Nollywood actor, Gideon Okeke and Afrobeat legend, Fela Anikulapo Kuti’s son, Seun, have aired their different opinions over the ‘Fela!’ concert which is scheduled to hold in Lagos with a foreign cast.
‘Fela! The Concert’, which cast members of the Tony-Award-winning Broadway musical is scheduled to hold in celebration of Lagos State at 50 in April 2017.
First to complain bitterly about the casting of ‘foreigners’ for the play is Gideon, who recently delivered a theatrical re-enactment of Fela Anikulapo Kuti ‘s life and evolution.
He wrote on gram, “THEY HAVE COME AGAIN OOOOO!!!! LAGOS @ 50 celebrates FELA April 13-15 with “Foreign Cast”. And the tickets will sure go for more than N500. Dem go hear….Pansa Pansa!“.
But Seun does not see anything wrong with the ‘foreign’ cast, noting that it was okay for any black person, whether Nigerian or not to play the Afro beat icon. He also asked why Gideon did not audition for the role when it was advertised.
He wrote, “The cast is African. The cast is black that’s what Fela stood for. I am not the biggest fan of the show but I will say this, auditions were open for everyone u can’t blame them if Naija artistes didn’t submit themselves. You wan audition? I got u!!!,“.
The musical, conceived by Bill T. Jones, explores Fela’s controversial life as an artist, a political activist and revolutionary musician, and will feature most of his songs.
