REVIEW
✭✭✭✭☆ 4/5
(due to sound issues)
TINA! THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL
Cliffs Pavilion, Southend
Tue 26th August 2025 - Sat 6th September 2025
✭✭✭✭☆ 4/5
(due to sound issues)
TINA! THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL
Cliffs Pavilion, Southend
Tue 26th August 2025 - Sat 6th September 2025
There can be few artists who achieved greater fame than Tina Turner. In a career spanning 5 decades or more, she became a true pop icon. A diva to her fingertips.
We all know the songs. Indeed, many of us may have seen a Tina Turner Tribute Act at some point. With her distinctive image, and that instantly recognisable voice, many have impersonated, and even lampooned her at times.
What we may not know is her backstory, and of this, there is a great deal.
Arriving in Southend this week, Tina, The Tina Turner Musical finally gives us the chance to see how Anna-Mae Bullock went from being a young, gospel singing girl in church, to the mighty legend we know of today.
As the show begins, we see Tina, with her back to us, about to perform to a huge crowd, sitting on the floor, chanting with beads in hand, meditating. We then cut straight back to a church scene. A pastor is leading the service, and one little girl is clearly ‘feeling the spirit’ somewhat more than the rest, to the disapproval of her mother. Returning home after the service, it becomes clear that the pastor is actually her own father. When his wife, Zelma, speaks of her dislike at the way her daughter seems to be showing off to the congregation, he raises his hand and slaps her hard across the face. This seems to be common practise in the Bullock household. Anna-Mae and her older sister Alline witness their mother routinely being beaten by their father. Finally, she flees for safety, taking her oldest daughter with her, leaving Anna-Mae behind with her father. When he too rejects her, she is taken in by her grandma, Georgeanna, or GG as she is called. From that point, happier times follow for a while, but the tone of violence from the men in her life has been set.
Her mother eventually sends for her daughter, and the two siblings are reunited. One evening, they visit a local club where a young Ike Turner is appearing. He invites people to sing with him, and is immediately impressed with the 16 year old Anna-Mae’s voice. He asks permission to take her away on tour with him, and from that moment, the young girl’s fate is set. There will be no going back. Ike is talented, but realises his young protégé’s talent is far greater, and to this end, he sets about controlling her life. He re-names her Tina, implying that they are already married. Meanwhile is also is quite happy to deliver slaps and worse to keep her in line, and the musical shows just how toxic her life with Ike becomes.
When this musical was first created, Tina Turner herself was core to its creation. She wanted her whole story told. The writers certainly respected her wishes. This show is not an easy watch. There is menace, threat, and a good deal of violence, and the songs counterpoint the story so well. When you see what Tina was going through during her time with Ike, the music takes on a different dimension. At Wednesday evening’s performance the audience was so gripped you could hear a pin drop.
The writers, Katori Hall, with Frank Ketelaar and Kees Prince, have done an excellent job. The story is clearly, and well told. Director Phyllida Lloyd, (Mamma Mia) together with choreographer, Anthony van Laast, ensure that the action flows seamlessly through from dialogue to song, and the stage settings by Mark Thomson, combining highly effective projections and simple use of scenery are ravishing to look at.
To play out this intense story, we need actors of the highest calibre here. The lead role of Tina is an enormous undertaking. She must have the vocal range to sing those big songs, as well as act out some extremely dramatic scenes. The show runs to nearly 3 hours, and she is barely off stage throughout. In that case, we have TWO actors who can appear as Tina at any given performance, with a third on standby.
On Wednesday evening, Jochebel Ohene MacCarthy played Tina to quite remarkable effect. She must play her from her teenage years, through to her 50’s, playing out so many emotions and delivering those iconic numbers effortlessly. It is a daunting task and she succeeds brilliantly. By the absolutely thrilling finale, you are on your feet cheering the legend that is Tina, and the equally brilliant performer that is Jochebel herself.
Playing the main baddie in the story, David King-Yombo is equally effective as Ike Turner. He manages to capture the likeable, attractive side of Ike, who was more often a menacing, violent bully, who became a shambling nobody towards the end of his life.
There are also some excellent supporting performances. Claude East is a powerful presence as Gran, Georgeanna, who also delivers some fine vocals. Letitia Hector is excellent as Zelma, Tina’s cold and distant mother, unforgiving to the end.
