Review: ‘Tina — The Tina Turner Musical’ at the Nederlander Theatre is a rush of musical stardom
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The 2019 Broadway musical “Tina — The Tina Turner Musical” played its 200th performance on tour at the Nederlander Theatre on Wednesday night and the achievement was marked with a great responsive roar from a Chicago audience clearly thrilled to be in the presence of a queen.
A musical monarch who has shed years, to boot. That’s the secret sauce of jukebox musicals: They roll back time. As played by Zurin Villanueva, who is excellent in the role, Tina Turner (who is 83) regains her youth and the force of one of the great voices and personas in musical history. People were having a blast.
Know that if you see the show, you might not see Villanueva. Many jukebox shows split the star into different eras, performed by age-appropriate performers (the strategy used in past shows dedicated to Donna Summer and Cher, among many others). “Tina” on Broadway used Adrienne Warren to command the entire nightly proceedings; I thought this was a phenomenal performance of epic scale but hardly replicable eight times a week. On the road, Villanueva shares the role with Naomi Rodgers, and tour marketers are trying to pitch the touring Tinas as equal partners. But for the whole Chicago run, you’ll apparently either see Villanueva or Ari Groover, covering the role. But I wouldn’t sweat that. There are many talented singers surrounding this show, and another jukebox secret is that the top-tier Broadway performers often are technically superior vocalists to the stars themselves. Not that you’d ever hear that mentioned in a press conference.
I can only review what I have seen and Villaneuva certainly delivers all you could ask. As jukebox shows go, “Tina,” which is written by Katori Hall, goes deeper into the star’s psychological state than is typical in the genre. Hall wanted to write a story of self-empowerment as Turner, abused as a child, finds herself trapped in another abusive relationship with Ike Turner, only to find her sense of self in her 40s after she escapes to London and risks her livelihood on musical reinvention.
When I saw the show on Broadway, I thought that the piece was really more Hall than Turner, in that it said little new about Turner’s amazing creative life in London, where she hung with Mick Jagger and David Bowie and remade herself across genres. “Tina” spends too long on the early days as Turner suffers through the blows of Ike, whom she vanquished in reality. And, since these shows also have to be fun for fans, the show then has to effect some kind of uneasy reconciliation between the two when, frankly, Tina’s life had moved to Europe and on to something far more extraordinary.
That’s still my view, although I get that Hall wanted to tell a story of overcoming the past rather than a more wonkish look at Tina’s amazing catalog and European stardom. Fair enough, and I’d note in the tour that I found the scenes with Ike (played here by Garrett Turner) to be less cartoonish than on Broadway, and thus far more disturbing. Garrett Turner dives admirably deep into the man’s troubled personality.
But the overall message of the show is triumphant. It’s an interesting piece and a very solid tour. And that wall of sound, nicely mixed at the Nederlander, is a rush.
Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.
Review: “Tina — The Tina Turner Musical” (3 stars)
When: Through April 2
Where: Nederlander Theatre, 24 W. Randolph St.
Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
Tickets: $52.50-$152.50 at 800-775-2000 and www.broadwayinchicago.com
