St. Ann's Gala to Feature FELA!'s Ngaujah and the FELA! Band, 5/3

St. Ann's Warehouse has announced the attendees for its upcoming Gala to celebrate its 30 year anniversary. The event will include FELA! star Sahr Nguajah, who plays the title role in the hit Broadway musical, alongside the FELA! band.

Nguajah and the band will perform songs from the musical, which is based on the life and music of groundbreaking African composer, performer and activist Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. FELA! is currently playing at Broadway's Eugene O'Neill Theatre. Tickets for Fela! on Broadway are available through www.Telecharge.com, by calling (212) 239-6200 or in-person at The Eugene O'Neill Box Office.

The Gala will take place May 3rd at St. Ann's DUMBO facilities. The gala will begin at 6:30pm with cocktails and continue on with the performances beginning around 7:45pm. Dinner will be included with the event.

Fela! features a multi-cultural cast led by Sahr Ngaujah (recipient of an Obie Award for his performance in the title role Off-Broadway) and Kevin Mambo (MTC's Ruined), alternating in the role of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. Tony Award-winner Lillias White plays Funmilayo Anikulapo-Kuti (Fela's mother) and Saycon Sengbloh (Hair) plays Sandra, Kuti's love interest. The company also includes Corey Baker, Hettie Vyrine Barnhill, Lauren Deveaux, Nicole Chantal DeWeever, Elasea Douglas, Rujeko Dumbutshena, Catherine Foster, Rasaan-Elijah "Talu" Green, Shaneeka Harrell, Chanon Judson, Abena Koomson, Ismael Kouyate, Gelan Lambert, Farai Malianga, Shakira Marshall, Afi McClendon, Adesola Osakalumi, Jeffrey Page, Ryan H. Rankine, Daniel Soto, Jill M. Vallery, J.L. Williams, Iris Wilson, Aimee Graham Wodobode. Scenic and costume design is by Marina Draghici, lighting design is by Rob Wierzel, sound design is by Rob Kaplowitz and projection design is by Peter Nigrini. Musical arrangements and additional music by AaRon Johnson and Jordan McLean, and Jim Lewis provided additional lyrics.

Directed and choreographed by Tony® Award-winner Bill T. Jones with a book by Jim Lewis and music by the world-renowned Afrobeat band Antibalas, Fela! welcomes its audience into the extravagant, decadent and rebellious world of Afrobeat legend Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. Using his pioneering music (a blend of jazz, funk and African rhythm and harmonies), Fela! explores Kuti's controversial life as artist, political activist and revolutionary musician. Featuring many of Fela Kuti's most captivating songs and Bill T. Jones's imaginative staging, Fela! is a provocative hybrid of concert, dance and musical theater.

Tickets for the event range in price from $1,000 to $10,000 and may be purchased online at www.stannswarehouse.org or by calling the box office at 718-254-8779.

St. Ann's Warehouse is celebrating its 30th Anniversary Season! For 30 years, St. Ann's Warehouse has commissioned, produced, and presented a unique and eclectic body of innovative theatre and concert presentations that meet at the intersection of theatre and rock and roll. Since 2000, the organization has helped vitalize the Brooklyn Waterfront in DUMBO, where St. Ann's Warehouse has become one of New York City's most important and compelling live performance destinations.

Through its signature multi-artist concerts and groundbreaking music and theatre collaborations, St. Ann's continues to celebrate the panoramic traditions of American and world cultures, with forays into a variety of contemporary forms, including new commissions and multi-disciplinary theatrical presentations. Among the many acclaimed St. Ann's productions are Lou Reed and John Cale's Songs for Drella, Marianne Faithfull's Seven Deadly Sins, Artistic Director Susan Feldman's Band in Berlin, Charlie Kaufman and the Coen Brothers' Theater of the New Ear, The Royal Court Theatre's 4:48 Psychosis, The Wooster Group's Hamlet, The Emperor Jones, House/Lights, To You, The Birdie! (Phèdre), The Globe Theatre's Measure for Measure, Daniel Kramer's Woyzeck, Antony's Turning, Mabou Mines DollHouse, Lou Reed's Berlin, Cynthia Hopkins' Accidental Trilogy, Les Freres Corbusier's Hell House, Druid's The Walworth Farce and The New Electric Ballroom, TR Warszawa's Macbeth, The National Theatre of Scotland's Black Watch, and Kneehigh Theatre's Brief Encounter.

In 2004, founding Artistic Director, Susan Feldman, and St. Ann's Warehouse were awarded the Ross Wetzsteon Award for the development of new work and for "inviting artists to treat their cavernous DUMBO space as both an inspiring laboratory and a sleek venue where its superinformed audience charges the atmosphere with hip vitality."

For more information, visit www.stannswarehouse.org.