Kyle Richardson also reveals a fine singing voice as Raymond Hill, the man who offers Tina a chance to escape from Ike and live happily with him. Their love duet is one of the show’s highlights.
The young actors who portray the children are very fine performers, and perform their roles so well. The large ensemble are versatile and very well drilled. Their gospel singing is thrilling.
I have to talk about sound at this point, which is my only negative in the production. There were large tracts of the first half that were extremely difficult to hear clearly what was being said and sung. I wanted to catch every word but I simply couldn’t. Had I been watching on television at home, I would have put the subtitles on.
To this end, a hugely powerful experience in the theatre was spoiled rather.
Despite this, there is no doubt that TINA is one of the most powerful musicals of recent years. It plays in Southend at the Cliffs until Sat 6th September and is one not to miss.
Review: Andrew Walters
We all know the songs. Indeed, many of us may have seen a Tina Turner Tribute Act at some point. With her distinctive image, and that instantly recognisable voice, many have impersonated, and even lampooned her at times.
What we may not know is her backstory, and of this, there is a great deal.
Arriving in Southend this week, Tina, The Tina Turner Musical finally gives us the chance to see how Anna-Mae Bullock went from being a young, gospel singing girl in church, to the mighty legend we know of today.
As the show begins, we see Tina, with her back to us, about to perform to a huge crowd, sitting on the floor, chanting with beads in hand, meditating. We then cut straight back to a church scene. A pastor is leading the service, and one little girl is clearly ‘feeling the spirit’ somewhat more than the rest, to the disapproval of her mother. Returning home after the service, it becomes clear that the pastor is actually her own father. When his wife, Zelma, speaks of her dislike at the way her daughter seems to be showing off to the congregation, he raises his hand and slaps her hard across the face. This seems to be common practise in the Bullock household. Anna-Mae and her older sister Alline witness their mother routinely being beaten by their father. Finally, she flees for safety, taking her oldest daughter with her, leaving Anna-Mae behind with her father. When he too rejects her, she is taken in by her grandma, Georgeanna, or GG as she is called. From that point, happier times follow for a while, but the tone of violence from the men in her life has been set.
Her mother eventually sends for her daughter, and the two siblings are reunited. One evening, they visit a local club where a young Ike Turner is appearing. He invites people to sing with him, and is immediately impressed with the 16 year old Anna-Mae’s voice. He asks permission to take her away on tour with him, and from that moment, the young girl’s fate is set. There will be no going back. Ike is talented, but realises his young protégé’s talent is far greater, and to this end, he sets about controlling her life. He re-names her Tina, implying that they are already married. Meanwhile is also is quite happy to deliver slaps and worse to keep her in line, and the musical shows just how toxic her life with Ike becomes.
When this musical was first created, Tina Turner herself was core to its creation. She wanted her whole story told. The writers certainly respected her wishes. This show is not an easy watch. There is menace, threat, and a good deal of violence, and the songs counterpoint the story so well. When you see what Tina was going through during her time with Ike, the music takes on a different dimension. At Wednesday evening’s performance the audience was so gripped you could hear a pin drop.
The writers, Katori Hall, with Frank Ketelaar and Kees Prince, have done an excellent job. The story is clearly, and well told. Director Phyllida Lloyd, (Mamma Mia) together with choreographer, Anthony van Laast, ensure that the action flows seamlessly through from dialogue to song, and the stage settings by Mark Thomson, combining highly effective projections and simple use of scenery are ravishing to look at.
To play out this intense story, we need actors of the highest calibre here. The lead role of Tina is an enormous undertaking. She must have the vocal range to sing those big songs, as well as act out some extremely dramatic scenes. The show runs to nearly 3 hours, and she is barely off stage throughout. In that case, we have TWO actors who can appear as Tina at any given performance, with a third on standby.
On Wednesday evening, Jochebel Ohene MacCarthy played Tina to quite remarkable effect. She must play her from her teenage years, through to her 50’s, playing out so many emotions and delivering those iconic numbers effortlessly. It is a daunting task and she succeeds brilliantly. By the absolutely thrilling finale, you are on your feet cheering the legend that is Tina, and the equally brilliant performer that is Jochebel herself.
Playing the main baddie in the story, David King-Yombo is equally effective as Ike Turner. He manages to capture the likeable, attractive side of Ike, who was more often a menacing, violent bully, who became a shambling nobody towards the end of his life.
