The life and hits of Tina Turner have rolled (and shimmied, and ponied) onto Broadway as Tina: The Tina Turner Musical celebrated its official opening November 7. The show began October 12 at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre.
Tony Award nominee Adrienne Warren (Shuffle Along...) leads the cast in the title role, having earned an Olivier Award nomination earlier this year for her work in the London world premiere of the musical. Nkeki Obi-Melekwe plays Tina at select performances.
Directed by Phyllida Lloyd and written by Katori Hall with Frank Ketelaar and Kees Prins, the musical charts the life of Turner from humble beginnings in Nutbush, Tennessee, to her transformation into the global Queen of Rock-and-Roll, with myriad trials and tribulations along the way. Incorporated into her story are several of her hits, including "River Deep Mountain High," "Proud Mary," "Private Dancer," and "(Simply) The Best."
Find out what critics thought of the new show below.
Broadway News (Charles Isherwood)
Entertainment Weekly (Leah Greenblatt)
The Hollywood Reporter (David Rooney)
New York Daily News (Chris Jones)
New York Magazine/Vulture (Helen Shaw)
New York Stage Review (Elysa Gardner and Jesse Oxfield)
The New York Times (Jesse Green)
Rolling Stone (Brittany Spanos)
Theater News Online (Jeremy Gerard)
TimeOut New York (Adam Feldman)
The Wall Street Journal (Terry Teachout)
The Washington Post (Peter Marks)
Playbill will continue to update this list as more reviews come in.
The cast also includes Daniel J. Watts as Ike Turner, Dawnn Lewis as Zelma, and Myra Lucretia Taylor as Gran Georgeanna.
Rounding out the company are Steven Booth, Nick Rashad Burroughs, Gerald Caesar, Holli’ Conway, Kayla Davion, Leandra Ellis-Gaston, Charlie Franklin, Judith Franklin, Matthew Griffin, Sheldon Henry, David Jennings, Ross Lekites, Robert Lenzi, Gloria Manning, Rob Marnell, Mehret Marsh, Jhardon DiShon Milton, Destinee Rea, Mars Rucker, Jessica Rush, Allysa Shorte, Carla Stewart, Jayden Theophile, Antonio Watson, and Katie Webber.
The production features choreography by Anthony van Laast, sets and costumes by Mark Thompson, musical supervision, additional music and arrangements by Nicholas Skilbeck, lighting by Bruno Poet, sound by Nevin Steinberg, projection design by Jeff Sugg, and orchestrations by Ethan Popp. Casting is by Telsey + Company.
