Tina – The Tina Turner Musical on tour – review

We all know somebody who reckons they can do a pretty great Tina Turner impression. But Jochebel Ohene MacCarthy‘s performance in Tina: The Tina Turner Musical is more than a mere impersonation; it’s a transformation, an embodiment.

But it’s not only the onstage Tina—the one with the mullet, pins stretching for days under mini skirts, and wide smiles—who captivates. It’s Anna Mae Bullock from Nutbush, Tennessee who we really get to know across the lengthy runtime.

Katori Hall, Frank Ketelaar and Kees Prins’s book chronicles the river deeps and mountain highs. There’s some good in the story of the Queen of Rock ‘N’ Roll, a woman who comes back fighting and gets everything she ever wanted. There’s a whole lot of bad too; her abusive relationship, first as a child never quite belonging with her family and then with her jealous music partner and husband Ike Turner. Meanwhile, ugly racism sweeps the South and fills the crevices of the fickle music industry.

Like most bio-musicals, it’s a rags-to-riches tale, inflated by a caricature supporting cast of those who helped and hindered on the way. You’ve got a bitter mother (Letitia Hector), a giddy doe-eyed sister (Georgia Gillam), a gran who introduces faith (Claude East), Phil Spector and his famed Wall of Sound (Martin Allanson), an Aussie A&R with a good ear (Isaac Elder) and a variety of love interests (Kyle Richardson, Erwin Bach), to name just a few. The Ikettes, fizzing with girly energy as bouncy as their perms, assist with Tina’s wig changes, baring her transition on stage. In the tricky role of the monstrous Ike, a swaggering David King-Yombo gives a blood-boiling performance. Meanwhile, Chizaram Ochuba-Okafor, who plays a young Anna Mae, reinstated faith that we’ll see another star of Tina stature in the near future.

As you can imagine, Phyllida Lloyd’s production is at its very best during the big showstopper numbers. The stadium-filling band, under Sarah Burrell’s direction, blasts through 23 numbers including hits: “Private Dancer”, “River Deep – Mountain High”, and “What’s Love Got to Do With It?”. It’s then when the set pinnacle, a stage-filling screen, bursts into fireworks and city lights (designed by Mark Thompson and Jeff Sugg) and smoke hazes, swirling in purple, yellow, and red spotlights (Bruno Poet). Anthony van Laast’s choreography, a homage to the period and the musical icon herself, is delightfully performed by an ensemble having fun. Utterly electric.

At the centre of it all is the formidable MacCarthy, a triple threat of a Tina. Her voice booms with smoky soul, her body moves with strength, and her face contorts with emotion. The pure physicality of the role is relentless, and as the late singer famously said, she never did anything nice and easy. But MacCarthy, in gold tassels, manages to make it look so.

There’s great anticipation to return back to where the piece begins; 1980’s Tina Turner, red leather dress, spiky maned, and all, preparing to take to the stage. When we get there, the leg tapping transforms into a standing ovation of cathartic release.

Tina – The Tina Turner Musical will have you “Proud Mary”-ing back down the aisles, thinking it’s your next party trick.