There are also some excellent supporting performances. Claude East is a powerful presence as Gran, Georgeanna, who also delivers some fine vocals. Letitia Hector is excellent as Zelma, Tina’s cold and distant mother, unforgiving to the end.
Kyle Richardson also reveals a fine singing voice as Raymond Hill, the man who offers Tina a chance to escape from Ike and live happily with him. Their love duet is one of the show’s highlights.
The young actors who portray the children are very fine performers, and perform their roles so well. The large ensemble are versatile and very well drilled. Their gospel singing is thrilling.
I have to talk about sound at this point, which is my only negative in the production. There were large tracts of the first half that were extremely difficult to hear clearly what was being said and sung. I wanted to catch every word but I simply couldn’t. Had I been watching on television at home, I would have put the subtitles on.
To this end, a hugely powerful experience in the theatre was spoiled rather.
Despite this, there is no doubt that TINA is one of the most powerful musicals of recent years. It plays in Southend at the Cliffs until Sat 6th September and is one not to miss.
Review: Andrew Walters
The Cliffs Pavilion is delighted to be welcoming the hit production TINA – THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL to the venue in August as part of its first ever UK and Ireland tour.
TINA – THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL 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, What’s Love Got To Do With It?, Private Dancer and River Deep, Mountain High, 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.
Elle Ma-Kinga N’Zuzi and Jochebel Ohene MacCarthy will share the iconic role of Tina Turner alongside David King-Yombo as Ike Turner. Martin Allanson will play Record Producer Phil Spector, with William Beckerleg as record company Marketing Manager Erwin Bach, Rushand Chambers as Tina’s father Richard Bullock, Claude East as Tina’s grandmother Gran Georgeanna (GG), Isaac Elder as Tina’s Manager Roger Davies, Georgia Gillam as Tina’s sister Alline Bullock, Letitia Hector as Tina’s mother Zelma Bullock, Kyle Richardson as Tina’s first love Raymond Hill, Bree Smith as Standby Tina Turner and Gemma Sutton as Ike and Tina’s manager Rhonda Graam.
TINA – THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL has run in the West End at the Aldwych Theatre for over 6 years following its world premiere, receiving critical acclaim, and breaking all Box Office records at the venue. It is the longest running show ever to run at the Aldwych. The production is also a global success, with eight productions having opened worldwide since 2018, including on Broadway and across North America, Germany, Spain, Netherlands and Australia. The show is currently on tour in both North America and Australia.
TINA – THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL is produced by Stage Entertainment, Joop van den Ende and Tali Pelman, in association with Tina Turner.
TINA – THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL is dedicated to the memory of Tina Turner, who sadly passed away in May 2023.
TINA – THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL 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, What’s Love Got To Do With It?, Private Dancer and River Deep, Mountain High, 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.
Elle Ma-Kinga N’Zuzi and Jochebel Ohene MacCarthy will share the iconic role of Tina Turner alongside David King-Yombo as Ike Turner. Martin Allanson will play Record Producer Phil Spector, with William Beckerleg as record company Marketing Manager Erwin Bach, Rushand Chambers as Tina’s father Richard Bullock, Claude East as Tina’s grandmother Gran Georgeanna (GG), Isaac Elder as Tina’s Manager Roger Davies, Georgia Gillam as Tina’s sister Alline Bullock, Letitia Hector as Tina’s mother Zelma Bullock, Kyle Richardson as Tina’s first love Raymond Hill, Bree Smith as Standby Tina Turner and Gemma Sutton as Ike and Tina’s manager Rhonda Graam.
TINA – THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL has run in the West End at the Aldwych Theatre for over 6 years following its world premiere, receiving critical acclaim, and breaking all Box Office records at the venue. It is the longest running show ever to run at the Aldwych. The production is also a global success, with eight productions having opened worldwide since 2018, including on Broadway and across North America, Germany, Spain, Netherlands and Australia. The show is currently on tour in both North America and Australia.
TINA – THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL is produced by Stage Entertainment, Joop van den Ende and Tali Pelman, in association with Tina Turner.
TINA – THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL is dedicated to the memory of Tina Turner, who sadly passed away in May 2023.
West End mega-hit TINA – The Tina Turner Musical, comes to the Cliffs Pavilion as part of its first ever UK & Ireland tour.
