Like summer blockbuster disaster movies and elaborate lies to Congress, epic musicals resonate best with audiences when they're based on a true story. Take in an unbelievably authentic musical with today's Groupon for tickets to see FELA! at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre. Choose one of two options:

• $64 for a ticket to a Friday–Sunday matinee (a $127 value)
• $62 for a ticket to a Sunday–Thursday evening performance (a $122 value)

FELA! mingles soulful rhythms with Tony Award–winning dance choreography to tell the tale of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, the legendary Nigerian activist and musician who fused traditional Yoruba music and jazz into a new music called Afrobeat. That primal, joyful sound underscores all of FELA!'s musical numbers as they chronicle Fela’s life. Spurred on by his devoted civil-rights-activist mother (played by Patti LaBelle), Fela’s music becomes entwined with his vociferous opposition to the corrupt, oppressive military government that ruled Nigeria. His passion, courage, and idealism is captured in an intense performance by two-time Emmy winner Kevin Mambo. The soaring, soulful extravaganza will have audiences singing and dancing on their way out—and might even inspire them to finally complete their dream of fusing two unicycles into some sort of whimsical “doublecycle.”

Reviews

FELA! won three Tony awards in 2010. The Broadway play has been featured in the New York Times, Black Voices, National Geographic, Next. Yelpers give the Manhattan production a 4.5-star average.

• There has never been anything on Broadway like this production...The astonishment of “Fela!” is that it transmits the force of this musical language in ways that let us feel what it came out of and how it traveled through a population. – Ben Brantley, New York Times
• It was an ideal expenditure of time: taut dancing grooves; extended renditions of Afrobeat; political defiance; controversial personal lifestyle choices; and an introduction to the man-Fela. I was riveted by this explosive production. – Francis Daniels, Next