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Mambo Mania
Zimbabwe-born Kevin Mambo is one of the two Felas in Fela!, the new Broadway musical about Nigerian activist-hedonist-musician Fela Kuti. He alternates performances with Sahr Ngaujah, and one visit to the high-energy show makes it clear why one guy alone could not perform the role of the revolutionary musician night after night.

"It would be impossible," Mambo says. "Very physically demanding, vocally demanding. This character really talks and sings through the whole play, as well as choreography, as well as physical and athletic moves."

Mambo's warm-up often begins two hours before the show.

How is Fela! going so far?
Kevin Mambo: Things have been going well. We're really happy with the show, with the crowds, the response has been really phenomenal. It has also been a learning experience for me.

I was curious about that. In what ways has the show been different than your expectations?
Mambo: The show itself has been very, very physical. Much more physical than I am used to. It requires an incredible amount of stamina just to get through. There's no slowing down and there's no stopping.

Did you have a lot of dance experience prior to Fela!?
Mambo: No, I really didn't. I did dance some in college, mostly in class. I would never consider myself a dancer.

Was that intimidating to you, diving into a physical show with famed choreographer Bill T. Jones at the helm?
Mambo: My experience has been to go in with both feet and see where I end up. This is a really phenomenal group of people. In terms of choreography, I came into a first-rate production. For a short amount of time it was intimidating, but you can't give over to that, otherwise you're not going to get anywhere. I was coming off of doing Ruined [at Manhattan Theatre Club] where I was 50 pounds heavier than I am now. So I knew in order to do the physical work, the dance work, etc., I was just going to have to really get disciplined and commit to a physical schedule, commit to stripping off some weight and having a stronger body which entailed running, weightlifting, diet, yoga, as well as studying video of the [Off-Broadway Fela!] production at 37 Arts from last year.

	Kevin Mambo
	photo by Monique Carboni

Would you say this has been some of the best shape you've been in?
Mambo: It's been great. I don't think I've ever been quite this strong, physically. It was like a sports gig, training for this. These dancers are professional athletes, without question.

Do you enjoy being a part of a show that mixes such entertaining music with important themes?
Mambo: To me it is so amazing how revolutionary Fela was. His music is really going through an honest resurgence. People are hearing it for the first time, and most of his music is so timeless, the way it was written. You wouldn't think that it was written in the '70s or the early '80s. It lives in its own dimension. Many countries in the African paradigm are still dealing with the same issues he is talking about in these songs. In terms of the downtrodden, in terms of the government taking advantage of their people… Unfortunately, for many people those messages are still relevant. Those are some of the places we connect with our audience directly. We do one number called "ITT (International Thief Thief)." ITT was a company that had been doing a lot of work in Nigeria at the time. When we start flashing the signs about all the international thieves, you could also get Enron, Halliburton, AIG… So in many ways, these kinds of power struggles are still relevant.

Isn't it interesting how much more sway a political artist can have in smaller countries, how much scarier he can be for the government?
Mambo: I think because the balance of power is so extreme. Like in today's hip-hop here, you have some artists who are completely political, but you have an upper class, a middle class and a lower class. In somewhere like Nigeria, the upper class is so small, and you have the masses living on top of each other, [political] stuff is deadly relevant to them, and it is immediate. It reflects whether they're going to have electricity at night, whether people will make it to work tomorrow or have food on the table or someone's going to get beaten by the police.

Do you and Sahr have an additional understudy for both of you?
Mambo: We do have one, yes, for further down the line. As of right now, I'm covering Sahr and Sahr's covering me. He's out tonight, his back is hurt, so I'm in for both shows.

So this will be a long night for you with a good night's sleep when it's over.
Mambo: [Laughs] It will, because I had to do last night's show too, so I'll be kind of tired.

There are so many good extended grooves in this show. I am curious how you keep track of musical changes, when songs are ending, etc.
Mambo: When you watch old video, you will see Fela cue the band to each new section of music. It is not arbitrary. There are long sections where the musicians vamp and solo, but the band knows its music so well. You start to realize with some of the later arrangements that Fela did, they were huge suites, of 12-15 sections. So it's deceptive. It is very complicated music that on the surface appears very simple. With all the percussion, you have at least seven or eight different rhythm lines expressing themselves at the same time. The deeper you listen, the more you hear. You can listen for months and go, "I never heard that guitar part before!" Very dense arrangements but played so well, it sounds simple.

You were born in Zimbabwe. Did you live there long enough to remember it?
Mambo: I moved away when I was quite young, but we would go back home a fair amount. Shona is my first language. English is my second language. If you grow up with parents from another country, that's the country you really grow up in, no matter where you are!

Did you ever envision yourself on Broadway?
Mambo: I never thought it would be anything like this. When you are an actor and you are young and ambitious, you always imagine other jobs. Years ago, due to paperwork issues, I had the opportunity to take over for Mos Def in Top Dog/Underdog, and for immigration reasons, it just never happened, and I thought to myself, "Oh my god! Acting with Jeffrey Wright. That was going to be the best job ever!" Funny enough, years later, I have landed on the best job ever. I can't imagine anything better than this.

[Fela! is now playing at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre, 230 W. 49th Street. For more information, go to www.felaonbroadway.com] Continued...