Tina (The Tina Turner Musical) - Aldwych

Oh three hours? I'd struggle with that.

Well they still have 2ish more weeks before press night- so I do think they'll get it tightened up before that!

I have everything crossed that this gets good reviews!!!! I think it will considering all of the good press it already has!

Will be interesting to go back and see how it's changed

Is there a special website to book tix for this like the Hamilton one? If so, what is it called ? And if not, which is the best way to get tix for this, not particularly reduced or offers. Ta

What's the crack regarding Day Seats or Lottery on this?

I'm emotional reading your response, to a comment about a show you say you probably won't see. It's upset me very much, so I'll try and say a bit more about it.

Some spoilers follow in this review of last Thursday's preview. . .

One of the reasons that this show is so deep, and hits so hard, is Tina Turner's spirituality. The writer, Katori Hall, and director Phyllida Lloyd, open the show with a miasma of religious chanting, some of it Christian, some of it sounding pagan African, but most of it resolving in the Buddhist sutra "nam myo ho renge kyo," which chant is emblematic of Tina's lifelong quest to turn a life of total lemons into lemonade.

So much lemons makes so much drama! The very first scene depicts parental abuse and violence against Tina's family members by Tina's family members. . . IN CHURCH. It's horrific, but it sets the scene for a life of a woman who finds no solace in her elders, or society, or the system, yet who makes peace from violence, makes love out of neglect, makes music out of pain. It's just the most inspiring rush of a show, in that it's titular character faces enormous challenges with endless resilience and grace.

It's a rush because Phyllida Lloyd is a phenomenal director, and working with Katori Hall, she pick-n-mixes the songs of Tina Turner's career into just the right moments to tell emotional truths. But even before there are songs, there are chants that turn into songs, giving the very act of singing more weight than it would ordinarily carry. Lloyd infuses a drum beat into the early "beats" of the story, which beats give way to Turner's songs as you've never heard them before.

One example: You've no doubt heard "Better Be Good To Me," no doubt experienced it's roaring demand for fair and loving treatment, but have you heard it sung by a Tony nominated singer such as the astonishing morphing Adrienne Warren, who draws desperate roars of need from the depths of her diaphragm and directs these arrows of emotion at the frozen-in-time form of Kobna Holdbrook-Smith's imposing and ferocious, yet powerful and ingratiating Ike, proposing marriage to her, caught in a spotlight, a staging that mimics that of a Shakespearean soliloquy? I hadn't heard a popular song that I know so well, so transformed by theatre as to be almost unrecognisable in it's ramped up ferocious power!

Kobna Holdbrook-Smith's Ike Turner is the perfect antagonist for a show like this. The actor not only finds Ike's unpredictable rage and violence, but also his history, of having had to weave his wiles through a racist society to carve out his space, and like Shakespeare's Richard the Third, his desire to hold that space, no matter the cost. This would be great drama at any time in history, to see an unloved, unmonied black woman try to liberate herself from the control of this monster, and from the monstrous society that made him, but in this age of me-too rebellion against machismo and male manipulation, Ike becomes a lightning rod for everything that is happening right now in society, and Tina's past battle becomes the battle for every woman in the present who has silently screamed, like Howard Beale, "i'm not gonna take this anymore!"

You can only imagine what the First Half show climactic song, "I Don't Want to Fight" is like, given the showdown prepared for by the setup, and I hope your excellent imagination one day gives way to being able to witness how this all plays out.

Suffice to say, Ike does NOT appear enough in the Second Half of the show, and it's only when he does appear (he appears in Tina's dreams once, once in a message, but only once in person) that we feel the same electric dramatic frisson we felt in the first half. The show reaches desperately for all sorts of obstacles to put in Tina's way, whether it's her mothers' lack of love, the more calmly generous manipulations of new would-be svengalis, or the naked racism of a record exec, but truth be told, the show feels much more jukeboxy in the second half on account of Ike's general absence.

You wanted to know about Erwin Bach. Well, he's the loveliest man, he's played by the gentle and sweet Gerard McCarthy, and he shows up in the second half to fall in love with Tina. But this is not really a show about a man, this is a show about the spirit, and the show's second half, for want of a villain, at least succeeds in showing a Tina who summons up that spirit, through Buddhist chanting, and through sheer talent, through indomitable will and the total surrender of will, to become someone truly admirable, inspirational and wonderful. And all that while while Adrienne Warren sings an absolute storm out of well-placed standards, leading up to a concert climax that is going to bring so much happiness to all who see the show (or imagine it). Not least amounts of happiness to those who feel that me-too madness with the male status quo, and recognise in Tina Turner, her music, her performance, her transformation, her triumphs, her wisdom, her humility and her spirituality, a pioneer, an example and an icon.

