The national tour of “Tina: The Tina Turner Musical” came to IU Auditorium on Thursday and will have a second performance at 7:30 p.m. Friday. The show brought Turner’s rocking music and empowering story to the stage, leaving the nearly-full auditorium on their feet cheering.
The 2019 jukebox musical, written by Katori Hall, Frank Ketelaar and Kees Prins, details Turner’s life, set to her Grammy-winning music. The story pulls back the curtain on Turner — known as the “Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll — and displays the hardships she overcame to achieve her success.
Katrina Mayddit, who portrays Turner’s mother Zelma Bullock in the musical, said over email she was drawn to music and performance because of their storytelling power. She said she is devoted to telling stories that challenge, uplift and transform audiences and, as such, has found her part to be deeply moving.
“It’s made me reflect on my own journey as a woman, an artist, and a mother,” she wrote. “There’s strength in vulnerability, and I’ve learned to lean into that more fully.”
The musical opened in Turner’s early childhood in Nutbush, Tennessee, set to her song “Nutbush City Limits,” where she was shown singing enthusiastically in church. Auset Jones, the 11-year-old actress playing a young Turner, had a powerful voice that got the audience cheering right off the bat.
After portraying Turner’s troubling home life and upbringing, the show skipped forward to the 1950s when Turner (Darilyn Burtley) first met Ike Turner (Monty Kane), who would go on to become her musical partner and husband. The costumes, music and props transported the audience to the 1950s, with a lively performance of The Blues Brothers’ “Shake a Tailfeather” turning the auditorium into a mid-century nightclub.
The musical quickly took a serious, darker turn as several performances detailed the abuse Turner faced from her husband, amid several scenes where she had to put on a happy face and act like everything was fine. The dichotomy between Turner’s relationship and her sparkling persona on stage revealed just how much she was suffering while the world cheered for her groovy music.
The first act ended with the powerful confrontation between Tina and Ike as she finally fights back and leaves, finding refuge at a hotel where she gets the clerk to give her a room despite not having a dollar to her name. Burtley performed “I Don’t Wanna Fight” to close the first act, met with cheers and applause.
The second act opened with “Private Dancer,” as Turner struggles to make ends meet after divorcing Ike. From this point, the musical showed how Turner turned her career around and made a name for herself through her determination, strength and resilience.
The end of this act featured many of Turner’s most popular hits, like showing the creation of “What’s Love Got to Do With It” and ending with a performance of “The Best” as Turner performs for a crowd of 180,000 people in Brazil.
After the cast took their bows, Burtley performed a mini concert alongside the ensemble playing the Ikettes and the band, performing “Nutbush City Limits” and “Proud Mary” while the audience danced and sang along. At the conclusion of the show, the audience sent the cast off with the type of cheering and applause heard at concerts, filling the auditorium with praise for the cast’s performance.
After the show, several cast members including Jones, Claire Davy — another actor playing a young Turner — Kane, Kyle Channell — who portrays producer Phil Spector — and Jordan Hankerson, who plays one of the Ikettes. They discussed their favorite snacks on tour, how they stay healthy and what preparation went into playing their roles. Many audience members inquired about Jones and Davy’s backgrounds, gasping at the revelation that they are only 11 and 12 years old and started professionally singing and acting at 10 years old.
Bloomington resident Cherri DuPree couldn’t pick a favorite part of the show, saying she loved it all.
“It was very emotional because I saw Tina Turner live and I was in the front row,” DuPree said. “So most of that I had seen before, her actually doing it.”
She wasn’t the only one who found the show emotional. Anandi Delaney, a sophomore studying dance and media advertising at IU, found learning about Turner’s story to be moving. She said she resonated with a moment at the end of the show when Turner’s younger self and deceased grandmother came on stage as a sign of comfort to Turner.
“It was just amazing to see that she held, kind of, the people with her that loved her, like, with her within her heart throughout her whole story,” Delaney said. “My mom also passed about three years ago, so I kind of have that, like, I carry her with me every single time I step on a stage.”
“Tina: The Tina Turner Musical” will have its second showing tonight at 7:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at the IU box office and website.
