Theater review: In ‘Tina,’ an overstuffed storyline bogs down this tale of a dynamo singer
By Donald Munro
Tina Turner graced this world with her presence for 83 years.
It feels like it takes nearly that long to get through her Broadway musical.
Pictured above: Ari Groover as Tina Turner in the North American tour. In the opening Fresno performance, Meghan Dawson played the role. Photo: Matthew Murphy.
I’m not saying that the Broadway in Fresno national tour of “Tina: The Tina Turner Musical” is deadly dull. How could it be, with the sprawling, tragic and ultimately uplifting life story of “The Queen of Rock” to anchor it? She is a fiery example of a woman who broke free from a controlling man to take charge of her own career, winning a bunch of Grammy Awards in the process.
The issue has more to do with trying to stuff a person’s long and eventful life – and work in a bunch of her best-known songs – into the tight confines of a staged entertainment.
And when I say stuff it in, I mean it. In a rough paraphrase of one of my favorite “Saturday Night Live” characters of all time, the nightclub aficionado Stefon, this musical has it all: Buddhist chants. Bad mothers. Abusive husbands. A massive digital screen whose psychedelic doodles shift into the St. Louis Arch. Suicide attempts. Tiny suitcases. (Why do characters in Broadway musicals always leave home with such small suitcases? How could you fit more than a few T-shirts and a pair of shoes in there?) Deathbed scenes. Cast members holding lanterns on a darkened stage to signify grief after the deathbed scenes. Tall, thin men who spend the first act dancing and the second sporting Australian and British accents. Umbrellas in the rain. Hinting that “What’s Love Got to Do with It” is coming for so long that the actual rendition, when it occurs, sort of falls flat. More Buddhist chants.
STORY CONTINUES AFTER SPONSORED CONTENT
And the No. 1 pluck-the-heartstrings trope: Younger versions of title characters singing to their older counterparts, guaranteed to give you a golly-gulp knot in your throat.
All this adds up to a running time of three hours plus change at the Saroyan Theatre (which on Broadway would have probably put an Equity cast into double overtime). It’s a lot. A lot of dysfunction, a lot of record-company machinations, a lot of characters to keep straight. If you’re a Tina fan and sincerely interested in the nitty-gritty of her life story, every minute will likely shine. For the rest, there are points that seem endless. (The second act in particular dawdles severely, particularly in an extended London session.)
Turner herself was heavily involved in the creation of this biographical jukebox musical, and I’m sure she wanted to set the record straight, particularly when it came to her marriage to the infamous Ike Turner. The domestic violence in this show is enough to warrant a trigger warning.
Those scenes are often powerful, however. The biggest issue is the book (by Katori Hall, Frank Ketlaar and Kees Prins). The secondary characters feel flat and the storyline thin. Even when the songs (including “Proud Mary,” “Private Dancer,” “Simply the Best,” and “We Don’t Need Another Hero” take their turn, even they can seem sapped of their vitality. It doesn’t help that the company’s sound design in the Saroyan offered muffled dialogue, at least from where I was sitting in the orchestra.
Meghan Dawson gives us a solid performance as Tina, belting out her vocals briskly and offering Tina’s signature moves. Is it transcendent? Not often enough, but there are clear glimpses of charisma. (Her version of “She Made My Blood Run Cold” is towering.)
Sterling Baker-McClary, as Ike Turner, struggles to give us much more than a caricature of the villainous husband. He just doesn’t have much to work with in terms of the writing of his character. We never get a chance to feel his charisma and verve. We never understand the hold he has over Tina. As Tina’s hard-hearted mother, Nia Simone Smith is adept at bringing her cruel character to life.
The production looks good, and the ending is a crowd-pleaser, to be sure: an extra-long curtain call with the type of razzle-dazzle concert-staging that can get (and keep) folks on their feet. These final minutes, even past the three-hour mark, turn out to be a fine tribute to the energetic imprint that Tina Turner made on music history. Decluttering her story would have made the rest of the experience a little less of a slog.
The Munro Review has no paywall but is financially supported by readers who believe in its non-profit mission of bringing professional arts journalism to the central San Joaquin Valley. You can help by signing up for a monthly recurring paid membership or make a one-time donation of as little as $3. All memberships and donations are tax-deductible. The Munro Review is funded in part by the City of Fresno Measure P Expanded Access to Arts and Culture Fund administered by the Fresno Arts Council.
