Broadcast of 'Fela!' straight from London coming to the Kate

With all due apologies to those old long-distance-call commercials, this is the next best thing to being there.

On Thursday, the London production of the musical "Fela!" comes directly to you, when it's broadcast to locations around the world - including the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center.

The Old Saybrook theater is one of 375 sites in 20 countries that will get to watch a performance of "Fela!" filmed at the National Theatre in London.

And southeastern Connecticut audiences should remember this about "Fela!": the musical was the brainchild of Stephen Hendel, who happens to be from here.

Hendel, who grew up in New London, is the co-creator of "Fela!," and he and his wife, Norwich native Ruth Goldberg Hendel, are the lead producers. They now split their time between New York and Waterford.

Stephen Hendel had actually filmed "Fela!" when it was off-Broadway simply to have a record of it, and he said Tuesday that even "seeing the show on a DVD is just an overwhelming experience because (seeing 'Fela!') is not like seeing a play. It's seeing a very vibrant production, and you can really see the performances very close up. I think what the audiences are going to see is going to be a wonderful combination of the cinematic and theater."

"Fela!" revolves around the life and music Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, the Nigerian activist and performer who was a pioneer of Afrobeat music.

After a short stint off-Broadway, "Fela!" opened on Broadway in November 2009 and became a sensation. It ran for 14 months, closing on Jan. 2, but not before it nabbed 11 Tony nominations and three Tony Awards. The London version, meanwhile, opened in November 2010.

Now, the broadcast will bring "Fela!" to a truly worldwide audience.

"We created the show to be seen by a large audience," Hendel said. "It's obviously not just a Broadway musical. It's about a major international musical figure who created these wonderful works ... had a very colorful life and has a very universal message."

When representatives from the National Theatre saw "Fela!" in New York, they asked if the show's team would license and create a production for the London venue. They did, with a version that features an entirely new cast, except for Tony-nominated lead actor Sahr Ngaujah, who is the lone holdover from Broadway.

"Fela!" is the first musical that the National Theatre, one of the pre-eminent theater organizations in the world, has put on its Olivier stage. (It has three auditoriums.)

The broadcast performance will be shot by nine cameras. Because of the time difference, it won't be simulcast here; the Old Saybrook audience will see "Fela!" five hours after it takes place in England.

The National Theatre has done a number of live broadcasts like this over the past two seasons. The Hepburn Center often shows simulcasts of performances and lectures from various venues.

The goal for "Fela!" now is to tour this year, largely in Europe and Africa, with a possible 2012 tour of the United States.

It's all been quite an experience for Hendel, who just happened to buy a Fela record and ended up inspired enough by his music and life to produce a musical about him.

(The musical's book is by Bill T. Jones, who also directed, and Jim Lewis.)

"It's unbelievable. It sort of goes beyond what your fantasy is, at this point," Hendel said. "But it is a show that combines entertainment and art, and it combines theater and music at very, very high levels. We've had some of the world's most famous people see the show - Michelle Obama, Mick Jagger, Kofi Annan ... Madonna twice, Alicia Keys three times, Spike Lee eight times, Josh Groban, Bruce Springsteen, Helen Mirren ...

"It's about an artist who used his tremendous gift to stand up for human dignity, and I think it's something that makes people with great talent - they just respond to it," he said.

It's not just other artists that respond to "Fela!"

"It's created a tremendous amount of interest, and it's something we really want the public to have the chance to experience," Hendel said.

k.dorsey@theday.com