Director – Phyllida LLoyd
Reviewer – Steve Turner
With so many great songs and so much of a story to tell it’s quite an accomplishment to manage to fit all of this into a show that runs for about two and a half hours. Domestic abuse, parental abandonment and casual racism would seem to be a difficult fit for a jukebox musical such as this, but the fact that the Tina Turner Musical leaves the audience with a sense of joy is a testament to how well this spectacular show is written and performed.
As Tina, Jochebel Ohene MacCarthy brings an intensity to the role whilst also offering glimpses of the sensitive side of turner’s personality. From her humble beginnings, through her time as singer with, and then wife of, Ike Turner, the tough times trying to make ends meet after leaving Ike all the way to her reinvention in the 80s, it seems as though nothing is left out. Turner herself was heavily involved in the creation of this musical, based on the book by Katori Hall, giving the work a feeling of authenticity. The breakneck pace doesn’t allow for too much analysis or in depth portrayal of the peripheral characters but we do see enough to understand how easy it would be to fall under Ike’s spell, how his sense of injustice leads to his violent temper and beating of Tina and their children and how Tina rises above all of this, at times seemingly on will power alone.
David King-Yombo portrays Ike with the right amount of menace, frustration, and belligerence, managing to keep the role away from being too villainous, but remaining calculating and manipulative throughout. The rest of the characters are left rather superficial, helping to move the plot along to the next musical number, whilst also giving us a little more insight into Tina Turner’s life. We’re given tantalising glimpses into her transformation from put upon wife to mega star. It would be interesting to find out more about her discovery of Buddhism, or perhaps her relationship with Edwin Bach, but all of that is for another time. Tonight is all about the music and there is plenty of it to enjoy.
Presented on a simple set with few props but with a constantly changing, imaginative collection of projections the focus is directed towards the music and singing which is almost perfect, there were a couple of moments where the sound was a little muddy but these were only fleeting. The performers were universally excellent but kudos has to go to Ohene MacCarthy, not just for her abilities as a singer and dancer but for her stamina too; onstage for virtually the entire time her energy never lets up and transmits itself fully to the audience.
With a live band, excellently marshalled by Sarah Burrell, together with Anthony van Laast’s choreography the show just keeps on giving and by the end has tonight’s packed house on their feet, singing along with gusto at the finale.
Grab a ticket if you can.
Runs until 24th Jan then on tour nationally