From humble beginnings in Nutbush, Tennessee, to her triumphant transformation into a multi award-winning global superstar, Tina Turner didn’t just break the rules, she rewrote them, winning 12 Grammy Awards and selling more concert tickets than any other solo performer in music history. Set to the pulse-pounding soundtrack of her iconic hits, including The Best, What’s Love Got To Do With It?, Private Dancer and River Deep, Mountain High, discover the heart and soul behind the Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll. Experience her inspiring story live on stage as this exhilarating celebration reveals the untold 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.
Presented in association with Tina Turner, written by Olivier Award and Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Katori Hall (The Mountaintop) and directed by the internationally acclaimed Phyllida Lloyd (Mamma Mia!), this five-star show is “simply the best” (Daily Mail).
Recommend for ages 14+. The production includes scenes depicting domestic violence, racist language, strong language, loud music, strobe lighting, haze, and gunshots.
From humble beginnings in Nutbush, Tennessee, to her triumphant transformation into a multi award-winning global superstar, Tina Turner didn’t just break the rules, she rewrote them, winning 12 Grammy Awards and selling more concert tickets than any other solo performer in music history. Set to the pulse-pounding soundtrack of her iconic hits, including The Best, What’s Love Got To Do With It?, Private Dancer and River Deep, Mountain High, discover the heart and soul behind the Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll. Experience her inspiring story live on stage as this exhilarating celebration reveals the untold 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.
Presented in association with Tina Turner, written by Olivier Award and Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Katori Hall (The Mountaintop) and directed by the internationally acclaimed Phyllida Lloyd (Mamma Mia!), this five-star show is “simply the best” (Daily Mail).
Recommend for ages 14+. The production includes scenes depicting domestic violence, racist language, strong language, loud music, strobe lighting, haze, and gunshots.
Interview with Jochebel Ohene MacCarthy and Elle Ma-Kinga N’Zuzi
byline Liam Rudden
byline Liam Rudden
On the 24th of May 2023, Anna Mae Bullock, the ‘Queen of Rock ’n’ Roll better known to the world as Tina Turner, died at her home in Küsnacht, Switzerland, at the age of 83.
It was a day that Jochebel Ohene MacCarthy will never forget as, at the time, she was starring as the pop legend in the Australian production of Tina - The Tina Turner Musical. It wouldn’t be until the next day that she would learn of the sad news, making that night’s performance one of the most emotional of her career.
Looking back, she recalls, “When I first performed this show, Tina was still alive, a week after we opened, she passed. I didn't know until I started receiving messages from people the next day telling me how sorry they were to hear the sad news. I was like, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa...’
“That night, the house was packed, people wanted to be there to pay their respects and show their gratitude. Having experienced doing the show with the potential for Tina to walk in the door at any moment, that night I experienced it with the potential of her presence being there… the emotion was phenomenal, a different level of performance, like an out of body experience.”
MacCarthy is one of two performers reprising their role as Tina for the UK tour of the smash hit musical that charts the highs and lows of the singer’s journey from Nutbush, Tennessee, to becoming one of the world’s best loved performers. Joining MacCarthy on the production directed by Phyllidia Lloyd (Mamma Mia!) is Elle Ma-Kinga N’Zuzi - the pair will alternate the role.
The first UK Tour is also the eighth production of the show; Tina - The Tina Turner Musical premiered at London’s Aldwych Theatre in 2018, a Broadway production opened the following year. Further productions followed, in Hamburg in 2019, Stuttgart, where N’Zuzi joined the production, in 2020, Madrid in 2021 and Sydney, where MacCarthy came onboard in 2023. There was also a US Tour, in 2022.
Today, both Tinas are together, sharing their love of the star who first came to public attention as one half of Ike and Tina Turner and later scored global success on her own with songs such as What’s Love Got To Do With It?, We Don’t Need Another Hero, and, of course, The Best.
N’Zuzi says, “My foster dad was a huge fan of Tina Turner, consequently, she was the first black artist I was introduced to as he had all her cassettes and CDs. I’d dance in front of the TV whenever she was on, that’s why they sent me to dance school, to stop me blocking the view of the telly.”
As a child, N’Zuzi’s party-piece was Proud Mary, indeed you could say she was destined to play her current role, “Maybe there was something in the stars,” she agrees, admitting her road to the musical was “random”.
She explains, “I was in rock bands at the time and at several concerts I'd been asked to sing the likes of Proud Mary. I was working in Germany when the producers needed an alternate Tina and they emailed me. I thought, ‘Why not?’ So I went along and I got the job. It just happened.”
