More akin to a rock concert at times than a traditional musical, TINA – The Tina Turner Musical is positively overflowing with energy and toe-tapping brilliance. You’d be hard pressed to find someone who isn’t a fan of the late, great Tina Turner, with Australia always being one of her most successful and enduring markets.
The phenomenal local success of this musical, which premiered in Sydney in 2023 after debuting on the West End stage in 2018, is a testament to Turner’s icon status and is proof that her legacy and popularity will endure for a long time to come.
Charting the turbulent, tragic and ultimately triumphant career of the music icon, TINA begins in 1950s Tennessee, with a young Anna Mae Bullock (Turner’s birth name), being admonished by her parents for singing too loudly in church, and grows up in a tense and abusive household, only to later be abandoned by both parents and taken in by her kindly grandmother – Gran Georgeanna, or GG (Deni Gordon).
Pursuing a career in music, Anna Mae (now played as an adult by Ruva Ngwenya), finds that big-time stardom eludes her until she meets the charismatic Ike Turner (Giovanni Adams) who invites her to join his band and re-brands her with the stage name Tina Turner. But it’s not long before Ike’s true nature comes out—a violent, cruel and controlling man who resents Tina’s talent and undeniably stage presence, even as that very talent propels Ike to fame and wealth as well.
Eventually breaking free of Ike’s grasp, Tina’s story is marked with many setbacks and low points, but she eventually sets out to forge a solo career despite facing racism and ageism in an industry pushing for young and fresh talent in the early 1980s, but eventually connects with a spirited young Aussie producer, Roger Davies (Mat Verevis), who becomes determined to get her back on the charts again, and back on stages again playing sold-out stadiums.
Music biopics usually follow a fairly standard template, and TINA is no exception. You always need to see the performer’s early days, their rise to fame, the inevitable dark period and downfall, but then ultimately their return to the spotlight and ultimate success. But while the template is something we might have seen before, there’s so much goodwill this show generates that the story beats all hit emotionally, and the extraordinary music propels it towards an incredibly rousing finale.
TINA is definitely a musical education as well, guaranteed to teach you a lot about Turner’s life and career that you didn’t previously know. For example, I had no idea she had recorded covers of Shake a Tail Feather and Let’s Stay Together, two tracks popularized by other artists of the era. Both of those songs are featured in TINA, as well as Turner staples such as Simply the Best, We Don’t Need Another Hero, and of course, Nutbush City Limits.
In what must be a grueling and incredibly physically demanding role, Ngwenya is absolutely extraordinary, conveying the torment Turner has emerged from and carries with her, but also her strength and determination to succeed as a solo act and cement her musical legacy away from her ex-husband. But away from her musical career, we see Turner’s family life with her two sons and her sweet-natured relationship with her sister, Alline (Jayme-Lee Hanekom), and also with GG.
Ngwenya’s vocals are out of this world, and the choreography throughout the show is spirited and vibrant. The staging of the show is subtly brilliant too, especially how some scenes cleverly switch from backstage to the concert stage in various scenes.
Jukebox musicals are always a hit and miss proposition, some are brilliant, some seem cynical and fashioned with a loosely connected narrative. Thankfully, TINA ranks as one of the better examples of the genre. Not only are the musical numbers well integrated into the story, but as mentioned earlier, it throws in some lesser-known Turner tracks and there are no tracks which feel shoehorned in, like it can sometimes be in a jukebox show.
TINA – The Tina Turner Musical is two and a half hours of pure joy. Taking us through four decades of American musical history while telling the tragic but ultimately extraordinary life of a music legend, this is not to be missed.
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Playing at Melbourne’s Princess Theatre until January 26, 2025
Tickets and more info at: tinathemusical.com.au.
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Images by Daniel Boud/used with permission
TINSEL and TAP SHOES 