The producers of FELA! got slapped with a bitch of a suit today.
Cuban-born author Carlos Moore filed court papers seeking to shut down the smash Broadway hit, claiming it’s a rip-off of his 1982 book, “Fela, Fela: This Bitch of a Life.”
Moore’s $5 million-plus copyright suit says he was offered $4,000 for the rights to his authorized biography of the late Nigerian musician and activist Fela Anikulapo-Kuti in 2007.
After he turned down the offer as “grossly insufficient” and demanded “an advance and participation in the royalty pool,” Moore says “no further offer was ever made.”
His Manhattan federal court filing charges that playwright Jim Lewis, director Bill T. Jones used the book anyway to develop the Tony award-winning musical without Moore’s “knowledge, authorization or consent.”
FELA! spokesman Richard Kornberg said he was “really shocked” by the suit because Moore took part in publicity efforts for the show, which is set to open at London’s National Theatre next week.
Kornberg noted that a video of Moore “celebrating” FELA! along with Jones is posted on the show’s Web site and on youtube.com.