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Jochebel Ohene MacCarthy is Tina Turner . . . Pictures: Johan Persson Tina – The Tina Turner Musical Birmingham Hippodrome ***** For those who have accumulated enough years Tina is not just a gritty musical, it is a reminder of lost youth, a journey back to the heady days of the swinging sixties. Her River Deep-Mountain High in 1966 was a landmark record of the era incorporating Phil Spector's now legendary wall of sound, while her relationship with abusive husband Ike was an ongoing, real life soap opera. Anna Mae Bullock's life might find a home in the jukebox genre but it is far more than just that, this is music driven storytelling and there is a real story to tell, a drama that could fill a stage without a note ever being sung. Anna Mae had a troubled childhood. Born into a poor family in Nutbush, rural Tennessee, her mother had walked out on her abusive husband, and Anna Mae, and she was brought up by a grandmother (Claude East) before rejoining her mother and sister Alline in St Louis where she was to meet and marry rock'n'roll singer Ike Turner. It was the inauspicious start of a journey to superstardom, a journey that saw four distinct careers. First she was a vocalist for Ike's various band incarnations, then a solo artist and, as fashions changed, she became little more than a nostalgia act, a star name from the past fading gracefully in her own tribute act gigs in hotels and resorts. Then, aged 44, and seemingly past it, she released her first record for four years, a cover version of Al Green's Let's Stay Together and the rest, as they say, is history. She became Simply the Best. It was a turbulent journey with Jochebel Ohene MacCarthy bringing Tina to life with a voice that could wake the dead. She gives the hits some real welly when needed, with wonderful control on soaring high notes, and she keeps that same control, and clarity, in softer, quieter moments as songs are given new arrangements by Nicholas Skilbeck to help tell the story. She gives us a vulnerable even compliant Tina suffering the abuses of the controlling Ike, slowly growing in confidence and stature, or maybe just learning to fight back, emerging from being Ike's victim to become simply the best.
David King-Yombo as Ike, with Tina, finding civil rights have yet to reach Mississippi David King-Yombo is a wonderful Ike, a real baddy. His violent mood swings, pathological need to control, womanising, misogyny, drug abuse and cruelty display just about everything you would ever . . . not . . . want to see in a bloke and he does it all congenitally nastily and brilliantly – and a shout out here to fight director Kate Waters. The fights, from that between Tina's mother Zelma (Letitia Hector) and father Richard (Rushand Chambers) at the beginning to the running battles in the war between Tina and control freak Ike had a startling authenticity about them from punches and slaps to kicks and hand to hand combat. There is good support from Georga Gillam as older sister Alline, who it seems was her mother's favourite, with Zelma a complex character with a troubled relationship with Anna Mae, even on her deathbed. Then there was Raymond Hill, the band's saxophonist, played by Kyle Richardson in a doomed love affair with Tina. He was the father of Tina's first son, Craig but was sacked by Ike and left before the boy was born. Gemma Sutton was appointed as Ike and Tina's new manager, Rhonda Graam, interviewed, horizontally it seems, by Ike without consultation with Tina, as was his way. Despite how she was appointed she grows fond of Tina and fears for her safety at the hands of the unpredictable Ike and desperately wants Tina to leave, becoming her closest friend. The break, when it came, was dramatic and final. Tina was to become a superstar, Ike, still highly regarded for the part he played in the annals of Rock history, was to die of a drug overdose in 2007. As Tina goes it alone we meet the likes of Isaac Elder's Roger Davies, the young, Australian producer who becomes her manager, and Erwin Bach (William Beckerleg), Capitol record's marketing executive who both encourages and falls for her.
Isaac Elder as Roger Davies young Australian producer who was to make the has been Tina a world star We open with a little girl Anna Mae singing in her Pastor father's evangelical church and end with a superstar, the Queen of Rock'n'Roll singing to 180,000 fans in Rio, with Tina Simply The Best. There are plenty of songs to move the story along, 23 listed in the programme with hits such as River Deep-Mountain High, Simply the Best, What's Love Got to do With It, Private Dancer, Nutbush City Limits, Proud Mary, We Don't Need Another Hero and so on surfing waves of nostalgia in what is a spectacular production with a mega glitzy, showtime ending. Chronologically the songs may be out of sync, but to present them in order would have meant most of the huge hits crammed in the last half hour creating a sort of tribute act concert rather than a well crafted drama. Anthony van Laast's always interesting choreography brings in group pieces for the hardworking ensemble along with the synchronised and stylised routines of both backing singers and Tina and her dancers. Tina Turner had her own style when it came to costumes and set and costume designer Mark Thompson has amplified that with an effective minimalist set and costumes to reflect both Tina's choices and authenticity for the times covered. The set is enhanced by a video display covering the rear wall of the stage designed by Jeff Sugg which rather than a distraction enhances every scene whether to highlight location such as London, St Louis terraced housing, or a Mississippi sky, airport departures or even the psychedelic glass slides of the 1960s. The best use of a video backdrop for some time. Indeed, all the technicals had merit with Nevin Steinberg's well balanced sound and Bruno Poet's clever and, when needed, dramatic lighting adding to the production. And you can't have a jukebox musical, even one with a real story to tell, without music, all provided by a superb 10 piece orchestra, huge by touring standards, under musical director Sarah Burrell. Directed by Phyllida Lloyd with a book by Katori Hall, Frank Ketelaar, and Kees Prins, Tina will be rocking the Hippodrome to 28-06-25. Roger Clarke 18-06-25 |
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