Music and dancing lift an exuberant 'Fela!' (AP)

NEW YORK - It may seem incongruous to make a musical by combining exhilarating Afrobeat music and lively, often sensual dancing with grim stories of a military government's oppression of its citizens. But when the result is the exciting new off-Broadway show "Fela!," the messages and the music meld into near-nonstop exuberance.

Directed and choreographed by Bill T. Jones, who won a Tony in 2007 for his choreography in "Spring Awakening, the life story of Nigerian musician/political activist/hedonist Fela Anikulapo Kuti can barely be contained on the stage at 37 Arts.

Sahr Ngaujah winningly portrays Kuti, an international musical legend who never stopped fighting against corruption and injustice.

The production, co-conceived and written by Jones and Jim Lewis, is driven by the energetic Afrobeat music that Kuti created during the 1960s by combining African sounds with a fusion of jazz, R&B, rock and soul music. Aaron Johnson leads the spirited onstage band Antibalas, featuring percussion and horns, that propels the show through highlights of Kuti's action-packed life.

The audience finds itself attending a 1977 concert by Kuti, held in "The Shrine," his Lagos performance venue, during which he narrates highlights of his life, introduces the musical numbers and explains their personal and political significance. Kuti's lyrics were often political and satirical. He actively opposed post-colonialism, his country's corrupt military regimes, and the poverty and mistreatment of his countrymen.

Ngaujah compellingly acts out Kuti's story through some wry storytelling, also singing, dancing and often accompanying the band on musical numbers. An ensemble of 13 dancers performs nonstop, repeatedly spilling off the stage and bouncing through the aisles or parading somberly, depending on the mood of each song.

Jones has gracefully and inventively staged this large troupe to entertain while still telling a serious story and informing the political messages that Kuti embodied. He includes several of the songs that Kuti wrote to deliberately taunt and antagonize his government, which in turn frequently harassed, beat and jailed him, along with his family and supporters.

The first act is primarily upbeat, with Ngaujah portraying the younger Kuti as he discovers his musical talents. Sparlha Swa portrays Sandra Isidore, the companion who introduced Kuti to the American Black Power movement. The songs "I.T.T." and "Pipeline" convey Kuti's expertise at using his lyrics to expose corruption, in this case the looting of his country's petroleum and diamond wealth by rapacious multinational conglomerates.

Jones brings out more somber themes in Act 2, including Ngaujah's dispirited recounting of repeated arrests, police brutality and a vicious attack by hundreds of government soldiers against Kuti's family compound that ultimately killed his mother. Again, he speaks through his music: "Zombie" portrays the ruling military as mindless robots, while the final number, "Coffin Head of State" is a protracted indictment against injustice and specific oppressors.

But the resilience of Kuti, and of the human spirit, ultimately prevails, and the mood of the production is lifted again by the driving Afrobeat sounds and impassioned dancing.

Marina Draghici deserves special acclaim for the mural-laden set as well as the many striking, colorful costumes. She has surrounded the audience with Nigerian folk-art murals, political graffiti from the 1960s and '70s, and several projection screens on which newsreel-type footage appears. Subtitles above the stage ensure the slangy lyrics and Nigerian-accented English are clearly understood.

Kuti's beloved mother Fumilayo is movingly portrayed by Abena Koomson, who observes the antics of her son from above the stage. Koomson captures the dignity and real-life influence of Fumilayo, who was also a popular activist. Kuti died in 1997 at 58, but his music and legacy are enduring, and should find a new audience with Jones's life-affirming and effervescent celebration.