"Fela!" on August 13th at 37 Arts in New York, NY

This new musical is choreographed and directed by Bill T. Jones. The good news, which we pretty much could have guessed, is that the music and choreography are fantastic. After all, the music is Fela Kuti's and the choreography is by Bill T. Jones. The not-so-good news, which we also could have guessed, is that the direction isn't nearly as strong. The wild card is the book, which is written by Jim Lewis, who is presently working with The Civilians. Sadly, that's the weakest part of the show.

I could get into a discussion about the evolution of the jukebox musical and how it's led us to this place but I won't. I will say that the conceit of the play is that Fela is telling his life story at his final concert in Nigeria. His compound has been ransacked, his wives raped and beaten, and his mother murdered. The concert setting is a vehicle for Fela to sing his greatest hits and to put them in a political context. While this is an easy way to show off the music, it's a bit of a copout and doesn't make for very compelling drama. If there is a theme, and if there is it's not well developed, it's that in the face of political adversity we should keep our resolve and continue to fight the good fight. While the story is poor, I will say that I heard "Zombie" in a whole new way. The production wrung out the meaning of the song.

As someone writing a personal critique of the play, the weakness of the script matters. As a guy who just went to see it, it barely matters. The music is fantastic and it's a joy to hear it played and sung live. Bill T. Jones' choreogrpahy is impressive and lots of fun. In a way it reminds me of Ron Brown's choreography in its fusion of traditional and African and Western movement. While Ron Brown's accomplishment is that he combines African and African American movement seamlessly, Bill T. Jones' is that he adds geometry to it. If you're a fan of Afro-pop and dance, this show is a blast. I enjoyed it tremendously. From the reaction of the audience, I think the entire theater enjoyed it. And from the fact that it's been extended for a couple of months, I think people continue to enjoy it.