Audiences around the world will be able to experience FELA!, the new hit Broadway musical about the life and music of legendary Nigerian performer and political activist Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, when it is broadcast in January 2011 on movie screens around the globe as part of NT Live, the initiative by London's National Theatre to broadcast live performances of plays to a world audience. The performance will take place during FELA!'s engagement at London's National Theatre which begins in November of this year. The NT Live broadcast will enable audiences everywhere to experience the excitement of this critically acclaimed production before they can behold the phenomenon of FELA! in person on the upcoming American and international tour.
NT Live performances are filmed at The National Theatre in high definition and broadcast via satellite to 300 cinemas and performing arts centres in 22 countries, live in Europe and some US cities, and time-delayed in countries further afield.
CAMI Spectrum's Margaret Selby is facilitating the American and international tour of FELA! which will begin in Autumn 2011, months after the NT Live broadcast. She is "looking forward to working with local theatre presenters both in the United States and abroad to use this broadcast as an innovative tool to excite their theatre goers to come and experience what Broadway audiences and critics have been raving about."
FELA!, the 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.
The Broadway production of FELA! is presented by Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter and Will & Jada Pinkett Smith and directed and choreographed by Tony Award-winner Bill T. Jones (Spring Awakening). FELA! opened on Broadway to rave reviews on November 23 and went on to receive more Tony nominations than any new musical this season. The partnership with The National Theatre began this spring when it was announced that FELA! would open in the prestigious Olivier Theatre in November 2010, while the Broadway production continued, marking the first time the National has ever produced a show currently running on Broadway.
FELA! is the recipient of eleven 2010 Tony® Award nominations, the most nominations of any new musical on Broadway, including Best Musical, Best Performance by a Leading Actor (Sahr Ngaujah), Best Performance by a Featured Actress (Lillias White), Best Direction of a Musical (Bill T. Jones), Best Choreography (Bill T. Jones), Best Book of a Musical (Jim Lewis and Bill T. Jones), Best Orchestrations (AaRon Johnson), Best Scenic Design of a Musical (Marina Draghici), Best Costume Design of a Musical (Marina Draghici), Best Lighting Design of a Musical (Robert Wierzel) and Best Sound Design of a Musical (Robert Kaplowitz).
