Last night I worked/attended my first opening night on Broadway. HOORAY! The show was "Fela!" and it is playing at the Al Hirschfield Theatre (owned by Jujamcyn) for 4 weeks only.

Like "Hair" did last summer, this limited engagement of "Fela!" is simply a stop on the tour. Load-in took 2 days. The cast was onstage Monday morning and they started previews Monday night... and then opened 2 days later. So the entire process is very quick. For those of you who might've seen the show when it was on Broadway from 2008-2011 at the St. James Theatre, this production is different because it's not an installation and the set is simpler.

The show itself is incredible. The cast is stunning and it's one of those shows where even if you're a skilled performer you cannot walk away saying "Oh I can do that" because you can't. It's 2.5 hours of nonstop movement and amazing music except for a few extremely horrifying/sad/touching/everyone gasps kind of moments.

To see this show on opening night was out of this world because most everyone in the audience had a deep connection to the show. I was sitting in front of a gaggle of original cast members who were standing and clapping and shouting throughout the entire thing. At a normal show this would be considered bad because it would disrupt the show, but not here. This show THRIVES on audience interaction.

To read about the show and see the celebrities I encountered while working the show last night, look here. I am literally standing on the other side of the red barricades in each picture and people are blocking me. Sad.

Ben Brantley's Review in NY Times
Playbill's Photo Coverage
Theatermania's Photo Coverage
Broadwayworld's Coverage