Displaying items by tag: Tina Turner
Keep on Turnin', Keep on Burnin'; TINA- The Tina Turner Musical Rolling through Chicago at Nederlander Theater
In 2023, “iconic” is a word often used hyperbolically. It is flippantly used to describe and categorize an incredible movie, a famous influencer clap back, a beautiful piece of fashion, or even used to describe a viral TikTok video. When we overuse or misuse a word enough it loses its meaning. In 2023 I submit we reclaim the word and apply it to those in life that truly exemplify to word, where all generations can come together and for a fleeting moment bask in the glow and apt use of the word. Because there is only one word that can describe the biopic of the often revered Queen of Rock and Roll, only one word that can encapsulate her lifetime, her career, and her legacy that will live in the new musical medium of her life. Tina Turner. Iconic.
Much like the artist’s life, TINA-The Tina Turner Musical is a hard-hitting, fast-paced, exhilarating rollercoaster chronically Tina Turner’s extraordinary life and career. Spanning from her childhood days in Nutbush, Tennessee, her early career as the lead singer of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, her turbulent marriage to Ike Turner, and her incredible comeback as a solo performer which has often been hailed as the greatest comeback in music history.
TINA- The Tina Turner Musical follows a similar style to some other blockbuster bio picks and plays such as Rocket Man (Elton John) and Mamma Mia (Abba), though it blows all other musical biopics out of the water. Tina’s catalog is sequenced into a timeline to tell her life’s story; “Nutbush City Limits”, released in 1973, opens up Act One of the musical where we meet Tina, born Anne Mae Bullock, who sings too loud for her 1940’s choir, “River Deep Mountain High,” released in 1966, is performed in lockstep to her storyline as she records the track with Phil Spector at the height of her career with Ike Turner, and “I Don’t Wanna Fight,” released in 1993, closes Act One as Tina is making up her mind to leave Ike after 16 years of marital abuse. Tina Turner’s catalog is filled with soulful, emotional, and powerful songs that provide the soundtrack to her life.
The audience is guided through the decades of Tina’s life through seamless stage transitions and beautiful costume design. A shuttered wooden door and simple cloth dresses for the 1940s, the big hair and glittering sequence against a tinsled 1970s Vegas stage backdrop, a microphone and desk in Phil Spector’s studio, bigger hair, a synthesizer, and a denim jacket for the 1980s.
Zurin Villanueva and Garrett Turner, and cast, in the Broadway tour of "Tina - The Tina Turner Musical" at Nederlander Theatre. Photo by MurphyMade / Handout.
TINA arrives to Chicago and the theater circuit at a pivotal moment. Recent years have been tumultuous for women from the Me Too movement and recent infringement on bodily autonomy. The iconic Turner herself lived through horrid abuse at the hands of a man, and that abuse is still pervasive today. Skinny trends are threatening to plague women and further rollback the body positivity movement. Millennial women are equally too young to have a voice and not old enough to sit at the table despite having children of our own.As we look for hope or simple escapism in 2023, we can draw inspiration from Tina Turner’s remarkable career. She overcame segregation and performed in the Jim Crow south, facing rampant and often unchecked racism, sexism, and physical abuse. Women in Tina’s life loved and supported her as best they could at a time when women had little to no power or belief in their stories. Tina Turner still battled racism during a European resurgence during her work with her Australian manager, Roger Davies, and battled ageism at 45 being told she’s over the hill.As the bevy of female Oscar winners this year will show, the narrative that women’s lives are over at a certain age is patriarchal nonsense. Without the fighting supportive and uplifting strength of women, Tina Turner would not have prevailed in her career and the world would be all the more dim without her light.
TINA- The Tina Turner Musical is the broadway musical we need to get us out of our seats and singing as Proud as Mary. The musical runs through April 2nd at the James M Nederlander Theater (24 W Randolph St), tickets are available at Broadway In Chicago, get your tickets today before this show rolls on down the river.
A Lovely Night; Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella revives magic at Marriott Theatre
24 November 2024 in Theatre ReviewsIn 1997, Disney came out with the most magnificent adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella that has ever been made.…
A Lovely Night; Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella revives magic at Marriott Theatre
24 November 2024 in Theatre ReviewsIn 1997, Disney came out with the most magnificent adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella that has ever been made.…
Throbbin’ Wood, complete with Merry Men? Count me in!
