With "Fela", Broadway Enters A New Age

by ERIC UGLAND · November 24, 2009

[All photos by NICK HUNT for PMc] While fellow "Fela" producers Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith might have been missing, Jay-Z walked the red carpet of his play with co-directors Bill T. Jones and Niegel Smith.

Several celebrities came out to support the opening of the musical, including Jimmy Fallon, Roots drummer Questlove (who, incidentally, was one of the first celebrities to see "Fela" when it was just a small Off-Broadway show, and it was his blogs and praise of the show that made it a regular stop for New York celebs), Ben Stiller and director Spike Lee.

Fela hopefully will help usher in a new age, where American theatre, and, in particular Broadway, is not dominated by old white guys reproducing unoriginal intellectual property over and over again.

The play examines the story of Fela Anikulap Kuti, a Nigerian political activist and politician, who also happened to be a phenomenal musician, and is considered the pioneer of "Afrobeat" as well as the originator of "Funk". As directed by legendary dancer/choreographer Bill T. Jones, "Fela" is a moving and inherently theatrical experience unlike anything being produced in commercial theatre today.

Jay-Z Jay-Z, Questlove