For some, even the vaulted word “iconic” falls short when referring to the late Tina Turner, the “Queen of Rock and Roll,” whose rise to superstardom is now one for the ages.
Though Turner passed away in May, the touring version of the award-winning Broadway musical that portrays her epic story of triumph rolls into Segerstrom this week with “mind-blowing and life-changing” reviews.
Tina Turner’s story is so breathtaking, and the energy on stage is so frenetic, producers say the play literally requires two major stage stars playing the role of Tina as they rotate shows to replicate the energy this superstar left in her wake.
The North American tour of TINA–THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL is one of eight productions that have opened around the world since the show began in London’s West End in 2018.
“This is testimony to Tina’s extraordinary legacy,” claim the producers, Tali Pelman from Stage Entertainment and Jimmy Nederlander.
“We can’t wait for America to see the two-megawatt superstars—Naomi Rodgers and Zurin Villanueva—who share the role of Tina, Roderick Lawrence in the role of Ike, and the incredibly talented company who are on the road in this tour.”
Tina Turner first became a household name in the 70s with the Ike and Tina Turner Revue. Methodically, Turner began to break barriers after first breaking with Ike in 1976. She went public in 1981 with allegations of abuse.
“I spent 16 years with a man I knew I would never be happy with,” Turner contemporarily told PEOPLE Magazine, according to the HBO Documentary “Tina.”
“I was living a life of death. I did not exist,” says Tina, “but I survived it. And when I walked out, I walked out.”
Born Anna Mae Bullock in 1937 on a sharecropping farm where they picked cotton, the complicated life of the late entertainer who ultimately became Tina Turner is an inspiring story of a woman who truly overcame seemingly insurmountable odds to become one of the most admired entertainers of our time.
So says singer and actress Roz White, a native of Washington, D.C., the woman whose own life makes her believe she was born to play the role of Zelma Bullock, Tina’s mom, in the touring production.
Turner (Anna Mae) was abandoned by her mother as a child and left with her grandmother to be raised. On stage, White says she has come to understand why Zelma left her daughter behind.
“A lot of people are not going to understand why [Zelma left]. And, you know, to this day, people still come up to me and say I realized that I didn’t realize that the relationship was like that. But you know, we’re on the outside looking in and so, you know, those moves have to be made,” said White in an interview.
“So what I bring to the role is the real in this real-life experience, and a sympathy for a woman like Zelma, who has given birth to someone so strong and her role and making sure that that person, that spirit, gets to do everything that it’s supposed to do on the earth,” she said.
“I think she [Zelma] succeeded,” said White, “because we got Tina Turner, and she’s an icon, and we’ll never forget her. Zelma was part of that,” she added, “whether it was the greatest times or not, she was a catalyst for her daughter’s success.”
The North American touring cast is led by Naomi Rodgers (Frozen) and Zurin Villanueva (The Lion King, Mean Girls, Shuffle Along, The Book of Mormon) who will evenly share the role of Tina Turner, each playing four (of eight) performances a week. Also starring are Roderick Lawrence as Ike Turner, White as Zelma Bullock, Carla R. Stewart as Gran Georgeanna and Lael Van Keuren as Rhonda.
Photo by Matthew Murphy for Murphy Made.
The musical is set to the pulse-pounding soundtrack of her most beloved hits, this electrifying sensation that is sending audiences “soaring to the rafters.” But there are tender moments, which reflect Tina’s relationship with her mother, Zelma.
“I think Zelma was not allowed to be a soft woman. And women just weren’t allowed in that situation. That was Tennessee, picking cotton. And she had already had three children by the time Anna Mae came around. It just was a life that did not provide a space to be soft and to be very feminine. So you had to kind of be rough, and she was looking for a better life,” says White of Zelma Bullock.
“And so she chose to move to a different place. And unfortunately, Anna Mae (Tina) was left behind because someone just didn’t know how to love a gifted and energetic child, you know, a child that we would label today as ADHD or some title,” she adds.
As a child, she said Tina was jumping up and down and running out to the field playing and wouldn’t sit down when told to sit down. There was also a little bit of jealousy because her father seemed to favor Anna Mae over the other daughter and so Zelma said, ‘well, if you want to choose, I’m gonna choose.’
White called Bullock a “very layered woman.” In many ways, says White, the role reminds her, “in ways my grandmother and my mother, had a tug of war over me, I believe, during my mom’s passing and how that affected me and gave me some of the emphasis that I have to do to pursue my dreams.”
“But there’s so many layers and ways that I relate to them, but I really believe his role was built especially for me to play. I just do it moment by moment.”
Unfortunately, Tina and her mom were not able to reconcile before her death, yet White believes Bullock played a huge role in Tina’s life.
The Broadway version of the play won 12 Tony Awards, ironically, the same number of Grammy® Awards won by Turner during her career.
Turner would eventually overcome her childhood, abuse, and other crises to touch areas of superstardom reached by few rivals. Turner is one of the best-selling artists of all time and her live shows were indeed iconic and seen by hundreds of millions of fans.
Featuring her much-loved songs, TINA–THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL is written by Pulitzer Prize-winning Katori Hall and directed by the internationally acclaimed Phyllida Lloyd.
When she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in October 2021, Tina Turner became one of only three women in the institution’s history to be inducted twice (she was initially inducted in 1991, alongside Ike).
TINA–THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL is directed by Tony Award nominee Phyllida Lloyd with choreography by Tony Award nominee Anthony van Laast, set and costume designs by Tony Award nominee Mark Thompson, music supervision, arrangements & incidental music by Nicholas Skilbeck, lighting by Tony Award nominee Bruno Poet, sound by Tony Award nominee Nevin Steinberg, projection design by Tony Award nominee Jeff Sugg, orchestrations by Tony Award nominee Ethan Popp, wigs, hair and makeup design by Drama Desk Award winner Campbell Young Associates, and casting by The Telsey Office
Produced by Stage Entertainment, James L. Nederlander and Tali Pelman, in association with Tina Turner, the musical was written by Tony Award nominee and Pulitzer Prize winner Katori Hall with Frank Ketelaar and Kees Prins.
TINA-THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL runs from July 11-23 at Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa.
Performances are Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 pm , Saturdays at 2 and 7:30 and Sundays at 1 and 6:30 pm. Tickets start at $29. For info or tickets, visit scfta.org or call (714) 556-2787.