TINA The Tina Turner Musical Broadway At The Paramount Seattle, WA 9/12/23 through 9/17/23
TINA The Tina Turner Musical
Book by: Katori Hall with Frank Ketelaar and Kees Prins
Director: Phyllida Lloyd
Premera Blue Cross Broadway At The Paramount
Seattle, WA
Review: Tuesday September 12th, 2023
It’s honestly fairly rare when I feel strongly enough to tell readers to go see a show but absolutely - go see this show!
What I really enjoyed about Tina - The Tina Turner Musical was that it worked on every level. As a musical. As a concert. As a theatre piece. All of it. The performances, the acting, the sets, just every aspect of it worked so well together that you couldn’t help but love this show. If you came out of the Paramount on Tuesday evening feeling any other way, there’s something wrong with you.
Many of the mainstream patrons know Tina Turner’s backstory - the bullet points at least. She came from humble beginnings (to put it mildly), entered into a volatile and abusive relationship (both professionally and personally) with Ike Turner. Eventually she left Ike and then had to figure out how to basically start her career anew as a solo artist when she was considered well past her musical prime. Not to mention the intolerance of her being a black artist and a female one at that. The obstacles were many on her road to eventual stardom as a solo artist.
The musical didn’t gloss over her early days which was something I appreciated. Too often things are sugar coated in order to get to the happier days of an artist in musical theatre. Not with this show. The themes and some of the language was appropriate and in some cases needed to be shown/heard so that the second act of the show could have a massive impact as things finally started going Tina’s way.
.jpg)
Ari Groover played Tina at our performance and she was just stunning. She varied her singing voice to match the different years of Tina. She could have just stayed with one voice but I was so glad and impressed to hear her not do that. What also stood out was her level of acting she brought to the role. Sometimes you can tell that a performer has music strength/voice strength/dance strength but their actual acting ability is their area of need. Ms. Groover showed she could act with the best theatre professionals in the world. The wide gamut of emotions she had to cover through Tina’s life was a tall task and she handled each aspect with the highest degree of professionalism. Ari Groover was the total package!
It's hard to express the different layers that were presented in this show but just know that they all worked incredibly well together. If you like musicals, you’ll find something to like in this show. If you like live concerts, you’ll find something to like in this show. If you like live theatre, you get the idea.
The reveal toward the end of the show had to be one of the best uses of stage, lighting, suspension of disbelief, and pure talent I’ve witnessed at a Broadway at The Paramount performance - ever. It was absolutely breathtaking!
As I started this review, I shall end it with the same words: go see this show!
“Tina - The Tina Turner Musical” runs through Sunday September 17th. Tickets are available: HERE!
Best,
Mark Sugiyama
Eclectic Arts Media
Connect with Eclectic Arts Media: Join Us On Social Media!
Book by: Katori Hall with Frank Ketelaar and Kees Prins
Director: Phyllida Lloyd
Premera Blue Cross Broadway At The Paramount
Seattle, WA
Review: Tuesday September 12th, 2023
(Naomi Rodgers as ‘Tina Turner’ in the North American touring production of TINA – THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL. Photo by Matthew Murphy for MurphyMade, 2022)
It’s honestly fairly rare when I feel strongly enough to tell readers to go see a show but absolutely - go see this show!
What I really enjoyed about Tina - The Tina Turner Musical was that it worked on every level. As a musical. As a concert. As a theatre piece. All of it. The performances, the acting, the sets, just every aspect of it worked so well together that you couldn’t help but love this show. If you came out of the Paramount on Tuesday evening feeling any other way, there’s something wrong with you.
Many of the mainstream patrons know Tina Turner’s backstory - the bullet points at least. She came from humble beginnings (to put it mildly), entered into a volatile and abusive relationship (both professionally and personally) with Ike Turner. Eventually she left Ike and then had to figure out how to basically start her career anew as a solo artist when she was considered well past her musical prime. Not to mention the intolerance of her being a black artist and a female one at that. The obstacles were many on her road to eventual stardom as a solo artist.
The musical didn’t gloss over her early days which was something I appreciated. Too often things are sugar coated in order to get to the happier days of an artist in musical theatre. Not with this show. The themes and some of the language was appropriate and in some cases needed to be shown/heard so that the second act of the show could have a massive impact as things finally started going Tina’s way.
.jpg)
(Naomi Rodgers performing Proud Mary as ‘Tina Turner’ and the cast of the North American touring production of TINA – THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL. Photo by Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade, 2022)
Ari Groover played Tina at our performance and she was just stunning. She varied her singing voice to match the different years of Tina. She could have just stayed with one voice but I was so glad and impressed to hear her not do that. What also stood out was her level of acting she brought to the role. Sometimes you can tell that a performer has music strength/voice strength/dance strength but their actual acting ability is their area of need. Ms. Groover showed she could act with the best theatre professionals in the world. The wide gamut of emotions she had to cover through Tina’s life was a tall task and she handled each aspect with the highest degree of professionalism. Ari Groover was the total package!
It's hard to express the different layers that were presented in this show but just know that they all worked incredibly well together. If you like musicals, you’ll find something to like in this show. If you like live concerts, you’ll find something to like in this show. If you like live theatre, you get the idea.
The reveal toward the end of the show had to be one of the best uses of stage, lighting, suspension of disbelief, and pure talent I’ve witnessed at a Broadway at The Paramount performance - ever. It was absolutely breathtaking!
(Naomi Rodgers performing 'What's Love Got To Do With It as ‘Tina Turner’ in the North American touring production of TINA – THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL. Photo by Matthew Murphy for MurphyMade, 2022)
As I started this review, I shall end it with the same words: go see this show!
“Tina - The Tina Turner Musical” runs through Sunday September 17th. Tickets are available: HERE!
Best,
Mark Sugiyama
Eclectic Arts Media
Connect with Eclectic Arts Media: Join Us On Social Media!
Comments
Post a Comment