Tina - The Tina Turner Musical
Arguably, there is no one more deserving of a biographical musical than the late, great Tina Turner. She sored to the very pinnacle of musical achievement earning her the title of the Queen of Rock and Roll. But her personal life was one of the most brutal and bruising of lives, making her story of survival and success perfect for the stage.
Tina comes to Sydney after acclaimed seasons on the West End and on Broadway and so arrives with great anticipation. It’s a bold show with bold performances, but a weak book and stilted direction hamper the incredible cast and let down the show overall.
In the tile role Ruva Ngwenya is simply incredible. The Australian actor perfectly inhibits the character with power and grace and her vocal performance with accompanying dancing blows the roof off. As Tina’s abusive husband and famous rocker Ike Turner, Tim Omaji is also brilliant. He brings a steely approach to the character and we watch the steady decline and derangement of Ike as the decades progress. Mat Verevis is endearing as Tina’s Australian manager Roger Davies, but suffers by having to put on a cliched strine Australian accent which rings flat to an audience that knows better. Ibinabo Jack plays Tina’s odious mother, Zelma Bullock, well as does Jaymie-Lee Hanekom as Tina’s loving sister, Alline Bullock.
An unsteady Book means that the production lurches from scene to scene, often skipping decades and key plot marked. People fall out of love, without having first fallen in love and suddenly children who weren’t even clearly born and now grown up. This is the challenge of trying to capture a lifespan of events in a short period of time, but is very clumsily done.
The direction is also quite hamfisted, with unnecessary and forced emotion coming through in slow motion montage and the like. These devices seem unnecessary in order to create emotion in what is a profoundly emotive story.
In reality, the story just acts as a device to hang together a catalogue of the Tina’s greatest hits. And while often specific songs come in at strange times and seemly out of no where, it’s a great relief when they do. It means that the cast can let rip and show the breath of their abilities and the incredible well of their talent. By the final number, and subsequent encore, it feels like you’re really at at Tina Turner Concert and having the time of your life.
The set and costume design by Mark Thompson is simple yet effective, allowing the production to move through a variety of locations and decades and the Lighting Design from Bruno Poet heightens the show.
It’s unfortunate that a mediocre book takes away from an otherwise outstanding production. Yet, because of such a captivating performances from Ngwenya we’re left in no doubt about the remarkable and captivating life of a rock icon.
