For actor Kevin Mambo, 2009 was possibly the greatest year of his career.

The two-time Daytime Emmy winner -- from 'Guiding Light' -- first appeared in the critically acclaimed off-Broadway production 'Ruined,' which won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for drama.

These days, he's playing a music legend in the highly acclaimed musical 'Fela!,' which has captivated audiences and brought the likes of Jay-Z and Will and Jada Pinkett Smith on board as producers.

In playing the legendary African composer, performer and political activist Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, Mambo, a native of Canadian (with Zimbabwean heritage) is introducing thousands to the world of Afrobeat and loving every minute of it.

Mambo, whose film credits include 'Cadillac Records' with Columbus Short and Jeffrey Wright, talked to Black Voices about his experience playing the beloved Fela.

When did you first become aware of Fela and his music?

Kevin Mambo: Several years ago I discovered Fela in the course of researching something else. I've been a jazz musician, growing up listening to Miles [Davis], Earth Wind & Fire, a lot of Quincy Jones stuff. I'm also from Zimbabwe, so I thought his stuff would have found me sooner. From there, I just grew to respect him and his music and finally decided to mount my own show uptown in Harlem at the Shrine. It was a new installation piece trying to re-create the vibe of Fela Kuta and understand what it would have been like to go to the Shrine circa '81, '82 and see his show. I was just trying to recreate what that was. I am very intrigued by his life, his music and also the vibe and community that surrounded him.

When the show was off-Broadway did you audition for it?

KM: I tried out. I booked the understudy spot, but I couldn't do it. I was doing 'Ruined' at the time. I turned it down, but when it came around for Broadway, I knew it was my spot to lose at that point.

You are alternating the role with Sahr Ngaujah during the week. How much work is required?

KM: It's a tremendous amount of work. I leave the show exhausted and go straight for food. I start sweating two minutes into the show and I don't stop until it is over. By far the most physically demanding role I've ever had. The warm-ups are almost as long as the show. Going over material, re-checking dialogue, re-checking my dialect. In order to do it correctly you really have to be full throttle. There's no way to do this show half-speed.

Is there a difference between you and Ngaujah?

KM: Oh there's a huge difference. It really makes it exciting for the audience. We're two different people; we both have different instincts. He'll improv in different places, he'll tell different jokes. His physicality is different than mine. All of that, and yet these are two really clear interpretations of Fela.

Is this something you injected on your own or is this something the producers thought of?

KM: I'd done a little bit of my own research. I didn't come in cold. I came in armed, but it's a matter of readjusting some of what I was doing into this show. It's about this show, this template and not another show, but I had already started the homework, really taken the time to understand Fela's music. It's also very dense and complex.

For people who don't know you and looked over your career, it appears as though you have great love for the saxophone.

KM: Fortunately, I've always managed to find really great projects involving music. I've been a musician my whole life so it's a strength that I bring that you can't fake. Either you are or you aren't. We wound up writing ourselves into 'The Guiding Light,' and I play guitar in 'Cadillac Records.' Anytime there's an opportunity to display music and acting together, I try to investigate it. I find music to be a very informing and disarming component.

What was it like working with the rest of the cast?

KM: We're having an amazing time. Saycon Sengbloh, who plays my love interest; Lillias White, who plays my mom; and myself all come from the theater, so we understand how different and special this is. A lot of people involved in the first productions have been so warm and welcoming for us. I'm coming off another show, I have three days off, I come into this and everyone around me helps me learn what I need to learn so I can eventually take the lead.

'Fela!' is something special. What do you think people are going to take away from the show?

KM: The nice thing about our show is that it does have a message. I am also all for entertainment, but to be able to mix the two is really divine. I'm having an amazing year, starting with 'Ruined,' to be able to mix entertainment with message in a really meaningful and powerful way that effects a change. Similarly, I've caught kids coming out of the show and their lives have changed. Someone had wrote me about her daughter coming to see the show and then hearing things coming out of her child's mouth like, "In the future I'm going to make sure to live with integrity and never back down in my beliefs and make my own way and not shy away from my destiny." That's a lot to give to people in two and a half hours, along with really amazing music.

Fela wasn't just an artist. His music spoke about social issues.

KM: Fela was approached by superproducers from all over the world to come with them, move out of Nigeria to London, make three- or fiveKevin Mambo-minute songs, become a big superstar. He didn't do that. He stayed at home, he lived with the people, he employed people from the neighborhood. They lived in his compound and in their own communities. He had people on payroll, he gave people jobs, he kept drugs out of the neighborhood. That never changed. That's an essential part of knowing what this music is about.

Jay-Z and Will Smith have come on board as executive producers. Do you think that will expand the audience?

KM: It always helps out the show. Ultimately, it's the show that helps out the show. We have to make sure that what we're bringing has enough strength and integrity to support those names for the bill. It goes together.

When the run of 'Fela!' is over, what do you want to do?

KM: I haven't considered. I haven't thought about what the next thing is. This thing is such a big thing. It's a great ride. I'm meeting and spending time with some of the most amazing people I've ever met. The great thing about 'Fela!' is that it attracts really wonderful people.