Naomi Rodgers as ‘Tina Turner’ in the North American touring production of TINA – THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL. (Photo by Matthew Murphy for MurphyMade, 2022)
Tina – The Tina Turner Musical
Paramount Theatre
September 12 – 17, 2023 get tickets and more info here
Tina Turner was one of the most beloved musical performers in all the world. Having overcome an abusive marriage, she rebuilt her career to become the top of the charts. Her solo debut album was awarded Album of the Year, and she was blessed with being awarded Best Performer of the Year. For over five decades, Tina Turner has created music and sung her heart out to please audiences all over the world. The triumphant story of her life has been told in a New York Times Best Seller, an Academy Award winning film, and now on stage in a musical theatre achievement.
Anna-Mae Bullock begins her life in the nowhere town of Nutbush City, Tennessee. Her talents are first noticed when she sings in the Gospel Choir of her church. As she grows into a young woman, she catches the attention of the rising Rhythm & Blues singer, Ike Turner, who is looking for a new singer for his group. He quickly realizes her potential, and after bartering her talents, marries her to ensure her (and his) future, singing as lead for Ike Turner and the Ikettes. Marriage quickly becomes sour as fame corrupts, and Ike becomes more abusive in their marriage due to drugs and high pressure of the business. Tina finds solace in the Buddhist faith, and through meditation and prayer finds the strength to leave Ike and file for divorce. She lays claim to only one thing, her professional name Tina Turner, and leaves all other rights and royalties behind. Through a long struggle back up the road of success, Tina finally emerges as not only Best Performer of the Year but also guaranteeing a future of success and happiness.
The energy in this cast is highly charged and contagious but definitely more noticeable in the second act. While the entire cast do very good jobs, most of the supporting characters are in and out of the scenes too quickly for the audience to form any attachment or sentiment.
Symphony King plays young Anna Mae Bullock. This girl may be petite, but has a voice three times her size. She controls the stage without showing effort, and is definitely one to watch out for in the future! Roderick Lawrence plays Ike Turner. In reality, the talented Mr. Turner knew how to manipulate and oil his way to get what he wanted. The stage Ike Turner fails to show how strong his manipulation was, despite how many times it is mentioned, and it makes the audience wonder just why Tina would buy into it.
Naomi Rodgers performing Proud Mary as ‘Tina Turner’ and the cast of the North American touring production of TINA – THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL. (Photo by Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade, 2022)
Ari Groover made her opening night simultaneously on the opening night in Seattle. She does a good job showing Tina’s spirit, but after all that has been discussed on the subject, she shows Tina as being very strong spirited and standing up to Ike from the beginning. Her voice is sharp and handles its way around the songs with great verve and skill. It’s not until far into the first act, during the song “River Deep, Mountain High” that we start to hear Tina’s voice move from the R&B sound that Ike brought out in her to the rock-n-roll voice that came out under Phil Specter’s direction. It is not until the second act that we hear the gravelly roughness in Tina’s voice.
Tina is more than just a jukebox musical. The first half of the musical deals with her rise in fame, while the second half is all “after Ike”. The first act moves slower and there are important factors that seem rushed. When one of the Ikettes introduces Buddhism to Tina, it’s on her way out of the group. She practically throws the meditational beads, instructs Tina (once) on the meditational words, and Voila! Tina’s a Buddhist. The show uses many of Tina Turner’s hits, they are reorchestrated and put in a different sequence more so to tell her life story, rather than hit after hit in chronological order. Most of the time it works – occasionally, it seems forced. Either way, the songs are the songs that made Tina the Beloved Diva she was, and we all should be as energetic and look as good, as Tina does (did) at age 80!
Tina – The Tina Turner Musical opened on Broadway November 7, 2019 and ran just shy of 500 performances. While nominated for 12 Tony Awards (2020), it won only one for Adrienne Warren (as Tina) for Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical. Tina Turner died in May 2023, but was part of the development process and gave full approval to her story’s representation on the stage.
Tina – The Tina Turner Musical
Paramount Theatre
September 12 – 17, 2023 get tickets and more info here
