Review: Tina - The Tina Turner Musical at The Bristol Hippodrome
Posted on: 10 Apr 2025Tina – The Tina Turner Musical has arrived at The Bristol Hippodrome as part of its first ever UK tour and has hit the stage amongst much hype and excitement, running until Saturday 26 April 2025.
This jukebox telling of the life and career of Tina Turner has been a massive crowd pleaser since it opened in the West End in 2018, with its eventual move to Broadway seeing a huge 12 Tony Award nominations rolling in.
Running at 2 hours 45 minutes, this is a hefty commitment for the audience but given this is the tale of a musical icon covering almost every moment of a career spanning decades it’s to be expected. Despite displaying the usual characteristics of a jukebox musical and being full to the brim with all the classic high energy hits this isn’t merely a tribute show.
It all began in 1939 when Annie Mae Bullock was born into poverty in rural Tennessee. Following a turbulent childhood and an even more turbulent adulthood marked by a name change, a controlling and violent marriage, drug abuse, racism, self-harm and a music industry that cast out female performers when they hit a certain age she emerged as Tina Turner, known for her vocal prowess, raspy voice and electrifying stage presence she achieved success and acclaim. With record sales of over one hundred million worldwide Tina Turner created a lasting legacy and confirmed her place as the Queen of Rock and Roll.
We follow this journey on-stage, with director Phyllida Lloyd showing a great understanding of the story and working with the material to create a detailed outline of the performer’s life. The staging is simple in the main, which is a good move as it allows the performances and the fantastic music to shine. And it really does shine, especially during the big number set pieces showing off the songs that everyone loves.
The audience is taken from place to place by way of some highly effective lighting and video projections, from the cotton fields and local church of Annie Mae’s hometown via life on the road to the concert in Brazil which marked a huge point in her solo career.
I wouldn’t consider myself a Tina Turner fan, like most people I know a few of her songs and was already familiar with her life story thanks to the 1993 Film What’s Love Got to Do with it. I had heard wonderful things about the Tina Turner Musical so was excited to give it a go. Sadly, I think it was ultimately my lack of enthusiasm for the subject which meant this production fell a little flat for me. While many aspects of the production are great, the music is fabulous, Anthony van Laast’s choreography is on point and Mark Thompson’s costumes perfectly created to evoke the everlasting memories everyone has of Tina, other aspects just didn’t work for me at all.
That 2 hours 45 minute running time I mentioned earlier felt even longer than that. The story dragged, and was dare I say it a bit boring, I had hoped for inspiring given the many challenges Tina Turner faced, but even images of her poor upbringing, chaotic family life and violent marriage did little but make me wish for it all to be over.
That said I was definitely in the minority, with most of the audience seeming to have a fantastic time as they sang and clapped their way through the big numbers, sure to ooh, ahh and boo in all the right places. They clearly enjoyed the performances from an exceptionally good ensemble.
In the role of Tina, Elle Ma-Kinga N’Zuzi (who is sharing the role with Jochebel Ohene MacCarthy) was fantastic. She sang, she danced, she acted out heartbreak with aplomb. She really embodied the character, and at times it did seem as if the Queen of Rock and Roll herself was on the stage.
As Ike Turner, David King-Yombo was impressive, highlighting the passion, charisma, and underlying menace of a man, who through his jealous and violent behaviour never met his full potential.
The entire cast were strong and professional, with great vocals and high energy routines.
Playing at the Bristol Hippodrome until 26th April, this is an entertaining enough show, that for me could do with being a bit shorter. So, Simply not The Best in my opinion but well worth a look for fans of the legend.
Tickets for all Bristol Hippodrome shows are available here.
Article by:
Sarah-Jane is an aficionado of film, theatre, culture and the arts. A voracious reader and avid crafter, she can be found volunteering her face painting talents at Bristol Zoo when she's not cementing her reputation as Coalpit Heath’s cake maker extraordinaire. Known to have an opinion on everything she’s never happier than when sharing these with the good folk of Bristol!
