THEATRE
Written by Katori Hall with Frank Ketelaar and Kees Prins, with most songs from Tina’s catalogue
At Princess Theatre until 26 Jan 2025
Reviewer: Kate Herbert
Stars: ****
Ruva Ngwenya & Ikettes TINA The Musical_credit-Daniel Boud
This review is published only on this blog. I’ll present a radio review on Arts Weekly on 3MBS on Sat 5 Oct 2024. KH
Ruva Ngwenya is electric as Tina Turner in this musical. She ignites the stage with her powerful presence, voice, vivacity and pure ebullience. She does not simply impersonate Tina but she channels the vocal quality and energy of Tina.
The audience stood as one for the last 15 minutes of the show, dancing and clapping through her remarkable performance of Simply the Best and an encore of Nutbush City Limits.
Ngwenya is the vivid presence at the heart of this show that is deftly and imaginatively directed by Phyllida Lloyd. The production features a fine supporting cast, and Anthony van Laast’s spirited choreography, performed by the vibrant and talented ensemble, incorporates some of Tina’s own moves.
Tina is a juke-book musical; unlike other musicals for which original songs are written, almost all of the songs in Tina are from the repertoire that Tina performed or recorded over her career.
The song list includes numerous huge hits and some lesser-known tunes. (Strangely, none of the songs’ writers are credited in the program. I had to hunt online for those.) You might think you're not a Tina Turner fan, but you’ve probably caught yourself singing along to them in the car: Simply the Best, What’s Love Got to Do With It, River Deep Mountain High, Private Dancer, We Don’t Need Another Hero and that old chestnut, Nutbush City Limits.
The book for Tina, written by Katori Hall with Frank Ketelaar and Kees Prins, traces her life. The dramatic text is chronological, following Tina’s biography from her difficult childhood (child Anna Mae was played by the exceptional Zoe Desmier) when she was called Anna Mae Bullock. Her mother, Zelma (Ibinabo Jack), abandoned her but took Tina’s sister, Alline (Jayme-Lee Hanekom), to St. Louis, leaving Tina with her volatile preacher father (Augie Tchantcho). She then lived with her Granny (Deni Gordon) until Mum took her back – with a push from Alline.
Here begins her slow climb to singing and the ill-fated encounter with Ike Turner – played with sassy villainy by Giovanni Adams – who recruited her as a singer for his band, then used and abused her, resented her talent, and manipulated her into marrying him, evidently so he could control her and take advantage of her greater talent and marketability. After such violence, coercive control and manipulation, Tina escapes Ike, bruised, abused and poverty-stricken with two kids; it is a slow crawl up a very long hill towards the Tina we recognise.
Translating a biography into dramatic form is tricky; a life rarely has a clear dramatic arc and there are so many episodes, twists and turns and characters that must be edited and contracted to form a cohesive and coherent dramatic story. (Jersey Boys was the most effective of this form.) This may mean that too much or too little is included. In Tina, rather too much of her early life and some later, less fully developed episodes are included, and her chequered life is a lot to cram into a musical once you add the songs.
Some characters are not fully fleshed out, including her second husband, Erwin Bach (Matthew Prime), and her Aussie manager, Roger Davies (Mat Verevis). This is a reflection on the writing rather than the performances.
Despite its few shortcomings, Tina is an exhilarating production and Ngwenya’s ebullient and impassioned performance makes it a memorable night.
By: Kate Herbert.
Cast
Ruva Ngwenya -Tina Turner
Giovanni Adams - Ike Turner
Jochebel Ohene MacCarthy -Tina Turner alternate
Zoe Desmier Chidl Anna Mae
Ibinabo Jack -Tina’s mother Zelma Bullock
Deni Gordon - Tina’s Grandmother Gran Georgeanna (GG)
Nadia Komazec - manager Rhonda Graam.
