RIALTO CHATTER: Patti LaBelle to Join FELA! on Broadway in September?

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.

FELA!, the true story of the legendary Nigerian musician Fela Kuti whose soulful Afrobeat rhythms ignited a generation, is a triumphant tale of courage, passion and love, featuring Kuti's captivating music and the visionary direction and choreography of Tony® Award-winner Bill T. Jones. Inspired by his mother, a civil rights champion, Kuti defied a corrupt and oppressive military government and devoted his life and music to the struggle for freedom and human dignity.

Fela! is produced by Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter, Will & Jada Pinkett Smith, Ruth & Stephen Hendel, Roy Gabay, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Edward Tyler Nahem, Slava Smolokowski, Chip Meyrelles/Ken Greiner, Douglas G. Smith, Steve Semlitz/Cathy Glazer, Daryl Roth/True Love Productions, Susan Dietz/Mort Swinsky and Knitting Factory Entertainment. In association with Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson.

For tickets and more information on the Broadway production, visit www.felaonbroadway.com.

The London production of FELA! will open at the Olivier Theatre of London's National Theatre on November 16, with previews beginning November 6. For more information, visit www.nationaltheatre.org.uk.

 

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.

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