21 November 2024 in Theatre in ReviewWhat the hell is pantomime anyway? Will I be reviewing a game of Charades? Google to the rescue! But I…
Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival returns January 15-26, 2025
21 November 2024 in Upcoming TheatreThe Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival is pulling strings to raise funds this fall, offering three exclusive sneak peeks of…
Oil Lamp Theater Announces the Cast for its 2025 Season Opener: THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (ABRIDGED), Jan. 24 - Feb. 16, 2025
21 November 2024 in Upcoming TheatreOil Lamp Theater is proud to announce the cast and creative team for its first production of the 2025 season, The Complete…
Half-Price Holidays return to Hot Tix as Chicago theatres get festive for the 2024 holiday season
21 November 2024 in Upcoming TheatreChicago theatres will present a wide variety of festive plays, musicals, dance, and comedy offerings this holiday season. In support,…
Steep Theatre Back Early 2025 with A Slow Air
20 November 2024 in Upcoming TheatreSteep Theatre will kick off the new year with the Chicago Premiere of David Harrower's A Slow Air, directed by Steep…
Announcing cast of A Nativity Tribute in Driehaus Museum's historic Murphy Auditorium, presented in partnership with African American Museum of Performing Arts
20 November 2024 in Upcoming TheatreThe Driehaus Museum and the African American Museum of Performing Arts (AAMPA) announce the casting for A Nativity Tribute, an adaptation of Langston Hughes' gospel…
Delightful Send-up of 1930s Musicals, 'Dames at Sea' Nearly Sunk by Bad Sound
18 November 2024 in Theatre in ReviewOverall Citadel Theatre’s ‘Dames at Sea’ has a smashingly great cast of singers and dancers, perfect for a musical comedy…
'Blue' Holds Mirror to Race in America
18 November 2024 in Theatre in ReviewWhen Francesca Zambello, director of The Glimmerglass Festival, commissioned an opera about race in America, the country was reeling from…
Review: 'Falsettos' at Court Theatre
17 November 2024 in Theatre in ReviewEven 40 years later, the AIDS crisis continues to shape American life. Long before Hollywood brought AIDS stories to the…
Disney's The Little Mermaid at Drury Lane: An Inspiring and Delightful Production Celebrating Girls' Unique Voices
16 November 2024 in Theatre in ReviewI thoroughly enjoyed Drury Lane's enchanting stage production of Disney’s The Little Mermaid from start to finish. While few are…
Pegasus Theatre Chicago Announces Dates, Plays and Playwrights for the 38th ANNUAL YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL, Jan. 5 - 26, 2025
15 November 2024 in Upcoming TheatrePegasus Theatre Chicago is proud to announce the authors and plays being presented at the 38th Annual Young Playwrights Festival, January 5 - 26,…
A Christmas Cabaret: A Magical Night with Thee Ricky Harris!
14 November 2024 in Upcoming TheatreGet ready to dive into the holiday spirit like never before on December 7th and 8th with A Christmas Cabaret…
Moving, Engaging 'Every Brilliant Thing' Shines at Writers Theatre
14 November 2024 in Theatre in Review“Every Brilliant Thing,” places unusual demands on its lead character, Narrator. Jessie Fisher delivers a carefully calibrated performance from a…
Northlight to produce world premiere adaptation of Little Women
13 November 2024 in Upcoming TheatreNorthlight Theatre, under the direction of Artistic Director BJ Jones and Executive Director Timothy J. Evans, continues its 2024–2025 season with Louisa May Alcott's…
Music Theater Works Announces its LEGALLY BLONDE: THE MUSICAL Cast and Creative Teams, Dec. 19 - Jan. 19
13 November 2024 in Upcoming TheatreMusic Theater Works is proud to announce the cast and creative team for the final production of its 2024 season, Legally Blonde:…
Lookingglass Announces Cast and Creative Team for the World Premiere of CIRCUS QUIXOTE, Jan. 30 - March 30, 2025
13 November 2024 in Upcoming TheatreAfter pausing its operations last year to reorganize and create a new business model, Chicago's Tony-Award winning Lookingglass Theatre Company, in association…
BrightSide Theatre to present JEKYLL AND HYDE IN CONCERT January 17-26, 2025. Full cast announced!
