Fela! on Stage Videos - Broadway

Watch as cast members Rachel Handler and Christian Prentice talk about bringing playwright Martyna Majok’s Pulitzer Prize-winning dual dialogue of human connection in Cost of Living to Philadelphia Theatre Company.

Washington National Opera will present the 11th season of American Opera Initiative (AOI), an acclaimed initiative to commission and present new American operas, on January 19, 2024, at 7:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. T

Watch Lillias White talk to Mo Rocca of CBS Sunday Morning about performing in Hadestown, her role models while growing up in Brooklyn, and more!

Today we rewind to 2010, when Fela! was celebrating its eleven Tony nominations. Fela! ran for 463 performances at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre, and returned to Broadway in 2012 for another 28 performances.

Enjoy the classic musical numbers 'El Ciclo Vital' ('The Circle of Life') and 'Siento Un Nuevo Amor En Mí' ('Can You Feel The Love Tonight'), and a scene from EL REY LE?'N (the Spanish production of THE LION KING), with the brand new cast that can be seen in Madrid's Gran Via: Tiago Barbosa (Simba), Fela Domínguez (Nala), Pitu Manubens (Scar) and Lindiwe Mkhize (Rafiki).

On last night's TONIGHT SHOW, music guest Erykah Badu performed a medley of her hit 'On & On' and a cover of Fela Kuti's 'Sorrow Tears and Blood' with a little help from The Roots.

Primary Stages in association with Susan Dietz (Fela!, Mothers and Sons), present the world premiere of While I Yet Live by the Tony-winning star of Kinky Boots and Angels in America, Billy Porter, and directed by Tony Award nominee Sheryl Kaller (Mothers and Sons, Next Fall, Adrift in Macao). Poor Behavior plays a limited, six-week engagement September 23 - October 31 at Primary Stages at The Duke on 42nd Street - a NEW 42ND STREET project (229 West 42nd Street). Opening night is Sunday, October 12 at 7PM. The company recently met the press and BroadwayWorld's Randy Rainbow was there for the big event. Check out a behind the scenes look below!

On December 16th, Broadway star, Saycon Sengbloh (Motown The Musical / Fela), released her new single, Be Here, from her upcoming album. After an exclusive performance of the song at Drom in New York City, Saycon released the song via digital outlets such as iTunes, Amazon, and CD Baby, and sold physical copies at her show. Click below to watch her performance at Drom!

Former member of Destiny's Child Michelle Williams joined the national tour of the hit Award-winning Broadway musical Fela! when it opened at Sidney Harman Hall in Washington, DC on January 29. Fela! received three 2010 Tony Awards, including Best Choreography. Williams and the rest of the cast met the press just last week, and you can check out what they had to say below!

Ginger Baker is known for playing in Cream and Blind Faith, but the world's greatest drummer didn't hit his stride until 1972, when he arrived in Nigeria and discovered Fela Kuti's Afrobeat. After leaving Nigeria, Ginger returned to his pattern of drug-induced self-destruction, eventually settling in South Africa, where the 73-year-old lives with his young bride and 39 polo ponies. This documentary includes interviews with Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Carlos Santana and more. With every smash of the drum is a man smashing through life, and smashing the filmmaker's nose on the last day of filming.

Talib Kweli and Yasiin Bey (better known as Mos Def) recently shared the stage with FELA! cast in San Francisco. Check out a video, via DDOTOMEN.com, by clicking below.

'Fela!,' the 2010 Best Musical Tony Award-nominated musical, opened on December 14th, at 8 p.m. at the Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre. The musical, filled with the exuberant music of Afrobeat legend Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, will continue through January 22, 2012. Go inside opening night in the video below!

National Theatre Live continues its season with the award-winning Broadway and London production of FELA! starring Sahr Ngaujah (2010 Tony Award nominee for Best Actor; Obie Award) directed & choreographed by Bill T. Jones (2010 Tony Award for Best Choreography). National Theatre Live is an initiative by the UK's National Theatre to broadcast live performances onto cinema screens around the world.

Columbia Records will release If I Were President: My Haitian Experience, the new six song EP from Wyclef Jean, available digitally on Tuesday, December 7, 2010.

Multi-Grammy Award-winner and international recording superstar Patti LaBelle opened in the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical Fela! last night, September 14. LaBelle will perform in Fela! through its scheduled closing on January 2, 2011.

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!

The best of Broadway is being presented free on six consecutive Thursdays this summer with '106.7 Lite fm Presents Broadway in Bryant Park 2010' - a lunchtime series which began on Thursday, July 8th at 12:30pm on the Bryant Park Stage. Sponsored by Bank of America, and JCPenney 33rd & 6th, and hosted by Lite fm's on-air personalities, the tenth annual presentation of open-air, On- and Off- Broadway lunch hour performances runs through August 12th.

Tony Award winning Sound Designer Robert Kaplowitz is responsible for the sound system and sound content of a production. In a play, that content includes both music and sound effects. His primary skills are listening and the ability to understand a play and help an audience connect to the text. Kaplowitz demonstrates creating sound effects and score. In a musical such as Fela!, he brings the existing music to the audience to create an immersive aural environment. Kaplowitz shares how he began his career and why he loves being a sound designer.

Broadway Beat was backstage at the 2010 Tony Awards talking to ALL the winners right after they won! Here, host Richard Ridge talks to Bill T. Jones, recipient of the 2010 Tony Award for Best Choreography for FELA!

Fela was nominated for Best Musical at the 2010 Tony Awards. Although they didn't walk away this this honor, the show did win for Best Costume Design of a Musical, and Best Choreography.

Bono and John Legend join dancers from Broadway's Fela! in the music video for Angelique Kidjo's spin on the classic 'Move On Up.'

Fela!, the critically acclaimed new musical based on the life and music of groundbreaking African composer, performer and activist Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, is directed and choreographed by Tony® Award-winner Bill T. Jones (Spring Awakening), with a book by Jim Lewis and Bill T. Jones. Sahr Ngaujah and Kevin Mambo play the title character at alternate performances, while the world renowned Antibalas and other members of the NYC Afrobeat community, under the direction of Aaron Johnson, perform Kuti's rousing music live onstage.

Broadway dominated The View yesterday, March 3. Following an interview with The Miracle Worker's Abigail Breslin, the Fela! cast took the stage to perform 'Zombie' for viewers. Valerie Bertinelli filled in for Whoopi Goldberg, alongside View regulars Barbra Walters, Joy Behar, Sherri Sheperd and Elizabeth Hasselbeck. Audience members were sent home from the taping with a pair of tickets to see the Fela!. The View airs weekdays at 11:00am EST on ABC.

As a nod to Black History Month, during the course of the week NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams pays tribute to a series of history makers, including FELA!'s Bill T. Jones. In the video piece below, Anne Curry profiles Jones and speaks to the Tony Award-winning director and choreographer him about his career, achievements and the tremendous success of FELA!

See what it's like to dance in the shoes of one of Fela!'s 'swing' performers in this video diary.