The New York Times (November 24, 2009)
There has never been anything on Broadway like this production! Read more
Associated Press(November 24, 2009)
A terrific dance party of a musical, an exuberant celebration that also drives home a spirited message of human resilience. Read more
Back Stage(November 24, 2009)
Explosive dance numbers are performed with an uninhibited joy and intensity by a fiercely talented ensemble. Read more
The Bergen Record(November 24, 2009)
The term "unique experience" is thrown around loosely, but I'll go out on a limb and say you've never seen anything like "Fela!," the infectious Afrobeat musical that opened Monday night at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre. Read more
Bloomberg NEWS (November 24, 2009)
Fela's music and Jones's equally matchless dances, uniquely combining earthiness with flight, dynamics with delicacy and drive to equal, if not surpass, Olympian ideals. Read more
Entertainment Today(May 31, 2010)
"The pulsing, vibrant first half of FELA! is one of the strongest 75 minutes on Broadway." Read more
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY(November 24, 2009)
To the list of classic stage musical narrators - the Leading Player in Pippin, the M.C. in Cabaret - we can now add Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. Read more
Kansas City Star(May 22, 2010)
Ngaujah makes the audience part of the show, exhorting us to join in call-and-response exercises and to get on our feet and move to the music. Believe me, that wasn't a problem. Read more
New York Magazine (November 24, 2009)
If you don't spend a portion of FELA! staring at the amazing asses onstage, you're just not doing your job." Read more
The New York Post (November 24, 2009)
There's enough energy in FELA! to short-circuit Con Ed. It spills over from the stage and into the orchestra seats, boundless and joyous: This is as close as Broadway gets to fully immersive theater. Read more
New Jersey/Star Ledger(November 24, 2009)
Broadway has never before witnessed a musical quite like FELA! - an explosive mix of catchy Afrobeat rhythms, wild, sexy dancing and raw bio-dramatics... Read more
New York Daily News (November 24, 2009)
FELA! is one of the most original and exciting shows to come around in a long while. It deserves its berth on Broadway - and that exclamation point. Read more
NY1(November 24, 2009)
FELA! speaks to Broadway’s next generation, whose embrace of the work gives hope for the theater’s future. Read more
Sioux City Journal (June 11, 2009)
"The music is infectious and the dancing is incredible - it's the year's best." Read more
TheaterMania (November 24, 2009)
There's no better dancing on Broadway than what's currently on view in Fela!, directed and choreographed by Bill T. Jones and now playing the Eugene O'Neill Theatre following a successful Off-Broadway run at 37 Arts last year. The sheer exuberance of the performers makes this bio-musical about Nigerian activist, composer, and performer Fela Anikulapo Kuti an exciting and richly rewarding theatrical experience. Read more
Time Out NEW YORK(November 24, 2009)
FELA! is more than a musical; it's an ecstatic phenomenon. Read more
USA TODAY (November 24, 2009)
Delivering exuberant storytelling through song and dance, FELA! achieves something closer to the essence of great musicals than many more conventional shows. Read more
Variety (November 24, 2009)
This is a show that defies an audience to remain outside the experience, particularly as the dancers and musicians shimmy and weave through the aisles. Read more
Broadway.com (December 10, 2009)
Word of Mouth Review
CUNY Advocate (March 26, 2010)
Damned if this wasn’t the most exciting thing I’ve seen on Broadway, probably ever. Read more
Viva Life (January 30, 2010)
“FELA! is a whirlwind of song and dance, a perpetual motion machine in which all the parts are nearly always moving, always gyrating, largely in synch with the Afro-beat rhythms that give the show its pulse.” Read more
What the Flick (June 25, 2010)
"No amount of hype could touch the beauty and passion of this production...FELA! is flawless." Read more
The Broadway Critic (January 16, 2010)