It was at the age of seven that MacCarthy first came across the name Tina Turner thanks to a singing birthday card she’d bought for her mum. She laughs as she recalls, ”That was the first time I ever came across her name, it was back in the day when you got these cards that, when opened, would sing. This one sang, ‘Simply the best,’ over and over again."
To their regret, neither N’Zuzi nor MacCarthy met the rock legend whose story they tell, the former missing the opportunity to do so by just a few months.
“Tina had visited the show a few months before I joined during a cast change,” she says. “So half of the cast had met her, the other half, like me, had not. But I discovered that Tina loved Germany and that when she ran away from Ike, she hid in Stuttgart, just around the corner from our theatre there. Not many people are aware of that. In fact, while I was there, I went to a local recording studio to record some stuff and there, on the walls, were all these amazing photos of Tina that I’d never seen before.”
Being on stage when Tina died meant MacCarthy couldn’t pay her respects to the star until the tour had finished, at which point she embarked on a pilgrimage to Switzerland, to visit Tina’s home.
“I went to her house and laid some flowers by her door. Unlike many huge stars who live in secluded communities, her house was by the road, she always wanted to be accessible. I spent 45 minutes there; I knew she wasn’t there but I wanted the connection of having walked the streets that she would have walked. It allowed me to say, 'Thank you,' to her for being the incredible woman she was and for giving strength to so many people. It was a visit filled with joy and gratitude.”
For both actors, telling Tina’s story is a challenge they are revelling in, from her trademark strut to her powerful, distinctive vocals, they have spent many hours studying the singer in order to capture her essence.
“Our choreographer Simone Mistry-Palmer worked a lot with Tina so knew all the moves. She has ensured that what you see in the show is faithful to what Tina did on stage and both Jochebel and I have watched a lot of videos. We still do because we are very different Tinas,’ says N’Zuzi, adding, "No one will ever be her, but as we are telling her story, we have a tool box of things we can choose to implement in the songs, for example, she had a very specific way of forming some words that audiences expect to hear."
MacCarthy confesses that the famous strut was something she took time to master. “That whole Tina-esque presence was definitely something I had to work at and took about eight or nine weeks to perfect, but with Tina you are constantly learning. If you want to be better and better you have to constantly go back to the documentaries about her, to revisit her story, and then drive that into your performance. Every day, you learn something new. The thing is, when you finish rehearsals and go to the shops and suddenly hear, 'What’s love got to do, got to do wIth it...' coming over the store's speakers, you do think, “Tina's following me. She wants me to do better - that’s how I feel anyway.”
“Me too," laughs N’Zuzi.
With such an iconic back-catalogue to choose from, it almost seems unfair to ask the pair to choose their favourite song, for the record it's Tina’s cover of The Tramps’ classic floor-filler, Disco Inferno, although MacCarthy, adds, “I also love singing I Can’t Stand The Rain because a sample of it was used in Missy Elliot’s The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly) - I like that, the past and the present coming together through Tina’s influence.”
N’Zuzi ranks River Deep Mountain High and, unsurprisingly, Proud Mary among her favourites, but admits, “ It’s so hard to choose, however, my favourite moment in the show is when it's time to sing Simply The Best. The second the audience hears the introduction they are on their feet, singing out loud and in that moment Tina is alive. I look up and think, ‘Tina’s up there somewhere watching this going, ‘Oh, this one again…’.”
Simply The Best begins the musical's explosive concert finale, which recreates Turner's record-breaking 1988 show in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Recalling the first night she stepped in front of an audience to deliver that scene, N’Zuzi reveals the audience reaction left her in tears. “I cried because, oh my God, I had done it, we had done it, and the audience gave us so much love. We were celebrating and honouring Tina together.”
That love continues at the stage door, says MacCarthy, “When you come out the Stage Door, having given it your all, and audience members, many of whom saw Tina in concert, are waiting to thank you for giving them back the memory of seeing her live, it is so encouraging. It’s a lovely, lovely feeling, so many blessings of love that can sometimes be a little overwhelming.”
