Tina: The Tina Turner Musical

Tina celebrates the life and work of Tina Turner, a legend of Rock and Roll who won 12 Grammy Awards. Really, really celebrates! The singing, music and choreography are phenomenal, the costumes, lighting and staging are extravagant, and the acting is nuanced, engaging and moving. Surprisingly, for a musical celebrating a legendary live performer, the acting turned out to be central.

Tina Turner’s life started in misery, rejection, violence and her experience of racism. The first act is consumed with these formative experiences and the introduction of the people who influenced her.  It is, however, not drear. Stand out performances by Ruva Ngwenya as Tina, Ibinabo Jack as her mother, Deni Gordon as her Gran, Zoe Desmier as young Tina and Augie Tchantcho as her father create the backdrop to and understanding of Tina’s motivations. Ike Turner, played by Giovanni Adams, is instantly recognisable as a person wielding coercive control over Tina and his performance lays bare his violence, weakness and insecurity.

But under and over and surrounding all of this is Tina Turner’s voice and songs and the music of the times. Ruva Ngwenya has the vocal capacity to bend her voice into the tones and passion which is recognisably Tina Turner as she sings so many classic songs, “Proud Mary”, “What’s Love Got To Do With It?”, “Private Dancer”, “The Best”. There are also some lesser-known songs which support the emotional expression and tone of the narrative.

It is gloriously presented with dance, projections of settings and patterns, effective lighting and lustrous costumes which capture the zeitgeist of her career. The staging business of costume and scene changes is slickly done.

The audience came willing to enjoy the show and it brought them to their feet with booms of clapping and shouts of appreciation. This show is emotionally challenging and heartwarming at the same time, but mostly it is extraordinarily, satisfyingly fun.

Ruth Richter

Photographer: Daniel Boud