Fela comes alive at Afrika Shrine

The cast and crew of Fela! Musical that has been making waves at the Broadway and cinema houses across Europe and America will be in Afrika Shrine on April 14 for a live performance of the award winning show.

The Thursday April 14 show will kick off the series of shows lined up by the production crew of musical which is making its debut in Nigeria, the birth place of the legendary Olufela Anikulapo Kuti, the creator of afro beat musical genre and who is also Africa’s greatest musical export.

Originally, the musical was billed for Nigeria this March but was moved to April due to logistics reasons and the demand by Femi, the internationally acclaimed musician son of Fela, who canvassed for the shift as he will not be available in the country throughout the month of March.

Insiders disclosed that the Afrika Shrine live performance of Fela! Musical will be a combination of  a live concert and drama depicting the life and times of Fela who succumbed to the cold hands of death on Saturday August 2 1997 at  hospital on Victoria Island Lagos.

According to our source, the crew for the show will move into the Ikeja Business District based New Afrika Shrine on Saturday April 9 for stage construction in preparation for the show which is expected to attract all lovers of afrobeat and Fela’s fans.

It would be recalled that the  British Council Nigeria and the National Theatre, London (NT Live) in association with British Deputy High Commission, Lagos had on Sunday February 6, organized the screening of Fela! Musical at the New Afrika Shrine.

The production which was filmed live at the Oliver Theatre in London was seen by a large crowd and members of the diplomatic community.

The screening was part of the British Council’s work in the arts and to showcase the best of UK’s creativity  overseas while working with the best of creative talents to develop innovative events and collaborations that link thousands of artistes and cultural institutions around the world and developing skills and leadership in the creative sector.

Winner of three Tony Awards including best choreography, the music al which is a baby of two Americans, Jay Z and Will Smith, celebrates the life of the afrobeat legend, his music  and most importantly, his pioneering political and human rights activism in Nigeria during the military era that earned him imprisonment severally.