{"id":139930,"date":"2019-11-15T08:51:01","date_gmt":"2019-11-15T13:51:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.blackfilm.com\/read\/?p=139930"},"modified":"2019-11-29T09:16:22","modified_gmt":"2019-11-29T14:16:22","slug":"tina-the-tina-turner-musical-broadway-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.blackfilm.com\/read\/tina-the-tina-turner-musical-broadway-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Tina – The Tina Turner Musical Broadway Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL \u2013 The Queen of Rock and Roll has birthed a new star.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u201cSimply the best. Better than all the rest.\u201d
\nTruer words cannot be spoken about this bio-musical. I only have one regret after seeing the show, I never got to see Tina Turner live in concert before she retired. But I have to say, the performance that Adrienne Warren gives in TINA: The Tina Turner Musical was it!! She embodied her in more ways than one.<\/p>\n

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Tony and Olivier Award nominee Adrienne Warren, also had the lead role of Tina in London\u2019s West End. She brings forth Tina\u2019s style, grace, and amazing vocals as if she was born to play \u201cThe Queen of Rock and Roll\u201d. To help tell the story is playwright Katori Hall, who is the Olivier Award-winning playwright of The Mountaintop. She expertly crafted the story in such a way that blended every aspect of Tina\u2019s life from childhood to adulthood (Tennessee to St Louis), stardom to the bottom of the charts (Hollywood to Las Vegas) and on top as Queen of Rock and Roll (London).<\/p>\n

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The stage is draped with a curtain that has a captivating set of eyes looking off into the distance. The Tina we first see is in a state of reflection when the curtain opens. She is getting ready to go on stage for the last performance of her career, but she takes a moment to soak it all in and focus. She begins to chant the central mantra of Buddhism: Man-Myoho-Renge-Kyo. It is known as a vow or an expression of determination, to embrace and manifest the life within you. That is the crowning pinnacle transformation that we see in TINA.<\/p>\n

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Warren rocks her way through every single song. She doesn\u2019t try to imitate Tina, yet she finds the perfect chord of merging herself and the icon to give us a flashback of our love for Tina Turner, with a dash of Warren flavor. It\u2019s such a perfect blend you don\u2019t even notice it, yet you\u2019re taken back to Tina live on stage at Wembely singing \u201cPrivate Dancer\u201d as Act 2 begins.<\/p>\n

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During the 2 hours and 40 minute performance, we receive a well thought out and conceived narration via 23 songs that span the careers of \u2018Ike and Tina Turner\u2019 and just \u2018Tina\u2019. The stage shifts seamlessly through every period of her life, no thanks to the directorial genius of Phyllida Lloyd, who also sprinkled her magic on Mamma Mia. There\u2019s a rhythm and flow like you would expect from an Ike and Tina Turner Revue. The arc of the show is brilliantly done and builds with each song. Her life begins with \u201cNutbush City Limits\u201d, which is an ode to where she was born and takes us through her moments of abuse at the hands of Ike with a song so telling of how she felt, \u201cBe Tender With Me Baby\u201d.<\/p>\n

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My favorite scene takes place when Tina meets Phil Spector for the first time in the recording studio and records what is considered to be his best work ever produced, \u201cRiver Deep \u2013 Mountain High\u201d. There\u2019s not much to the scene in terms of design, it\u2019s simple yet reminiscent of what the inside of a studio back in the 60s would have looked like. It\u2019s designed in a way, where the audience feels as if they\u2019re behind a glass wall watching history take place or maybe we were transported in a time machine. It\u2019s as though I was there, watching Tina come into herself.<\/p>\n

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\u201cJust give them to her now\u201d, is what someone sitting behind me screamed during a standing ovation of the ensemble\u2019s final number. I knew what he meant. Just give Warren the Tony Award she deserves for this outstanding role.<\/p>\n

But let\u2019s not forget Daniel Watts who plays Ike Turner. His performance is definitely one for the records as well. He has swagger and style like Ike and truly holds his own in this production. We might not be talking about him much because of whom he represents to Tina, but like Tina Turner once said in an interview, her legacy is her endurance. Anna Mae Bullock, became Tina Turner and now she\u2019s TINA.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s \u201cSimply The Best\u201d.<\/p>\n

Tina: The Tina Turner Musical is currently playing at the Lunt-Fontanne Theater. <\/p>\n