A jukebox musical, in most cases, is a performance of a string of hits made famous by its central character. It’s tied together by a narrative of a tragic off stage life that is in direct contrast to the person’s glamorous image.
Considering that "Tina: the Tina Turner Musical" at Proctors in Schenectady until Sunday, has about two dozen songs all made popular by either Tina Turner the solo act, or with Ike and Tina Turner, the husband and wife team, it qualifies as a juke box musical.
But make no mistake, this is a biography with music, not a recreation of a Tina Turner concert.
As for the narrative about a life of pain behind the glitz and glory, few have led a more pitiful life than Tina Turner. She was born into extreme poverty as Anna Mae Bullock in Nutbush, TN. Her childhood was one of physical abuse by her father towards her mother, and emotional rejection to her by her mother. It was a childhood dominated by violence and a sense of abandonment.
She escaped her sad youth by going on the road as a singer with the popular Ike Turner Band. Eventually she married Ike Turner who was brutal and enslaving to her. (As a trigger alert there is a lot of physical violence in the show and Turner is at the receiving end of most of it.) Not only was she physically abused, her enormous talent was exploited as she received no financial gain from being one of the most popular pop acts in the country.
When at great personal risk she escaped from her 16 year marriage to Ike she was broke and had little hope for a solo career. But she found the courage to believe in herself and her talent.
The book for the musical was written by Katori Hall. She is best known for her play “The Mountaintop,” a fictionalized work about Dr. Martin Luther King’s last night on earth. Hall shows Turner as a woman who grew up without an identity and who was accepting of a world dominated by men.
Hall’s intent is to use the star as a poster child of those who find the power to break the string of physical, emotional and financial abuse to become their own person.
It is at this point that Turner loses her image as a martyr and the tragedy evolves into redemption.
When the show becomes the story about the greatest comeback in rock n’ roll history the songs identified with the "Queen of Rock and Roll" become much deeper than if just heard in a concert. But not to worry. Towards the end, the show takes on more the form of a concert and it soars.
This is because at the center of this tale is a dynamite performer, Ari Groover. There are 24 songs in the show and Groover is in 22 of them. All are performed by a voice so powerful, it is shocking how sensitive they sound as the lyrics accent a moment in Turner’s personal life.
Groover is a performer with power, drive and charisma. By the end of the show, you wonder how any lead can sustain the demands of the role day after day.
Indeed, no one has to. Zurin Villanueva shares the role equally with Groover, with each doing 4 performances in an eight show week. Having see Villanueva perform in Barrington Stage Company’s production of “Ragtime” in 2017, I believe the show will not suffer with her as the lead.
Being a very dramatic musical, the cast is excellent both as actors and as vibrant rock n’ roll performers ranging over several decades. Indeed, Deon Releford-Lee was so effective at creating a brutish Ike Turner, the opening night audience hissed him at the curtain call. High praise indeed.
On the subject of curtain calls, the show takes almost three hours, with an intermission. But don’t be tempted to leave early. The encore number is as good as anything you might experience at SPAC this summer. It’s also as good as anything you might see at Proctors the rest of this season.
“Tina: The Tina Turner Musical” is at Proctors through Sunday. Ticket and schedule information at atproctors.org
Bob Goepfert is theater reviewer for the Troy Record.
The views expressed by commentators are solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of this station or its management.