Jayme-Lee Hanekom -sister Alline Bullock & Ikettes
Augie Tchantcho -father Richard Bullock,
Rishab Kern -first love Raymond Hill,
Matthew Prime -Erwin Bach
Mat Verevis/- Roger Davies,
Matthew Hamilton Phil Spector and Lyricist Terry Britten
Blake Erickson musician Martyn Ware and Carpenter.
Ensemble members include Mia Dabkowski-Chandler, Nicholas Eaton, Abu Kebe as Ronnie, Jenni Little as Toni,Loredo Malcolm, David Mairs-McKenzie as Craig, Emily Nkomo as an Ikette, Gus Noakes, Kristin Paulse, Ilana Richardson, Tendai Rinomhota, Noel Samuels, Rebecca Selley as an Ikette and Tigist Strode as an Ikette.
Creative Team
Written by Katori Hall with Frank Ketelaar and Kees Prins
director Phyllida Lloyd
choreography Anthony van Laast
set & costume Mark Thompson
musical supervision, additional music & arrangements by Nicholas Skilbeck,
lighting Bruno Poet,
sound Nevin Steinberg
projection design Jeff Sugg
orchestrations Ethan Popp
wigs, hair & makeup design Campbell Young Associates.
Songs credits
Act I
• "Nutbush City Limits" (Tina Turner) - Richard, Young Tina and Company
• "Don't Turn Around" (Albert Hammond, Diane Warren) - Tina, Gran Georgeanna and Company
• "Shake a Tail Feather" (Otha Hayes, Verlie Rice, Andre Williams) - Alline, Tina, Ikettes and Company
• "The Hunter" (Booker T. Jones, C. Wells, Al Jackson, Jr., Donald Dunn, Steve Cropper) - Ike and Ronnie
• "Matchbox" (Ike Turner) - Ike, Tina and Company
• "It's Gonna Work Out Fine" (Rose Marie McCoy, Sylvia McKinney) - Zelma, Ike, Tina, Alline, Ikettes and Company
• "A Fool in Love" (I. Turner) - Tina and Ikettes
• "Let's Stay Together" (Al Green, Willie Mitchell, Jackson) - Raymond and Tina
• "Better Be Good to Me" (Holly Knight, Mike Chapman, Nicky Chinn) - Tina and Company
• "I Want to Take You Higher" (Sly Stone)- Tina, Alline and Ikettes
• "River Deep Mountain High" (Phil Spector, Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich) - Tina and Company
• "Be Tender with Me Baby" (Knight, Hammond,) - Ike, Tina, Alline, Ikettes, Ronnie and Richard
• "Proud Mary" (John Fogerty) - Tina, Ike, Alline and Ikettes
• "I Don't Wanna Fight" (Lulu, Billy Lawrie, Steve DuBerry) - Tina and Company
Act II
• "Private Dancer" (Mark Knopfler) - Tina
• "Disco Inferno" (Leroy Green, Ron Kersey)- Tina and Company
• "Open Arms" (Martin Brammer, Colette van Sertima, Ben Barson) - Rhonda, Tina and Company
• "I Can't Stand the Rain" (Ann Peebles, Don Bryant, Bernard Miller) - Tina, Ike and Company
• "Tonight" (David Bowie, Iggy Pop) - Young Tina, Gran Georgeanna, Tina and Roger
• "What's Love Got to Do with It?" (Terry Britten, Graham Lyle) - Tina, Ikettes, Ronnie and Raymond
• "We Don't Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)" (Britten, Lyle) - Tina and Company
• "The Best" (Knight, Chapman) - Tina and Company
• "Finale: "Nutbush City Limits (Reprise)" (T. Turner) / Proud Mary (Reprise)" (Fogerty) - Company
Songwriters in parentheses
In the Broadway production "Rocket 88" replaced "The Hunter" and "She Made My Blood Run Cold" was included after "Matchbox". Beginning in 2021, the same change was made to the West End production.