This show has legs. 4 and a half stars (at second preview)!

Wow. I got chills reading all of this.

Thank you so much Steve. I don't have enough words to thank you.

I love how you write, your sensitive approach. I can envision everything.

I love the fact that they give a "spiritual" depth to the story (as her book and the subsequent movie also did).

What I admire about Tina is that she is always sincere and deep in every interview she gives, as she was in her 1986 autobiography (can't wait for the new one to be released later this year). She is not just an entertainment icon, but also a very complex woman and has a lot to teach all of us. Since I was a child, she's my favorite artist. 

Steve, I'd like to ask three specific questions:

a) The "Let's Stay Together" number, as you've said, is about Tina/Raymond romance. Was there some type of rivality between Ike and Raymond?

b) One of my favorite Tina's songs is "Be Tender With Me Baby". I'm beyond delighted that they included it on the musical. What is the context of the song in the musical? When I saw your first review, I envisioned Ike's character singing it for Tina, as a cry for help after his explosive outbursts. 

c) Last, but not least, I'm still intrigued about Erwin Bach's character in the musical. Does he sing anything? Is "Tonight" a love theme for Erwin and Tina? It seems that Erwin doesn't appear much in the act 2. 

I wonder if Roger Davies appears too... he's a pivotal character in her life and career. If it wasn't for Roger, she wouldn't have that big comeback. 

As you can see, I'm more intrigued by Tina's relationships with the other men in her life - Raymond, Roger and Erwin...


Thank you so much Steve!!! I was so happy when I saw your response! 

This sounds like the most useless lottery in christendom.

"within a two-week period"? What if you're only in London for 2-3 days and you get drawn for a day you're not in town?

And this:

"Remember, you can also increase your chances of winning by sharing your entry on social media channels."

I hate this kind of forcing people into advertising, it reeks a bit of that "verified fan" nonsense that's increasingly popular in the USA. If I like a show, I will be happy to talk about it across my social media channels without any prodding, simply because I want to share how good it is and how people should go and see it. But I'm not letting myself get bullied into sharing something if I don't even know yet if it's good.

Reading the glowing reports on here, but why o why I cannot get enthusiastic about this.

Do we know yet which performances the alternate will be doing each week?

Thanks

ST

A lot of people around me thought this was going to be a tribute show and that they'd boogie from the minute the curtain went up. It's pretty serious as far as jukebox musicals go, and deals with domestic violence and racism from the get go, and I don't know if many of the audience members around me really signed up for that. I say so because of the combination of nervous giggles, or otherwise giggles in appropriate times when certain derogatory terms were used.

The beginning felt a little bit Color Purple, and a little bit like Dreamgirls when Tina teams up with Ike. There is a montage well into Act I that shows Tina getting pregnant, Tina performing, Tina being abused, Tina becoming Buddhist, Tina performing, Tina giving birth on a bed and the baby shown to the audience (think the opening number of Wicked with the green baby), which needs to be tightened and streamlined.

The LED screen in the background seemed unnecessary and slightly distracting, especially in the beginning. The images captured didn't really enhance the setting, and stylistically, it completely crashed with the rustic South, but was put to better use as we moved into urban settings and into the '60s.

I had issues understanding all the lyrics when Adrienne Warren's sings, but they seemed to have been ironed out by the second act. I actually enjoyed the second act better as I really never knew what happened after the Ike saga ended as they've shown us in the Angela Bassett film. I think I enjoyed seeing Tina's struggle with her self and her own identity rather than her domestic issues with Ike.

As for Adrienne Warren: simply the best. How this woman does this night after night is astonishing. I hope she sustains through the run and keeps her voice and body healthy throughout.

Last night:

Lead - she sings and dances well but her acting lacks conviction and confidence

Support - B list hoofers who have little to do then do it badly. Ike is one dimensional but then they are all written that way.

Book - car crash of non sequiturs where Tonight or We Don’t Need Another Hero pops up out of context. This is combined with a number of non-Tina covers which shows how small is her useable catalogue. It is also grim with little relief. It’s very episodic with some bounces that aren’t clearly explained.

Staging - minimal and fails to set the locations clearly.

Audience - tanked up and came for a concert. No bladder or self control.

If you want a good tribute act go see it. It you want Sunny Afternoon then wait for the Summer.

Who’s Jenny? Is that Tina?