N’Zuzi smiles, as she remembers, “I’m quite small in real life, so often I’m not recognised, but when I started playing Tina, my hair was shaved. When I walked back to my car after the show people never recognised me. I’d hear them replaying the medley at the end of the show on their phones, saying things like, ‘Oh my god, she is Tina Turner!’ I’d stay silent but hearing them say that was such a gift for me. I’d just have a little smile. But it’s also lovely to do pictures and sign for people. Hearing them tell you how much they loved the show is so validating. That’s why you do it, to make people happy and feel nostalgic."
As they prepare to take Tina’s story around the UK, just what would they say to the Queen of Rock if were she were to appear in their dressing room one night?
“Thank you… but then there would be so much to say, I think I would lock the door so that we could have a chat for about three hours..." laughs N'Zuzi, "… and then I’d cry.”
“I’d scream, either out of excitement or fear...” beams MacCarthy, without a second's hesitation, “... and when I’d finished screaming, I’d ask, ‘What are you doing here?’ Because I’m not worthy of being in the presence of such greatness.”
N'Zuzi speaks for both of them, when she says, “That’s the great thing about Tina - The Tina Turner Musical, it ensures her amazing story can live on, and on, and on, and we are honoured to be keeping a part of her alive .”
It was a day that Jochebel Ohene MacCarthy will never forget as, at the time, she was starring as the pop legend in the Australian production of Tina - The Tina Turner Musical. It wouldn’t be until the next day that she would learn of the sad news, making that night’s performance one of the most emotional of her career.
Looking back, she recalls, “When I first performed this show, Tina was still alive, a week after we opened, she passed. I didn't know until I started receiving messages from people the next day telling me how sorry they were to hear the sad news. I was like, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa...’
“That night, the house was packed, people wanted to be there to pay their respects and show their gratitude. Having experienced doing the show with the potential for Tina to walk in the door at any moment, that night I experienced it with the potential of her presence being there… the emotion was phenomenal, a different level of performance, like an out of body experience.”
MacCarthy is one of two performers reprising their role as Tina for the UK tour of the smash hit musical that charts the highs and lows of the singer’s journey from Nutbush, Tennessee, to becoming one of the world’s best loved performers. Joining MacCarthy on the production directed by Phyllidia Lloyd (Mamma Mia!) is Elle Ma-Kinga N’Zuzi - the pair will alternate the role.
The first UK Tour is also the eighth production of the show; Tina - The Tina Turner Musical premiered at London’s Aldwych Theatre in 2018, a Broadway production opened the following year. Further productions followed, in Hamburg in 2019, Stuttgart, where N’Zuzi joined the production, in 2020, Madrid in 2021 and Sydney, where MacCarthy came onboard in 2023. There was also a US Tour, in 2022.
Today, both Tinas are together, sharing their love of the star who first came to public attention as one half of Ike and Tina Turner and later scored global success on her own with songs such as What’s Love Got To Do With It?, We Don’t Need Another Hero, and, of course, The Best.
N’Zuzi says, “My foster dad was a huge fan of Tina Turner, consequently, she was the first black artist I was introduced to as he had all her cassettes and CDs. I’d dance in front of the TV whenever she was on, that’s why they sent me to dance school, to stop me blocking the view of the telly.”
As a child, N’Zuzi’s party-piece was Proud Mary, indeed you could say she was destined to play her current role, “Maybe there was something in the stars,” she agrees, admitting her road to the musical was “random”.
She explains, “I was in rock bands at the time and at several concerts I'd been asked to sing the likes of Proud Mary. I was working in Germany when the producers needed an alternate Tina and they emailed me. I thought, ‘Why not?’ So I went along and I got the job. It just happened.”
It was at the age of seven that MacCarthy first came across the name Tina Turner thanks to a singing birthday card she’d bought for her mum. She laughs as she recalls, ”That was the first time I ever came across her name, it was back in the day when you got these cards that, when opened, would sing. This one sang, ‘Simply the best,’ over and over again."
To their regret, neither N’Zuzi nor MacCarthy met the rock legend whose story they tell, the former missing the opportunity to do so by just a few months.
“Tina had visited the show a few months before I joined during a cast change,” she says. “So half of the cast had met her, the other half, like me, had not. But I discovered that Tina loved Germany and that when she ran away from Ike, she hid in Stuttgart, just around the corner from our theatre there. Not many people are aware of that. In fact, while I was there, I went to a local recording studio to record some stuff and there, on the walls, were all these amazing photos of Tina that I’d never seen before.”
