Tina – The Tina Turner Musical, a jukebox musical about the Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll is embarking on its first-ever UK tour, following runs on the West End, Broadway, and internationally – as well as ongoing North American and Australian tours. To mark the occasion, the musical held a lovely little launch at Radio Rooftop, which is located across the road from the Aldwych Theatre, where Tina has been playing since 2018 – making it the longest-running show ever to run there.
Tina is the story of legendary artist Tina Turner, the twelve-time Grammy Award-winning Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll. Set to the pulse-pounding soundtrack of her iconic hits, including ‘The Best’, ‘Proud Mary’, and ‘What’s Love Got To Do With It?’, the musical is an inspiring true story of a woman who dared to dream fiercely, shatter barriers, and defy the bounds of age, gender, and race to conquer the world against all odds.
Directed by Phyllida Lloyd and written by Olivier Award and Pulitzer Prize-winner Katori Hall, with Frank Ketelaar and Kees Prins, Tina is choreographed by Anthony van Laast, with set and costume designs by Mark Thompson, musical supervision by Nicholas Skilbeck, lighting by Bruno Poet, sound by Nevin Steinberg, projection design by Jeff Sugg, orchestrations by Ethan Popp, and wigs, hair and makeup design by Campbell Young Associates, casting by Pippa Ailion CDG and Natalie Gallacher CDG.
At the launch event, producer Teli Pelman delivered a presentation, in which she spoke about the origins of the musical and its unprecedented success. She told us that although Tina had agreed to meet her when she reached out to her about turning her life story into a musical, Tina told her, frankly, that they were not going to be making a musical – but the meeting lasted hours and, after hearing Tali’s vision, Tina relented.
Whilst guests ate canapés and drank fizz (it’s five o’clock somewhere), I had the pleasure of interviewing Tali.
I asked Tali, out of all the music icons out there, why Tina?
“Well, Tina has a story unlike anyone. So, I think in addition to her incredible songbook – these anthems that we were all raised with, and very evocative and emotional anthems too, as well as the best dance numbers – you have an incredibly dramatic story. Two parts really – one we know, obviously her early years and a very, very difficult marriage to Ike Turner and some struggles she had to overcome to leave. Then the second half of our story is a story which nobody really knew about until the musical – which is how she had to reinvent herself and she did that, indeed, in London. So, there’s drama, enormous heights, and not many music icons live that life – she is exceptional.”
Tina has had enormous success internationally and is still growing strong in the West End – so I wondered why now is the right time to tour it around the UK.
“There are not many shows that can continue to run in the West End and have a tour route of this kind – this is a really premium tour; we’re going to the best cities across the UK and Ireland. So, we really wanted to wait for the right moment, and the West End right now, post-pandemic as well, is doing than better than ever, audiences continue to sell-out our houses, and indeed our audiences are growing – we’re getting younger and younger audiences all the time, more diverse audiences, so Tina’s story is still resonating. So, we thought this is the perfect moment now to bring the show further afield and to Manchester.”
I asked Tali, who became good friends with Tina, what it is like producing the show now that Tina is, sadly, no longer with us – having passed away on my birthday last year.
“This is the first production that we have launched since Tina passed away, and she has been so intimately involved in the making of this show, she’s a dear friend, and my kids know her, and she’s become very dear to me – and to all of us in the team.
“So, it is definitely emotional, and for me it really is the beginning of another chapter so, beyond sharing her story, as we’ve done for the past six years, it’s really about continuing to share it for a new generation – and what we do find is that when whose under 40 comes to the theatre, they are electrified by this woman, what she managed to achieve, 40 years ago, at a certain age, at a certain time – that it’s absolutely resonant and current for a new generation who may not have grown up with her music.
“So, for us now, that’s the next step – there’s no better time to take it out on the road.”
I spoke about the struggles that female artists reach as they get older – most stop having hits once they reach 40 but Tina, incredibly, had most of her hits in her 40s!
“Absolutely – that’s where she started – that’s her entire solo career! Most people, if you name the top 3 Tina songs you knew, 90% of those would be the songs she recorded from London onwards, 1980s on. So, that’s really inspiring.
“Even when I speak to, not only women, but men who come to the show, it really does inspire you to live your life as you want to and make the decisions you want to make and make your choices and stand by them and persevere, and they will come. So, her message – and for me, I’m 45 – you can reinvent yourself – and if you haven’t done well, the thing you wanna do, well, go ahead. And that’s how you feel when you leave the show – that was our goal.”
Talking about reinvention and having success in your 40s, I asked Tali, who has been in her position of Group Creative Managing Director of Stage Entertainment for almost a decade, what’s next for her. She has got one of the biggest shows on the West End, which is touring all around the world – so whatever next?!
“Oh, we’ve got a lot! It’s a real joy. I love developing new work. It’s where my heart lies. So, we have several new musicals in development, so we should keep in touch.”
Watch this space!
After the launch event, we got to see the musical across the road, starring Karis Anderson (a member of the girlband Stooshe who played Diana Ross in the first UK tour of Motown) as the eponymous songstress – and she delivered one of the best performances I have seen onstage.
Tina – The Tina Turner Musical has its regional premiere at Curve, Leicester from March 6 to 22 2025, touring the UK until April 4 2026, with a holiday residency at Palace Theatre Manchester from November 25 2025 to January 3 2026. It continues to play at the Aldwych Theatre in the West End, where it is currently booking until May 31 2025.
JADAR 