Theater

The (Afro)beat Generation

'Fela!' follows a Nigerian music legend on a relatable path

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Commended commodities broker Stephen Hendel probably wouldn't trade the hot product he has now for anything. But he will talk about it: "Fela!," says the producer of the multi-award-winning musical that has broken barriers and hearts, and also snare-drummed three Tony Awards in June, has changed his life. The musical's done quite a number on Broadway as well. Based on...

Theater

Crowning Effort Out of Africa -- and Crown Heights

By:

Michael Elkin

The heartfelt hurt that infuses Fela Anikulapo-Kuti's keen cry of power to the people can not be more powerfully felt than the jeremiad that jets from the mouth of Sahr Ngaujah, the Tony Award-nominated actor/artist who portrays "Fela!" on stage. If his let-my-people-go wail wallops the core of the soul, chills with the power of ice applied to the spine,...

Theater

More Than a Little Night Music

Cherry Hill's Aaron Lazar adds to his Broadway bounty with Feinstein's premiere

By:

Michael Elkin

Barricades do come down for Aaron Lazar, star of the 2006 revival of "Les Misérables" and the most happy fella -- well, he hasn't done that show yet -- to come out of Cherry Hill, N.J., chomping at taking the reigns of Broadway. Of course, there was the reign of terror that he was involved in two years ago, but...

Theater

Cumming to the Cabaret...

By:

Michael Elkin

Who better to wish "Wilkommen" to the cabaret than Alan Cumming? The Tony Award-winning actor whose sexually charged m.c. provided major wattage for the 1996 "Cabaret" that was a stun-gun of a Broadway revival, recently reiterated musically why there's no putting this Broadway baby in a corner. Cumming to the cabaret, old chum: As the showpiece of an extended engagement...

Theater

… Young at Heart

By:

Michael Elkin

Love, exciting and new -- or is that exciting and ... old ? "Just exciting!" exclaims actor Bernie Kopell. Come aboard: "The Love Boat" is setting sail for "Viagara Falls" and Kopell, the former doc holiday as the dreamboat medic Adam Bricker on "The Love Boat" some 30 years ago, has docked into the Little Shubert Theatre in New York...