Chicago Tribune - Highly Recommended
"...Ngaujah's attention-demanding work was astonishing on Broadway — where Marina Draghici's environmental design enveloped the entire theater — but he has a much tougher task at the much-larger Oriental, especially since the world of The Shrine now, alas, has to pulse from the proscenium alone. But he delivers this character, and thus this show, all the way to the rafters of the old joint, amping up his scale with the ease of man who's performed as Fela all over the world and who has come to know a man who could do his thing anywhere. It is a formidable piece of organic acting."
Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended
"...Conceived by director-choreographer Bill T. Jones, writer Jim Lewis and producer Stephen Hendel, and driven by nearly two dozen of Fela’s blistering, infectiously propulsive songs, the show imagines the musician’s final performance at his Afrika Shrine, after he has been beaten, many in his commune have been hauled off to prison and tortured and his beloved mother has died after brutal treatment by the forces that came to torch his home. Fela — played by Sahr Ngaujah, who originated the role and gives one of those marathon, tour de force performances that indelibly emblazons itself on your brain and makes the actor forever inseparable from his character — takes us back to his childhood and seductively carries us along to the point of no return. A blazing personality in his own right, with the body and grace of an Ailey dancer, a clarion voice and a magical command of the stage (and the audience), Ngaujah is a wonder."
Centerstage - Highly Recommended
"... If this were a production that only focused on Fela’s music it would be riveting enough but Jones manages to weave in the political and cultural struggles that informed his music, making it an unforgettable experience. Fela’s biggest influences were his mother Funmilayo (an angelic-voiced Melanie Marshall) who was an activist and feminist who protested British rule and was the first African woman to tour China and Sandra Isadore (a convincing Paulette Ivory) who introduced him to the American black power movement and Pan African history. These influences helped Fela write lyrics that attacked Nigeria’s corrupt power structure , which, in turn, viciously attacked him."
- Rosalind Cummings-Yeates
Chicago Stage Review - Highly Recommended
"... Director/Choreographer Bill T. Jones has created a tight and thrilling production. The pace is wonderful. His exciting choreography captures the party and conflict of Fela’s life with tribal movement and splendid staging. His outstanding cast is harmonically superb and physically fantastic."
Time Out Chicago - Recommended
"... What begins with the loose energy of a concert gradually turns into a recounting of Fela’s life story, while Funmilayo starts to appear to him in visions. After intermission, things get really trippy. Jones abandons the Shrine conceit almost entirely, shifting to representational vignettes about Kuti’s political activism, the 1978 attack on his compound by 1,000 soldiers and a truly unheralded sequence featuring Yoruba deities painted in fluorescents and bathed in black light, depicting Fela’s spiritual journey to ask his mother’s blessing to leave Nigeria behind. While the stagecraft is impressive, the storytelling is facile. Still, the rendering of Kuti’s music by onstage band Antibalas and Ngaujah’s commanding, electromagnetic presence make Fela! a worthy endeavor."
Stage and Cinema - Recommended
"...Whatever its defects, Fela! is still entertaining and informative. I suspect that few patrons will be familiar with Fela Kuti as they enter the theater. By the time they leave they will know and appreciate this remarkable personality in the equally remarkable portrait by Sahr Ngaujah. There are some emotional and disturbing moments in the second act when the brutality of the Nigerian government is exposed. But this outing will be most enticing to viewers who lock into the party time atmosphere of the show. That Afrobeat is pretty hard to resist."
ChicagoCritic - Somewhat Recommended
"...At first, I was enchanted with the pulsating rhythms of Fela’s music but after several extremely long songs, the music sounded to me like the same song being played over and over again. They used super titles to show the lyrics of these songs – a good idea. But, when Sahr Ngaujah. as Fela, spoke with his fast-talking heavy Nigerian accent, I could not understand much of what he was saying. That is a major flaw for my appreciation of the show."
Chicago Stage and Screen - Recommended
"...Presiding over the celebration and repeating his Olivier and Tony Award-nominated title role is Sahr Ngaujah, a handsome, muscular firebrand and phenom in his own right. He alternates in the role with Adesola Osakalumi. Rightly compared to a combination of Bob Marley and Che Guevara, Sahr’s sexy, sultry Fela is a force of nature as well as the scourge of dictators and foreign devils who steal oil, the blood of Nigeria. Literally marching to his own beat, he calls the tunes for millions more as he fuses Cuban disco with James Brown pizzazz to create sensations like “Upside Down,” “Pipeline,” “Sorrow Tears and Blood” and “Rain,” Funmilayo’s magnificent farewell aria."
Let's Play at ChicagoNow - Highly Recommended
"...After highly acclaimed runs in New York City, Europe, Nigeria, and around the United States, “Fela!” makes its way to Chicago for a three-week stay at The Oriental Theatre. Technically, it is described as “musical theater”, but the phrase doesn’t do this show justice. Beyond music, it’s performance art, dance, political statement, and historical drama."
Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...Directed and Choreographed by Bill T. Jones this is a very quick 2 hours and 40 minutes of magic on stage. I will tell you that the history lesson opens one’s eyes to a culture that we have read about and seen movies about, but the music and the energy on stage makes it entertaining as well as educational. Mr. Ngaujah is not only a marvelous singer/actor but he plays one mean saxaphone, Tonight’s audience was into what they saw and felt, and I imagine, found themselves dancing as they stood to applaud this masterful production."