider.com and TheMenEvent.com. www.HHCmarketing.com

Walk Tall Girl Productions

Walk Tall Girl Productions (African Diaspora Marketing) is a marketing and group sales company that is dedicated to bringing the performing arts to the widest possible audience. Special emphasis is placed on building new audiences for the theater. Clients include: FELA!, Memphis, The Brother/Sister Plays and Juan and John at The Public Theater, Grammy Award winners Sweet Honey in The Rock, Through The Night www.walktallgirlproductions.com

Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter

Shawn "Jay-Z" Cartner (Producer) Since 1995, multiple Grammy Award winner Shawyn "JAY-Z" carter has dominated the rap industry and set trends for a generation. Now in 2009 he personifies the American Dream. Founder and chariman of Rocawear, he is also co-owner of the NJ Nets, 20/20 sports clubs, Translation Advertising and Carol's Daughter skin line, as well as a partnership with Iconix Brand Group. After three successful years as president and CEO of Def Jam recordings, where he fostered the careers of international stars, Rihanna, Ne-Yo and Kanye West, JAY-Z entered into a partnership with Live Nation to form Roc Nation. Through Roc Nation, JAY-Z released The Blueprint 3, his eleventh #1 album, putting him ahead of Elvis for most #1 albums by a solo artist. He continues his philanthropic work through his Water for Life initiative and the Shawn Carter Scholarship Foundation.

Will Smith

Will Smith (Producer) A two-time Academy Award nominee, Will Smith has enjoyed unprecedented success in a career encompassing films, television and multi-platinum records. For his memorable portrayal of Muhammad Ali in Michael Mann's Ali, he received his first Academy Award nomination, which was followed by his second nomination for the true-life drama, The Pursit of Happyness. Films in which Smith has acted include I Am Legend, Hancock, I, Robot, Independence Day, Men in Black and Men in Black II. Films in which Smith has acted and has also produced along with partner James Lassiter at Overbrook Entertainment include Hitch, ATL, The Pursuit of Happyness, Seven Pounds and The Human Contract.

Jada Pinkett Smith

Jada Pinkett Smith (Producer) stars as Christina Hawthrone in TNT's newest medical drama HawthoRNe. The show, which Jada executive produces through her production company 100% Womon, garnered critical acclaim for its first searson. The second season will air in the summer of 2010. Recent films in which Jada has acted inclue Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (as the voice of Gloria), The Women, Reign Over Me, Matrix Reloaded and Matrix Revoutions. Jada wrote and directed The Human Contract and served as executive producer of The Secret Life of Bees. Additionally, Jada's 2005 children's book Girls Hold Up This World was a New York Times bestseller.

Ruth and Stephen Hendel

Ruth and Stephen Hendel (Co-Conceiver/Producer) Upcoming on Broadway: A View from the Bridge. Previous Broadway credits include: Hamlet, Mary Stuart, 33 Variations, In The Heights (Assoc.), Passing Strange, Legally Blonde, Kiki & Herb Alive on Broadway, High Fidelity, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Caroline, Or Change, A Raisin in the Sun, Golda’s Balcony, Frozen, ‘Night Mother, Steel Magnolias, Barefoot in the Park, Metamorphoses. Off-Broadway: Altar Boyz, Our Lady of 121st Street, The Exonerated, Red Light Winter, tick tick…Boom!. Los Angeles: As Much As You Can. Ruth Hendel is on the boards of the LAByrinth Theater, The Play Company and the Yale School of Drama Leadership Council. She is vice-chair, and Stephen is treasurer of the Eugene O’Neill Theater in Waterford, CT. Stephen also serves on the boards of The New Group, The Culture Project, Bill T. Jones / Arnie Zane Dance Company and on the Board of Visitors of the Yale School of Music. Ruth and Stephen have a wonderful family and love them very much.

Roy Gabay

Roy Gabay/Roy Gabay Productions (Producer/General Manager) Credits include FELA!, The 39 Steps, The Marvelous Wonderettes, The Little Dog Laughed, Metamorphoses, Frozen, A View From The Bridge (Tony Award), How I Learned To Drive (Pulitzer Prize), Wit (Pulitzer Prize), Three Tall Women (Pulitzer Prize).

Sony Pictures Entertainment

Sony Pictures Entertainment (Producer) Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America (SCA), a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPE's global operations encompass motion picture production and distribution; television production and distribution; digital content creation and distribution; worldwide channel investments; home entertainment acquisition and distribution, operation of studio facilities; development of new entertainment products, services and technologies; and distribution of filmed entertainment in more than 130 countries. Sony Pictures can be found on the World Wide Web at sonypictures.com

Edward Tyler Nahem

Edward Tyler Nahem (Producer) Like seemingly half the Broadway population, Edward Tyler Nahem was born in Brooklyn. After living abroad for many years and missing baseball too much, he returned to New York City. Nahem has been a prominent international art dealer and gallery owner for over 25 years, dealing in Modern, Post-War and Contemporary master works. He serves on the Board of Trustees of BOMB Magazine, is a staunch supporter of The Fresh Air Fund, has actively been involved with several other cultural institutions around the country and is a ceaseless Yankees fan. He is Executive Producer on the recent and highly acclaimed award-winning feature-length documentary on the world renowned Senegalese singer and activist, Youssou NDour: I Bring What I Love. For more than twenty years Nahem has had a keen magnetism toward West African music, including the sounds of Fela Kuti. "Stupefied and mesmerized" upon seeing the Off-Broadway production of FELA! last year, he was magically beckoned to step outside the gallery walls and join the talented FELA! team as a producer. This is his first venture on Broadway. It will be hard to keep Nahem out of the theater or in his seat for this production.

