Seven Days: Vermont's Independent Voice

Jolly Good Fela

Sandwiched between productions of Hamlet and King Lear, telling shows that represent the National Theatre of London’s traditional focus on historic and modern English dramas, comes a big-stage spectacle out of left field: FELA! The curtains opened last November on this musical biography of noted Nigerian Afrobeat pioneer and human-rights activist Fela Anikulapo Kuti; this Thursday, Vermonters can screen the colorful music, theater and dance display live at several area venues. Featuring choreography by avant-garde legend Bill T. Jones, which earned the show one of its three 2010 Tony Awards during its Broadway run, athletic gyrations and gymnastics accent Kuti’s stirring rhythms, performed by a live band. Can’t ask for much more when it’s coming to a screen near you.