The Tony awards winning Broadway Musical ‘Fela!’ which chronicles the life and times of the Afro beat legend, Fela Anikulapo Kuti may be coming to Nigeria sooner than anticipated as the lead producer of the show Stephen Hendel is reportedly in pressing talks with producers in Lagos, pencilling March 2011 for the broadcast in Lagos.
Although Mr Hendel was scanty with words on detailed information about the show’s debut in Nigeria, but Fela’s eldest daughter Yeni Kuti confirmed to us on the telephone that the show is scheduled to hit Lagos in March under the sponsorship of the former Lagos State Governor Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
‘I heard Tinubu is sponsoring the show to come to Nigeria, but I don’t know of any other sponsor’, Yeni tells us.
According to the lead producer, members of the Fela family have been promised that the show would come to Nigeria one day, which is why he and his team have left no stones unturned to ensure the show reaches the Nigerian shores.
‘I’m happy the show will be coming to Nigeria. Those who didn’t have a chance to travel to the US to see FELA! can see it in Lagos’, Ms Kuti says.
The show would be staged at the New Afrikan Shrine in Lagos for the first two days, Yeni adds and subsequently at the Eko Hotel and Suites.
No definite dates have been announced yet.
