Considering the nearly sold-out house for the touring production of Tina, the Tina Turner Musical , one might have expected the show producers to issue a disclaimer. Probably no one in the audience was ready for the show’s amount of onstage violence. The first act in particular seems like a long road of abuse (lasting about 1 hour, 45 minutes). Much of the abuse is directed at Anna Mae Bullock – the teenager who rose to fame as Tina Turner.
The musical begins in a Tennessee church, where Anna Mae’s father is the preacher. Anna Mae’s powerhouse voice basically shakes the church rafters. Unimpressed by her daughter’s talent, Zelma (Roz White in a thankless role) scolds her child for intentionally “showing off.” It’s clear that the father’s permissive attitude towards his daughter is very unlike his abusive behavior towards her mother. Tired of her husband’s mistreatment, Zelma grabs the hand of Anna Mae’s sister and leaves the home for good. Bitter and upset, Zelma tells her husband (Kristopher Stanley Ward) that he can take care of the girl he basically forced her to have.
Eventually, the younger Anna Mae (a fantastic “find” in Brianna Cameron) ends up living with her grandmother (Carla R. Stewart). This is one of the sweetest times of the singer’s life. However, Gran Georgeanna sees how boys are looking at the teenage girl (now played by the adult Tina, Zurin Villanueva), and she worries for her future. She’s also unshakably committed to the notion that Anna Mae belongs with her mother and sister in St. Louis.
So Anna Mae is packed off again, arriving to a rather lukewarm reception by her mother. Zelma is suspicious that her other daughter, Aline (Gigi Lewis) might be susceptible to Anna Mae’s “wild ways.” Aline, however, is over-the-moon at being reunited with her sister. As Aline transitions in and out of her sister’s backup group, the (fabulous) Ikettes, she is never far from her sister’s side.
Anna Mae (now christened “Tina Turner” by Ike, even before they are married), can use some support. The late Ike Turner has been characterized as one of the meanest guys in early rock ‘n’ roll. Here, he turns on and off the charm as necessary. He seems to view Tina as a punching bag whenever he needs to blow off some steam.
Several characters ask Tina repeatedly, “why do you put up with Ike?” Tina, now married and the mother of two sons, claims she is doing it to keep her family together. In reality, Ike controls all of the group’s bookings and finances, so Tina basically has no money to strike out on her own, even if she wanted to. Eventually, Tina changes her mind and moves out with her two sons. To put food on the table, she is forced to be a hotel maid by day and a singer by night. Ike is, of course, a deadbeat dad who fails to help her financially. These scenes are another low point in the show. The real Tina Turner was still alive as this musical was being assembled (in fact, she’s listed as an executive producer), so one assumes she wanted the musical to take these dark turns.
Even a deathbed scene with Zelma in the hospital doesn’t provide the chance for a mother and daughter reunion. While Tina rushes to her mother’s side, she is shocked to see her ex-husband Ike walk in. Tina seems more concerned about Ike’s appearance than her mother’s illness. When her mother asks Tina and Ike to sing a duet in her hospital room, Tina basically goes ballistic. She says that after 16 years of abuse, she will “never sing another note with that man.”
These highly charged scenes belie the musical’s structure as a jukebox musical. Of course the audience is waiting to hear some of Tina’s best tunes. Sometimes, they arrive in strange places, especially the songs, “I Want to Take You Higher,” “Private Dancer” Bruno and, later, “We Don’t Need Another Hero.”
When Tina flees to London in an effort to restart her recording career, it takes her a while to hit her stride. The song, “What’s Love Got to Do with It” is quickly followed by “Hero” and “The Best.” The audience is also treated to many of the real Tina’s iconic movements and costumes. Finally, we see the mane of blond hair, the gold mini-dress and the red leather zip-up dress.
The cast is stupendous. Whether she’s in Anna Mae mode or full-throated Tina glory, Zurin Villanueva has all the right moves, and a vocal range that captures the essence of Tina Turner style. Her tall, gangly look reminds us of Tina’s glamourous gams, which are always on display throughout the nearly three-hour production.
As Ike Turner, the smooth-haired Deon Releford-Lee is everything one would expect him to be. Ike can be charming one second and hateful the next. Releford-Lee channels his character’s disappointment at not receiving the recognition he felt he was due as a pioneering rock ‘n’ roll performer. He seems unable to let go of Tina even after their divorce, and his controlling ways crop up in a number of creepy scenarios.
In the musical’s final scene, all the sadness is stripped away as Tina takes the concert stage. The band, for the first time on display to the audience, does a great job of supporting Tina’s unforgettable voice. The lights (by Bruno Poet), projections (Jeff Sugg) and electrically charged choreography (by Anthony Van Laast) do their part to rev up the excitement. It makes the audience long to attend a REAL Tina Turner concert. Unfortunately, those days have passed.
