Roy Gabay News

The award-winning Broadway musical Fela!, Harlem's Hue Man Bookstore and the Arts and Entertainment Task Force of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) have joined forces to bring a unique promotion to Broadway audiences.

The award-winning Broadway musical Fela!, Harlem's Hue Man Bookstore and the Arts and Entertainment Task Force of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) have joined forces to bring a unique promotion to Broadway audiences.

Fela!, recipient of three 2010 Tony® Awards including Best Choreography, will celebrate its One Year Anniversary on Broadway on Tuesday, November 23 @ 7pm at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre (230 West 49th Street) where it opened a year ago to rapturous reviews.

The National Theatre, one of the world's most prestigious venues, opens FELA!, this season's most heralded new musical on Broadway, on November 16 at The National's Olivier Theatre. Directed and choreographed by Tony®Award-winner Bill T. Jones, FELA! will open in LonDon Starring Sahr Ngaujah, who originated the role and currently appears in the Broadway production. Kevin Mambo, who shares the role with Mr. Ngaujah in NYC, will also join the otherwise all-British cast for a limited run. The Broadway production will continue its open-ended run.

According to USA Today, Charles Moore, author of a book about Fela Kuti, has sued the producers of the Broadway musical Fela!. As presented to federal court in Manhattan today, Novemmber 8, Moore claims that producers of the show 'stole his work', and wants performances of the show to stop. Moore, who reportedly declined an offer of $4,000 in 2007 from the show's producers, is seeking at least $5 million.

Fela!, recipient of three 2010 Tony® Awards including Best Choreography, will celebrate its 400th performance on Tuesday, November 8 @ 7pm.

It was announced today that in November 2010, The National Theatre, one of the world's most prestigious venues, will produce FELA!, this season's most heralded new musical on Broadway. Performances at The National's Olivier Theatre are slated to begin Saturday, November 6, with an official Opening Night set for Tuesday, November 16, 2010.

Tony Award nominee Sahr Nguajah played his final performance as Fela Anikulapo-Kuti on October 10, and Kevin Mambo is taking over as the title character. Mambo, who has won two Daytime Emmy Awards for his appearances on GUiding Light, has been alternating the role with Nguajah since it opened last year. Nguajah is set to star in the upcoming West End production of the show

On Tuesday, September 28, FELA! received Actors' Equity Association's Advisory Committee on Chorus Affairs (ACCA) fourth annual ACCA Award for Outstanding Broadway Chorus. The award, the only industry award of its kind, honors the distinctive talents and contributions made by the original chorus members of a Broadway musical. The award ceremony was held in the Council Room, at Equity's headquarters in the heart of Times Square on Tuesday. BroadwayWorld was on hand and brings you photo coverage below.

FELA! will receive Actors' Equity Association's Advisory Committee on Chorus Affairs (ACCA) fourth annual ACCA Award for Outstanding Broadway Chorus. The award, the only industry award of its kind, honors the distinctive talents and contributions made by the original chorus members of a Broadway musical. The award ceremony will be held in the Council Room, at Equity's headquarters in the heart of Times Square on Tuesday, September 28, 2010.

FELA! will receive Actors' Equity Association's Advisory Committee on Chorus Affairs (ACCA) fourth annual ACCA Award for Outstanding Broadway Chorus. The award, the only industry award of its kind, honors the distinctive talents and contributions made by the original chorus members of a Broadway musical. The award ceremony will be held in the Council Room, at Equity's headquarters in the heart of Times Square on Tuesday, September 28, 2010.

As BroadwayWorld previously speculated, producers Shawn 'Jay-Z' Carter, Will & Jada Pinkett Smith, Ruth & Stephen Hendel and Roy Gabay will welcome Grammy Award-winning, multi-platinum recording artist Patti LaBelle to the cast of the hit Award-winning Broadway musical Fela! on Tuesday, September 14, when she takes over the role of Fela's mother (Funmilayo Anikulapo-Kuti) through Sunday, January 2, 2011, when the show will play its final scheduled performance. Tony Award-winner Lillias White (who received a 2010 Tony Nomination for her performance in this production) will play her final performance on September 12. Fela! received three 2010 Tony Awards, including Best Choreography, Best Costume Design and Best Sound Design. It is currently playing at Broadway's Eugene O'Neill Theatre (230 West 49th Street) where it opened to rave reviews on November 23.

Audiences will have the opportunity to grab a sneak-peek of the legendary multi-platinum recording artist Patti LaBelle in the Award-winning Broadway musical Fela! on Wednesday, September 8 and Thursday, September 9, both at 8pm.

Audiences will have the opportunity to grab a sneak-peek of the legendary multi-platinum recording artist Patti LaBelle in the Award-winning Broadway musical Fela! on Wednesday, September 8 and Thursday, September 9, both at 8pm.

This week, on August 24, Fox's So You Think You Can Dance featured a special number of FELA!'s 'Zombie,' choreographed by Tony-winner Bill T. Jones. Click below to see the performance!

As BroadwayWorld previously speculated, producers Shawn 'Jay-Z' Carter, Will & Jada Pinkett Smith, Ruth & Stephen Hendel and Roy Gabay will welcome Grammy Award-winning, multi-platinum recording artist Patti LaBelle to the cast of the hit Award-winning Broadway musical Fela! on Tuesday, September 14, when she takes over the role of Fela's mother (Funmilayo Anikulapo-Kuti) through Sunday, January 2, 2011, when the show will play its final scheduled performance. Tony Award-winner Lillias White (who received a 2010 Tony Nomination for her performance in this production) will play her final performance on September 12. Fela! received three 2010 Tony Awards, including Best Choreography, Best Costume Design and Best Sound Design. It is currently playing at Broadway's Eugene O'Neill Theatre (230 West 49th Street) where it opened to rave reviews on November 23.

Photographer Marilyn Nance is suing the musical FELA! for unauthorized use of one of her photographs, the New York Post reports.

The cast and crew of the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical Fela!, based on the life and music of groundbreaking African composer, performer and activist Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, will be honored by New York City Council Members Jimmy Van Bramer and Julissa Ferreras on the Steps of City Hall on Thursday, July 29.

Michael Riedel reports in the New York Post this morning that songbird Patti LaBelle will be joining the Broadway cast of FELA! in September as Fela's mother. She will be filling in for Lillias White, who has concert obligations in Australia that month.

The New York Times reports that Femi Kuti, son of Fela Anikulapo Kuti, saw FELA! while in New York on Sunday. Previously, Kuti would not see the production unless it was brought to Lagos, where his father originally built the nightclub. On Saturday, over a World Cup viewing with FELA! co-conceiver and producer Stephen Hendel, Kuti was promised the show will see a production in Lagos. Said Hendel: 'We're going to keep our word.'