Fela Kuti is arguably the most visible African star in music history. His passion, art and struggles are emblematic of the modern African experience and his significance transcends his native Nigeria. He was defiant and original; at once a loyal steward of distinct West African rhythms and a pioneer in deftly crafting a sound that was the sum of global rebel music from funk to hard-bop. He is often viewed as a source of pride for all Africans. So for many of us, the Broadway production of Fela! is more than a jubilant spectacle of shocking colors and incessant beats. Fela! is charged with bringing the story, the energy, and the significance of Fela Kuti to the musical stage; a medium the thrives on elastic hyperbole and garish pageantry. And fortunately, the show wildly succeeds in articulating the power of Fela’s message through a two-hour jam that will make any Kuti fan proud.

The show centers on Fela’s last night at his legendary concert venue, The Shrine. Eschewing the robotic conventions of typical stage production, the show opens with Fela’s band members and dancers milling about the Eugene O’Neill theater, bedecked in ’70s finery, chatting up theater-goers and slowly making their way to the stage. The theater has been tricked out in a stylishly gritty approximation of The Shrine with vintage tchtokes, portraits of revolutionaries and sheets of vibrantly painted steel adorning the venue. Sahr Ngaujah as Fela, approaches the stage through the aisles from the back of the theater flanked by virulent male dancers.

The first act is more of a concert, with Ngaujah speaking directly to the audience and launching into signature Fela songs like Trouble Sleep, Expensive Shit and International Thief Thief. Ngaujah nicely adopts Fela’s blunt, cocky storytelling style as he regales the audience with tales about his travels through Europe and the U.S., his discovery of James Brown and Black Panther literature, and his love of Frank Sinatra. The act is peppered with seamless dance breaks and drum circles as the company gyrates and pounds out fanatical footwork to the live sounds of Brooklyn Afrobeat crew, Antibalas. The show is interactive and the audience is encouraged to get on its feet and move along with the music and the story.

The second act is powered by a moving recreation of the violent 1977 raid on Fela’s compound where women are raped and Kuti matriarch Funmilayo is thrown out of a window. The tone of the show becomes markedly more mystical as Fela evokes traditional Nigerian spirits to connect with his late mother. Tap-dancing spirits scatter across the stage, dancers explode in fits of mercurial movement and the moment climaxes with Funmilayo’s urgent order to continue his activism. The show closes with a powerful funeral procession that brings Fela’s 20^th century fight to the current millenium referencing everything from Sean Bell to healthcare to AIDS.

As a patron of the arts, you will be enthralled. As a music fan, you will be thoroughly entertained. As someone who identifies with the African diaspora and experience, you will be satisfied that for once, the story of one of our brothers was told with wit, sensitivity and truth.