Being on stage when Tina died meant MacCarthy couldn’t pay her respects to the star until the tour had finished, at which point she embarked on a pilgrimage to Switzerland, to visit Tina’s home.
“I went to her house and laid some flowers by her door. Unlike many huge stars who live in secluded communities, her house was by the road, she always wanted to be accessible. I spent 45 minutes there; I knew she wasn’t there but I wanted the connection of having walked the streets that she would have walked. It allowed me to say, 'Thank you,' to her for being the incredible woman she was and for giving strength to so many people. It was a visit filled with joy and gratitude.”
For both actors, telling Tina’s story is a challenge they are revelling in, from her trademark strut to her powerful, distinctive vocals, they have spent many hours studying the singer in order to capture her essence.
“Our choreographer Simone Mistry-Palmer worked a lot with Tina so knew all the moves. She has ensured that what you see in the show is faithful to what Tina did on stage and both Jochebel and I have watched a lot of videos. We still do because we are very different Tinas,’ says N’Zuzi, adding, "No one will ever be her, but as we are telling her story, we have a tool box of things we can choose to implement in the songs, for example, she had a very specific way of forming some words that audiences expect to hear."
MacCarthy confesses that the famous strut was something she took time to master. “That whole Tina-esque presence was definitely something I had to work at and took about eight or nine weeks to perfect, but with Tina you are constantly learning. If you want to be better and better you have to constantly go back to the documentaries about her, to revisit her story, and then drive that into your performance. Every day, you learn something new. The thing is, when you finish rehearsals and go to the shops and suddenly hear, 'What’s love got to do, got to do wIth it...' coming over the store's speakers, you do think, “Tina's following me. She wants me to do better - that’s how I feel anyway.”
“Me too," laughs N’Zuzi.
With such an iconic back-catalogue to choose from, it almost seems unfair to ask the pair to choose their favourite song, for the record it's Tina’s cover of The Tramps’ classic floor-filler, Disco Inferno, although MacCarthy, adds, “I also love singing I Can’t Stand The Rain because a sample of it was used in Missy Elliot’s The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly) - I like that, the past and the present coming together through Tina’s influence.”
N’Zuzi ranks River Deep Mountain High and, unsurprisingly, Proud Mary among her favourites, but admits, “ It’s so hard to choose, however, my favourite moment in the show is when it's time to sing Simply The Best. The second the audience hears the introduction they are on their feet, singing out loud and in that moment Tina is alive. I look up and think, ‘Tina’s up there somewhere watching this going, ‘Oh, this one again…’.”
Simply The Best begins the musical's explosive concert finale, which recreates Turner's record-breaking 1988 show in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Recalling the first night she stepped in front of an audience to deliver that scene, N’Zuzi reveals the audience reaction left her in tears. “I cried because, oh my God, I had done it, we had done it, and the audience gave us so much love. We were celebrating and honouring Tina together.”
That love continues at the stage door, says MacCarthy, “When you come out the Stage Door, having given it your all, and audience members, many of whom saw Tina in concert, are waiting to thank you for giving them back the memory of seeing her live, it is so encouraging. It’s a lovely, lovely feeling, so many blessings of love that can sometimes be a little overwhelming.”
N’Zuzi smiles, as she remembers, “I’m quite small in real life, so often I’m not recognised, but when I started playing Tina, my hair was shaved. When I walked back to my car after the show people never recognised me. I’d hear them replaying the medley at the end of the show on their phones, saying things like, ‘Oh my god, she is Tina Turner!’ I’d stay silent but hearing them say that was such a gift for me. I’d just have a little smile. But it’s also lovely to do pictures and sign for people. Hearing them tell you how much they loved the show is so validating. That’s why you do it, to make people happy and feel nostalgic."
As they prepare to take Tina’s story around the UK, just what would they say to the Queen of Rock if were she were to appear in their dressing room one night?
“Thank you… but then there would be so much to say, I think I would lock the door so that we could have a chat for about three hours..." laughs N'Zuzi, "… and then I’d cry.”
“I’d scream, either out of excitement or fear...” beams MacCarthy, without a second's hesitation, “... and when I’d finished screaming, I’d ask, ‘What are you doing here?’ Because I’m not worthy of being in the presence of such greatness.”
N'Zuzi speaks for both of them, when she says, “That’s the great thing about Tina - The Tina Turner Musical, it ensures her amazing story can live on, and on, and on, and we are honoured to be keeping a part of her alive .”