“Prepare yourself for an experience unlike anything you’ve ever experienced.” Read more
North Jersey.com (January 14, 2010)
“FELA! is one of the most exciting evenings to be spent not only in the theater, but anywhere.” Read more
Huffington Post (January 14, 2010)
“FELA! is a kinetic, multimedia experience that explodes nightly at the Eugene O'Neill.” Read more
Bay State Banner (January 11, 2010)
“Stirring spirit, pulse and pelvis, the musical FELA! brings the grit and intoxicating verve of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti to Broadway.” Read more
Hip Hop DX (December 30, 2009)
“FELA! will awaken your spirit while paying homage to one of the world’s most exciting entertainers.” Read more
Celeb Stoner (December 27, 2009)
FELA! Will Get You High on its Horn-heavy Music by Antibalas and Joyous African Dancing Read more
Next (December 25, 2009)
“FELA! is a stirring theatrical experience that’s a breath of fresh air.” Read more
MetroMix Chicago (December 16, 2009)
“What makes this piece so extraordinary is the extent to which it envelops the audience in its distinctive social context.” Read more
Danbury News Times (December 18, 2009)
Vibrant and raw, FELA! Chronicles Life of Nigerian Musician and Political Rebel Read more
TimesSquare.com (December 2, 2009)
Mixing great music with incendiary politics, FELA! is a riveting, original portrait. Read more
The Edge (November 28, 2009)
“Every member of the large cast imbues his or her performance with singularity--something I don’t think I’ve ever seen in a big Broadway show before.” Read more
Afridiziak's Theatre News(November 26, 2009)
“This play is a must see. The only problem is you will not want it to end; you will leave wanting more and more.” Read more
Banning's Afropop Blog (November 24, 2009)
FELA!Is Already a Cultural Landmark. My Bet is that Broadway Will Never be the Same Read more
The Hollywood Reporter(November 24, 2009)
Bottom Line: This bio-musical featuring the music of the legendary African musician will have audiences dancing in the aisles. Read more
Off-Broadway: The New York Times (Sept. 5, 2008)
The grandiose claims that Fela, played with inexhaustible swagger by the remarkable Sahr Ngaujah, makes for his music wind up feeling dead accurate. In the percussion section in his band, he says early in the show, you feel “the pulse of the world, the impulse of life.” And darned if 10 minutes into this production you don’t find yourself believing this as gospel truth. Read more
Off-Broadway: Bloomberg News (Sept. 5, 2008)
A work of art that encompasses a spectrum of arts, FELA! is electric and eclectic, exotic and hypnotic, at once overpowering and empowering. Read more
Off-Broadway: The Daily News (Sept. 5, 2008)
You've heard of the Disco Inferno. Well, "FELA!" is the Afrobeat Volcano. It erupts with music, movement and multimedia visuals. Rousing and unruly, like its real-life hero, it's one of the most exciting shows to come along since "Spring Awakening." Read more
Off-Broadway: Variety (Sept. 5, 2008)
We're going to sweat up here," promises lead performer Sahr Ngaujah at the start of Bill T. Jones' hyperkinetic chronicle of the artistic, social, political and spiritual awakening of Nigerian musician-activist Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. He's not lying. This dance-intensive bio-portrait aims to be less traditional musical theater than cathartic experience, lacing its communicative passion with infectious euphoria, rebellious anger and heartfelt despair. Read more
Off-Broadway: New York Post (Sept. 5, 2008)
DON'T expect to sit on your butt or your hands at "FELA!" This rousing new bio-musical—full of the pulsating, rhythmic Afrobeat music for which its subject was famous—threatens to tear the roof off. Read more
Off-Broadway: NY 1 (Sept. 5, 2008)
The show works on so many levels and whether you appreciate it as a concert featuring the incomparable Antibalas musicians or simply for the dance lessons provided by a sensational ensemble, Fela is a winner! Read more
Off-Broadway: New York Sun (Sept. 5, 2008)
This irresistible piece of assemblage represents something new and quite welcome: musicology you can dance to. Read more
EUGENE O’NEILL THEATRE · 230 W 49th St