13 November 2024 in Upcoming TheatreBrightSide Theatre has announced that it will perform the long-running hit Broadway musical JEKYLL AND HYDE in a concert presentation…
Hell in a Handbag's Rudolph THE RED-HOSED REINDEER Returns December 13, 2024 – January 5, 2025 at Center on Halsted
12 November 2024 in Upcoming TheatreHell in a Handbag Productions is pleased to open its 2024/25 Season with the 25th anniversary edition of Artistic Director David Cerda's* holiday classic Rudolph…
A Humorous Homage to History: The Marriage of Figaro Dazzles at The Lyric Opera
11 November 2024 in Theatre in ReviewSometimes history has a way of repeating itself and it’s not always for the better. Try as we might to…
Do You Want To See Some Magic: Frozen The Broadway Musical at Paramount
09 November 2024 in Theatre in ReviewThroughout our busy lives we often seek out the new. It is easy to see the allure. Beginnings offer a…
Irving Berlin's Magnificent White Christmas at Marriott Theatre: A Joyous and Heartfelt Celebration for Everyone
08 November 2024 in Theatre in ReviewI've always had a deep fondness for the two timeless films Holiday Inn and White Christmas. These movies feature outstanding…
Sixth performance added! Steppenwolf Theatre Celebrates the Holidays with Jane Lynch's A Swingin' Little Christmas
08 November 2024 in Upcoming TheatreDue to popular demand, Steppenwolf Theatre is pleased to announce Jane Lynch's A SWINGIN' LITTLE CHRISTMAS has added a sixth and final performance to its nearly sold-out…
THE JOFFREY BALLET CELEBRATES THE HOLIDAYS WITH RETURN OF CHRISTOPHER WHEELDON'S CHICAGO-SET THE NUTCRACKER
07 November 2024 in Upcoming DanceThe Joffrey Ballet's critically acclaimed reimagined classic, The Nutcracker by two-time Tony Award®-winning choreographer Christopher Wheeldon, returns to the Lyric Opera House, 20 North…
Lifeline Theatre presents “Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol” for the holiday season, Nov 29 – Dec 22
07 November 2024 in Upcoming TheatreLifeline Theatre brings their first MainStage production of the 2024-25 season to the stage with Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol. Tom Mula's holiday tale…
Shucked coming to CIBC Theatre in January
07 November 2024 in Upcoming TheatreIndividual tickets for SHUCKED, the Tony Award® winning musical comedy The Wall Street Journal calls "flat out hilarious," will go on sale on…
Blood and Brilliance: Invictus Theatre’s ‘Macbeth’ Stands Tall in Chicago Theatre
07 November 2024 in Theatre in ReviewInvictus Theatre Company’s latest production of The Tragedy of Macbeth, adapted and directed by Sarafina Vecchio, delivers a potent, intense…
A Spell-Binding Reinvention: "Leroy and Lucy" at Steppenwolf
05 November 2024 in Theatre in ReviewNgozi Anyanwu’s Leroy and Lucy, in its electrifying world premiere at Steppenwolf Theatre, takes the legendary tale of Robert Johnson’s…
The Babes with Blades are a DREAM! A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
30 October 2024 in Theatre in ReviewI’ve delighted in Babes with Blades since they began in 1997, and they are never more delightful than when slashing…
Latest Articles
-
A Lovely Night; Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella revives magic at Marriott Theatre
Written by Kendall RoyzenIn 1997, Disney came out with the most magnificent adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella that has ever been made. With talent like Brandy, Whitney Houston, Bernadette Peters, Jason Alexander, and Paolo Montalban, the rendition of the classic fairytale lives… -
A Lovely Night; Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella revives magic at Marriott Theatre
Written by Kendall RoyzenIn 1997, Disney came out with the most magnificent adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella that has ever been made. With talent like Brandy, Whitney Houston, Bernadette Peters, Jason Alexander, and Paolo Montalban, the rendition of the classic fairytale lives…
-
Throbbin’ Wood, complete with Merry Men? Count me in!
Written by Sarz MaxwellWhat the hell is pantomime anyway? Will I be reviewing a game of Charades? Google to the rescue! But I searched in vain for a definition: pan·to·mime [ˈpan(t)əˌmīm] a play or entertainment in which performers express themselves mutely by gestures.… -
Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival returns January 15-26, 2025
Written by Buzz Center StageThe Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival is pulling strings to raise funds this fall, offering three exclusive sneak peeks of the amazing puppet artistry of one of next January’s most hotly anticipated festival performers, presented in highly intimate, exclusive living…
Does your theatre company want to connect with Buzz Center Stage or would you like to reach out and say "hello"? Message us through facebook or shoot us an email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
*This disclaimer informs readers that the views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the author, and not necessarily to Buzz Center Stage. Buzz Center Stage is a non-profit, volunteer-based platform that enables, and encourages, staff members to post their own honest thoughts on a particular production.