Tony Award Winner and Smash Hit FELA! is Coming to Philadelphia at the Academy of Music, March 20-25
JANUARY 24, 2012
Tickets On
FELA!, the most critically acclaimed musical of the season and the recipient of three 2010 Tony Awards, will play the Academy of Music for a limited engagement March 20 – 25, 2012 as part of the Broadway Season, presented by The Kimmel Center and The Shubert Organization. The press opening is Tues., March 20 at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets ranging in price from $20 to $100 are now on sale. Tickets can be purchased by calling 215-893-1999, online at kimmelcenter.org/broadway, at the Kimmel Center box office, Broad & Spruce streets (open daily 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.) or at the Academy of Music box office, Broad & Locust streets (open during performances only). Groups of 10 or more will receive discounts for select performances by calling 215-790-5883 or 866-276-2947. Performances include: Tuesday – Thursday evenings at 7:30 p.m.; Friday & Saturday evenings at 8 p.m.; Sunday evening at 6:30 p.m. and matinees Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.
FELA!, directed by Bill T. Jones, is a provocative hybrid of dance, theatre and music exploring the extravagant world of Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti. The show has become an international sensation having been performed in three continents.
A triumphant tale of courage, passion and love, FELA! is the true story of Kuti, who created a type of music, Aftrobeat, and mixed these pounding eclectic rhythms (a blend of jazz, funk and African rhythm and harmonies) with incendiary lyrics that openly attacked the corrupt and oppressive military dictatorships that rule
Olivier and Tony Award-nominated actor Sahr Ngaujah will lead the cast of FELA!. He is joined by Melanie Marshall and Paulette Ivory, who co-starred with Ngaujah in the Olivier-nominated Royal National Theatre production.
The production received its world premiere Off-Broadway in September 2008, and won the Lucille Lortel Award for Best Musical, before transferring to Broadway’s Eugene O’Neill Theatre in November 2009 where its accolades included three 2010 Tony Awards®, for Best Choreography, Best Costume Design, Best Sound Design, and an Astaire Award for Bill T. Jones’ choreography.
Critics around the country were effusive in their praise. The kinetic energy pulsing from the music and dancing of FELA! prompted Ben Brantley of The New York Times to say “There should be dancing in the streets.” Peter Marks of The Washington Post described it as “electroshock for the soul” and Charles McNulty added in The Los Angeles Times that FELA! was “the most exuberant musical I’ve seen this season” and “the fusion of his (Fela’s) sound is rapturously celebrated with a pinwheel parade of pelvises.”
FELA! is directed and choreographed by Bill T. Jones, with a book by Jim Lewis and Bill T. Jones, and music and lyrics by Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. Conceived by Bill T. Jones, Jim Lewis and Stephen Hendel, the design and Tony Award winning costumes are by Marina Draghici, lighting design by Robert Wierzel and the Tony Award winning sound design by Robert Kaplowitz.
FELA! is produced in association with Shawn ‘Jay-Z’ Carter, Will & Jada Pinkett Smith, Ruth & Stephen Hendel, Roy Gabay, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Edward Tyler Nahem, SlavaSmolokowski, Chip Meyrelles/Ken Greiner, Douglas G. Smith, Steve Semlitz/Cathy Glazer, Daryl Roth/True Love Productions, Susan Dietz/Mort Swinsky, Knitting Factory Entertainment and with Ahmir ‘Questlove’ Thompson.
The Broadway Season is presented by The Kimmel Center and The Shubert Organization with productions at the
In addition to FELA!, the Broadway Season includes: WEST
KIMMEL CENTER, INC., a charitable, not-for-profit organization, owns, manages, supports and maintains The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, which includes Verizon Hall, Perelman Theater, Innovation Studio and the
THE SHUBERT ORGANIZATION owns and operates 21 theatres in
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