Tina Turner musical to go on first tour after star’s death

NEW YORK (AP) — The national tour of Broadway’s “Tina — The Tina Turner Musical” will debut in California this week and comes as a moving posthumous celebration following the rock star’s death last month.

“Tina” opens in Los Angeles at the Pantages Theater in Hollywood on Wednesday, very close to where her Hollywood Walk of Fame star is located and where she recorded for Capitol Records. She will perform there through July 9, followed by two weeks at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa and stops in San Diego, San Francisco and San Jose later this summer.

“We’ve always wanted the audience to be in the room with her and obviously it’s going to have even more special meaning now that she’s physically gone from us,” said Katori Hall, one of the script writers.

“But his energy, his spirit, has obviously been woven into our creative processes. And I pray that we can always give each member of the audience a little piece of Tina when they come to the show.”

Turner, who survived a horrible marriage to succeed in midlife with hits like “What’s Love Got to Do With It” and “Better Be Good To Me,” died last month in Küsnacht, near Zurich. He was 83 years old.

After California, the play will continue its national tour, visiting 37 more cities in North America next season. The musical has been touring regularly since the fall of 2022. There are also productions in London’s West End, as well as Sydney, Australia and Stuttgart, Germany.

The musical charts the ups and downs of the two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee, including her hellish marriage marred by domestic violence and her rise as a beloved solo artist with songs like “Private Dancer,” ″River Deep, Mountain High”, “The Best” and “Proud Mary”.

“Tina” received 12 Tony Award nominations, including the Best Actress trophy for Adrienne Warren in the title role. Hall wrote the book with Frank Ketelaar and Kees Prins.

Two actresses share the role of Turner: Naomi Rodgers and Zurin Villanueva, each interpreting four of the eight shows they present per week. Also co-star Roderick Lawrence, Roz White, Carla R. Stewart and Lael Van Keuren.

Seeing Warren as Turner on Broadway, tour organizers realized that no one actress could fill the demanding role while on the road, Hall said.

“We saw how difficult it is for the body: it’s the physical part, it’s the singing, but it’s also the emotional weight that every night one has to put on one’s shoulders and spend more than two hours of the life of Tina Turner.”

Hall remembers finding out that Turner had died when she woke up to messages flooding her phone. His mind flashed back to the time Turner went to see “Tina” on Broadway.

“When she walked through the door, to see people stand up and give her a standing ovation, I was so grateful that she was able to feel that energy and that love on the American side of the ocean before she passed away,” Hall says.

“I think it was a beautiful gift that we were able to give her at that moment and be in the room breathing with her and witnessing that love pouring out from the seats.”

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Mark Kennedy is on Twitter as http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits