Turner blesses new ‘Tina’

TINA TURNER has given her approval to the new her...the actress who will take over the lead in Tina: The Musical.

Nkeki Obi-Melekwe, who recently graduated from acting college in America, will play the girl from Nutbush, Tennessee, who became an icon — replacing Adrienne Warren, who launched the production at the Aldwych Theatre last year to rave reviews.

Warren leaves in April to prepare Tina for Broadway. Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, who portrays Ike Turner, Tina’s first husband, also departs on April 13.

Producer Tali Pelman said Tina personally approves ‘every Tina and Ike’. She said the rock legend watched tapes from auditions Obi-Melekwe did in Manhattan, then called Pelman and said: ‘Yeah, that’s her.’ The young actress’s final audition was done in New York, in front of Pelman, director Phyllida Lloyd, choreographer Anthony van Laast and music supervisor Nicholas Skilbeck.

‘The show is told through Tina’s eyes and she never leaves the stage,’ Pelman explained. ‘The role demands a relentless stamina and full power. It’s physical first and foremost, but it’s also mentally tough to go through what Tina had to.

‘Nkeki has that power and presence. It’s really exciting when a talent like that stands out at an audition. I think she’ll take the West End by storm.’

Obi-Melekwe, right, is currently making her off-Broadway debut in Duncan Sheik’s Alice By Heart. She’ll be joined in Tina by Ashley Zhangazha, the new Ike.