Fela! Wins 2010 Equity Award for Outstanding Broadway Chorus

The ensemble of Broadway's Tony Award-nominated Fela! will receive Actors' Equity Association's Advisory Committee on Chorus Affairs (ACCA) fourth annual award for Outstanding Broadway Chorus. The award, which honors the distinctive talents and contributions made by the chorus of a Broadway musical, will be presented in a special ceremony in the Council Room at Equity’s headquarters in the heart of Times Square on September 28. Legally Blonde won the first ACCA honor in 2007, followed by In the Heights and West Side Story.

The winners of the ACCA Award  include all members of the Fela! chorus who were with the show on its opening night, November 23, 2009. They are Corey Baker, Hettie Vyrine Barnhill, Lauren De Veaux, Nicole de Weever, Elasea Douglas, Rujeko Dumbutshena, Catherine Foster, Raaen-Elijah “Talu” Green, Shaneeka Harrell, Chanon Judson, Abena Koomson, Ismael Kouyate, Gelan Lambert, Jr., Farai M. Malianga, Shakira Marshall, Afi McClendon, Adesola A. Osakalumi, Jeffrey Page, Daniel Soto, Jill Marie Vallery, J.L. Williams, Iris L. Wilson and Aimee Graham Wodobode.

All members of the ACCA are Equity members who have worked under Chorus contracts. The criteria they use to evaluate the shows include what was required of each chorus by the director, choreographer and musical director and the caliber of skill used to execute those requirements. Of the chorus musicals that opened in the 2009-2010 season, the five shows nominated for the award were American Idiot, La Cage aux Folles, Come Fly Away, Memphis and Fela!

Fela! is the true story of the legendary Nigerian musician Fela Kuti, featuring Kuti’s captivating music and the visionary direction of Tony Award-winner Bill T. Jones. It is scheduled to perform through January 2, 2011.