Genevieve Nnaji joins cast of musical on Afrobeat star Fela Kuti premiering on Clubhouse
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Nollywood actress and filmmaker Genevieve Nnaji is among the cast of an audio adaptation of Broadway musical ‘FELA!’ premiering on the Clubhouse app this weekend.
The production highlights the struggles of Nigerian music star and Afrobeat pioneer, Fela Anikulapo Kuti who was an outspoken critic of Nigeria’s military regimes and was frequently arrested for his troubles.
‘Fela Ten-Twenty’ director and producer, Funa Maduka, told CNN that while the audio adaptation is a nod to the original Broadway musical, ‘Ten Twenty’ represents the date of the shooting of protesters by security forces at the Lekki Toll Gate in October 2020, in the wake of the nationwide #ENDSars anti-police brutality protests.
Genevieve Nnaji joins cast of Clubhouse musical on Afrobeat star Fela Kuti
Nollywood actress and filmmaker Genevieve Nnaji is among the cast of an audio adaptation of Broadway musical ‘FELA!’ premiering on the Clubhouse app this weekend.
The production highlights the struggles of Nigerian music star and Afrobeat pioneer, Fela Anikulapo Kuti who was an outspoken critic of Nigeria’s military regimes and was frequently arrested for his troubles.
‘Fela Ten-Twenty’ director and producer, Funa Maduka, told CNN that while the audio adaptation is a nod to the original Broadway musical, ‘Ten Twenty’ represents the date of the shooting of protesters by security forces at the Lekki Toll Gate in October 2020, in the wake of the nationwide #ENDSars anti-police brutality protests.
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Stephen Hendel, the original lead producer of the Broadway Show, FELA!, announced on Thursday that the audio adaptation of FELA!, written and directed by filmmaker, Funa Maduka, and featuring a global cast of performers, will premiere on Clubhouse, the popular drop-in audio chat platform, on Saturday, May 15 and Sunday, May 16.
Fela Ten Twenty, the title of the audio adaptation, will feature an exciting new interpretation of Bill T. Jones and Jim Lewis Original FELA! Script and it will be framing the ongoing #EndSars movement in the context of Fela Kuti’s legacy. Music for the production will be recorded in Lagos by the Cavemen, the band rekindling Nigerian highlife with their new album Roots.
okayafrica (Photo by Michael Putland/Getty Images)
Fela Kuti performs on stage, Paris, 1981. Audio Adaptation of Broadway Musical âFELA!â to Debut on Clubhouse
Fela Ten Twenty, an audio adaptation of the popular Broadway show FELA! depicting
Fela Kuti s life and music, will premiere on Clubhouse in May.
An audio adaptation of the popular Broadway musical
FELA!, nominated for 11 Tony Awards in 2010, will premiere on Saturday, May 15, and Sunday, May 16 on the popular drop-in audio chart platform Clubhouse â popular in Nigeria.
The adaptation, titled
Funa Maduka. Fela s music, the foundation for Afrobeat, demanded global engagement with African political thought, Maduka explains in a statement. In the aftermath of the October 2020 #EndSars protests against police brutality, his message still achingly resounds. This production is a love letter to those fighting for a better Nigeria.