Review: TINA - THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL at Pantages Theatre

Even if it wouldn’t have been great, it was already getting a pass.  It’s Tina Turner.  The music legend, the feminist heroine, the Warrior Goddess, and Queen of Rock & Roll. 

Those of us who followed her second coming with a keen eye and bated breath, gasped aloud our collective awe when she independently launched back onto the 80s music scene, like a comet – a thing left over from the broken formation of another entity very long ago, that had been wandering in a dark solar system and finally pulled to the center of light, leaving all of its debris behind in a trail of dust.  But this woman was not made of ice.  She was the fire that courage was built upon.

More than anything else, Turner’s is a powerful story of resilience, and her music and screen appearances and music videos after “Ike and Tina”, personified that.  She was breathtaking, always, in her uniqueness.  And that is what resonates in TINA, The Tina Turner Musical, on tour at the Hollywood Pantages.

But…GREAT it is!  Actually, it’s better than that.

It’s been said that TINA was Turner’s final goodbye to her fans - from having to re-live a lot of the trauma in her life.  She was ready to move on from the past, once and for all. (Sadly, we did finally lose her in May 2023 less than one month ago).  

TINA is no mere rehashing of the singer’s greatest hits.  Unlike, many of the rock ballads for stage that have been touring out of Broadway, TINA is singular in that it is based and narratively shaped on a real life.

Intimate and moderately-paced there is an unmistakable solemnity about the important highlights.  There is no pretense or glamming up or glossing over the ugly.  Conversely, none of the successes are overhyped either.  Every bit of this musical is, in every sense of the word, “real”.  But all the hits are there; built into and formed by her own words and songs.  And, for once, it makes sense.

Naomi Rogers (Tina) externalizes this icon with vigor in a script that although surfaces plenty of the terrible moments in Tina Turner’s life, mostly projects the beautiful, generous, heart of Anna Mae Bullock, the spirited little girl from Brownsville, Tennessee, who eventually becomes the first woman ever to grace the cover of Rolling Stone Magazine (1967).  Quite a feat! 

I myself was lucky enough to attend an early Tina Turner concert date during her, PRIVATE DANCER tour. Watching Rogers from the front row mezzanine of the Pantages theater, brought back so many (sexy) memories of an explosive Turner running around in heels and dazzling audiences with her unmatchable stamina.  It’s all there, the costumes, the attitude, the voice, the triumph.  And it’s gorgeous.

While the writing is sometimes “light” the ensemble cast thoroughly fills it and then some, with plenty of heavy-hitters in stagecraft and song, and very notably its youngest member of the team, nine-year-old,  Ayvah Johnson (young Anna Mae) who “brings down the house” with astonishing, vocal power.

There may be more that can be said about this musical.  But, it’s best heard. TINA, The Tina Turner Musical, is one of the most satisfying musical/theatrical experiences that has visited the Pantages yet.  And Tina in concert at the end of the show, is “Simply the Best!”

Photo by Matthew Murphy for MurphyMade, 2022: 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.

TINA – THE Tina Turner MUSICAL
Dates: June 13– July 9, 2023
Hollywood Pantages Theatre, 6233 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90028
Performance Schedule: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 8pm
Saturdays at 2 and 8pm
Sundays at 1 and 6:30 pm
(No performance July 4, 2023) Added matinee - Thursday July 6 at 2pm Tickets: Online: BroadwayInHollywood.com orTicketmaster.com Phone: 1-800-982-2787 In Person: Hollywood Pantages Box Office (Visit website for hours)

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