Slava Smolokowski

Slava Smolokowski (Producer) From music to music! Slava was educated as a musician and went on to form a successful rock band. He then went into business, co-founding Mercuria Energy Group, of which he remains a shareholder. He is now returning to his initial passion for music and the arts and supports and sponsors many music projects in Europe. He is very happy and honored to be part of the FELA! story.

Chip Meyrelles and Ken Greiner

Chip Meyrelles and Ken Greiner (Producer) are partners in the Art Meets Commerce companies. Their producing credits include Tracy Letts’s Bug, Austin Pendleton’s Orson’s Shadow, Martin McDonagh’s Lieutenant of Inishmore, Ethan Coen’s Almost an Evening and Timothy Haskell’s Nightmare: New York’s Most Horrifying Haunted House, now in its sixth year.

Douglas Smith

Douglas Smith (Producer) founded Match Point Entertainment, won a 2009 Tony for The Norman Conquests, Boeing-Boeing (Tony, 2008), also Rock 'n' Roll on Broadway and Dealer's Choice in London. Exeutive producer of the films Ira & Abby, (Best Picture, L.A. Film Fesitval and HBO's Comedy Film Festival) and Kicking It (Sundance). Mr. Smith founded and ran Omnipoint Corp., an innovator in digitial wireless cellular. After a three-way merger, OC became part of VoiceStream, which was sold to T-Mobile, in the second largest international transaction in history.

Steve Semlitz/Cathy Glaser

Steve Semlitz/Cathy Glaser (Producer) Semlitz and Glaser finally make it to Broadway (with Sam's help)! Off-Broadway: tick, tick…BOOM! They are also founding directors of the Migraine Research Foundation, a nonprofit that supports scientific research into migraine's causes and better treatments. We are thirlled to be a part of this amazing production.

Daryl Roth

Daryl Roth (Producer) is proud to hold the singular distinction of producing six Pulitzer Prize-winning plays: August: Osage County; Proof,; Wit, How I Learned to Drive, Anna in the Tropics and Three Tall Women. Currently, Love, Loss and What I Wore; Vigil, in addition to numerous other award-winnign productions. Love to Steven, my family, Leo and Lucy.

True Love Productions/Jeanne Donovan Fisher and Laurie Gilmore

True Love Productions/Jeanne Donovan Fisher and Laurie Gilmore (Producer) Broadway: The Norman Conquests, 33 Variations, 13, A Catered Affair, Well, Medea, The Retreat From Moscow. Off-Broadway: True Love, Vienna: Lushaus (Revisited), bobraushenbergamerica, The Tricky Part, Shockheaded Peter, Suitcase, Everything Will be Different, Paradise Park, Coraline. Regional: Rocket to the Moon, Hotel Cassiopeia.

Susan Dietz

Susan Dietz (Producer) is currently the producing director of L.A.'s Reprise Theatre Company. Broadway: Mail, The Lonesome West, Topdog/Underdog, the revivals of Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and Steel Magnolias, Deuce and The Little Dog Laughed. Off-Broadway: The Baby Dance, Adrift in Macao (at Primary Stages), Some Men (at Second Stage).

Mort Swinsky

Mort Swinsky (Producer) Morton's contributions to Broadway have been honored with nine Tony Awards. He has embraced New York and international theatre through his particiipation in more than 80 plays and musicals, including everything from pure entertainment (Spamalot) to through-provoking (Spring Awakening). He has been the recipient of numerous awards for his film and television projects, including Boys Don't Cry and the concert version of Sweeney Todd. Morton is delighted to be associated with Joe Dietch on The Addams Family and David Mamet's Race, as well as the eventful FELA!

Joseph Deitch

Joseph Deitch (Producer) While Joe is relatively new to Broadway (Blithe Spirit, The Addams Family, Race and A View From the Bridge), he is well versed in delighting his audience. As the founder of Commonwealth Financial Network and a partner in Southworth Golf Development, Joe is devoted to promoting quality and community. He is honored to be part of FELA!

Knitting Factory Entertainment

Knitting Factory Entertainment (Producer) is a producer, manager and distributor of universal music content, owning and operating music venues across the country. The company encompasses Knitting Factory Presents, Partisan Records, High Adventure Management and Knitting Factory Records, proudly partnering with Kalakuta Sunrise on the current release and distribution of the Fela Kuti music catalogue.