Scoop: Fela! On Broadway- Hip hop & Hollywood A-Listers to Add Boost

As seen on www.BlackVoices.com, posted by Bridget Bland on November 16

Hip hop royalty is returning to Broadway.

Following in the same vein as Russell Simmons’ Tony Award winning turn with ‘Def Jam on Broadway,’ and Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ big splash in Kenny Leon’s revival of ‘A Raisin in the Sun,’ Shawn ‘Jay-Z’ Carter, Will Smith and his wife/actress Jada Pinkett-Smith are taking on the Great White Way.

Contract talks have been going on for weeks between the hip hop and Hollywood A-listers and the show’s creative team, and today Richard Kornberg, Billy Zavelson andTommy Wesley officially announced that the trio have joined the production team of the musical, ‘Fela!,’ about the life of African musician/political activist Fela Anikulapo Kuti.

The glitzy partnership will hopefully bring in the same star power that Oprah Winfrey‘s name did for ‘The Color Purple’ on Broadway in 2005.

Late last year, The Roots drummer Ahmir ‘?uestlove’ Thompson appealed to two hundred of his entertainment industry colleagues via an email blast to see the sold-out limited run of the off-Broadway musical

"It’s uncut. It’s true to the vision. It’s amazing! There is no option. I expect death to be the only reason why you did not see this production," he wrote in his letter.

He closed the plea with: "Get off your ass and see this now."

Now, that the show is headed to Broadway, it has been given an $11 million dollar makeover and is set to open at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre on Nov. 23. Beloved Tony Award-winner Lillias White joined the cast as Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, the late Afrobeat legend’s mother. When Sahr Ngaujah — who mastered the complex lead role when the show debuted Off-Broadway, last year — isn’t working his magic on the masses, two-time Daytime Emmy Award winner Kevin Mambo (right) takes over the role a few times a week — in his Broadway debut as the lead character.

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Thompson, whose reach has only expanded since The Roots became the house band for Jimmy Fallon‘s late-night television show, continued to make an impassioned plea for more of his celebrity friends to invest in and support the show and it seems his calls have been answered.

The addition of Jay-Z and The Smiths could boost ticket sales, which have been reportedly low thus far.

"My job is to be the mouthpiece that can at least catch the ear of a power player for Hollywood and the industry," Thompson, who is also a producer on ‘Fela!,’ said.

Getting Carter, with whom he has collaborated with, to give ‘Fela!’ a chance wasn’t too difficult a task for Thompson — thanks to the interests of the Brooklyn MC’s superstar wife.

"This play really hit Beyonce in the gut, which in turn really hit [Jay-Z] in the gut, and he was excited about it."

Alicia Keys was also confirmed to have seen ‘Fela!’ at Thompson’s urging.

Similarly, hip-hop star K’naan, who says ‘Broadway will never be the same now,’ after having an early look at the show encouraged Mos Def — who starred in the critically-acclaimed play ‘Topdog/Underdog’ — and Nas to check it out.

The show’s lead producer, Stephen Hendel, said that "these prominent celebrities are also approaching us because they want to be involved in bringing something important and new to the culture."

As previously reported, Tony Award-winning choreographer Bill T. Jones serves as the show’s creative force. According to published reports, ‘Fela!’s’ run time has also been sliced twenty minutes to two hours and twenty minutes.

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