‘TINA TURNER MUSICAL’ RELENTLESS, ENERGETIC
If you read reviews of the concerts Tina Turner gave during her massive comeback era in the 1980s, the same words and phrases pop up over and over about the late, great Queen of Rock ’n’ Roll’s tireless energy, vocal prowess and skills as a consummate entertainer.
The same could be said of “Tina: The Tina Turner Musical,” the touring Broadway show that opened Tuesday in a sixday run at the San Diego Civic Theatre. Except for a sluggish spot in the second act, the nearly three-hour show has a relentless energy. Its star, Naomi Rodgers, is a powerhouse singer and dancer. And the show producers have worked hard to entertain the audience, including adding a twosong encore after the final bows.
Thanks to movies and books about Turner’s tumultuous life and long career, “Tina” doesn’t break a lot of new storytelling ground with its book by Katori Hall, Frank Ketelaar and Kees Prins. Instead, the script plants little nuggets about Turner’s life that pop up in unexpected places.
The show begins with a mysterious chant that’s later revealed as the anxiety-reducing Buddhist mantra that Turner recited for decades. The book also cleverly uses songs Turner recorded in the ’80s and ’90s — like 1984’s “Private Dancer” and covers of Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together” and The Trammp’s “Disco Inferno” — to represent much earlier periods in her life. Turner fans need not worry they’ll miss any of her most famous songs — they’re all in there, and more.
The musical begins with the 1980s-era Turner reflecting on her life, then slides back in time to her childhood in Nutbush, Tenn., where big-voiced Ayvah Johnson plays the precocious young Tina (real name Anna Mae Bullock) belting out songs in church.
Within minutes, the show blazes through Anna Mae’s childhood trauma of being abandoned by both parents, who couldn’t handle her loudness or fiery energy. Then she’s suddenly a teen in St. Louis meeting libertine bandleader Ike Turner (an imposing Roderick Lawrence), who would control, beat and steal from her for the next 16 years. The show’s second act focuses on her gradual musical comeback as a solo artist with the help of Australian manager Roger Davies (Zachary FreierHarrison) and future husband, German record marketer Erwin Bach (Max Falls). This is where the show unexpectedly drags and some musical numbers could’ve been trimmed.
Because the all-out singing, dancing and acting role of Tina is so demanding, two actors — Naomi Rodgers and Zurin Villaneueva — alternate performances. On Tuesday, Rodgers sang with fierce intensity, danced Tina’s trademark shimmying steps to perfection and credibly matured from gawky teen to suicidal abuse victim to confident and no-nonsense superstar. Rodgers also connected eye to eye with the audience, a trait Turner was famous for.
The show’s lavish physical production has nice scene-setting projections, concert-style lighting, a 31-member touring cast and a 12-member backstage R&B/rock band who are revealed for the dazzling finale.
Before Turner died in May, she was deeply involved in the creation and proliferation of the “Tina” musical worldwide. Thanks to her recordings and this show, her legend will live on.