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You don’t just watch this production. You feel it.
My Mum loved Tina Turner, you’d hear it being blasted in our little white Fiat Panda driving around the streets of Streetly, with my mum singing along “What’s love got to do, got to do with it, what’s love, but a second hand emotion…” My mum definitely had the Tina Turner hairstyle once, too.
It wasn’t until last night, sat watching the musical that I realised what a life Tina (Anna Mae) had led. Did my eyes well up watching the production? Yes! I am not ashamed to say they did.
This isn’t a musical just sharing the best bits. This musical tells her whole story. Her success, her iconic music, and also her strength and resilience at overcoming so many challenges in her life. It is raw, unfiltered, and honest. The programme says that on opening night, eight years ago in the West End, Tina said, “we turned poison into medicine,” and yes, she did. Tina bled, broke, rebuilt and won, and my gosh, did she win.
For last night’s production, Jochebel Ohene MacCarthy was Tina and I don’t put this lightly, she WAS Tina. A hugely talented actress who is a complete natural in this role. The dance moves, the mannerisms, vocals, presence. The small things, the way she tilted her head, the signature strut. I didn’t just see a performer on the stage, I saw a woman carrying Tina’s story with respect, joy, and weight, and I think it’s that, that made my night unforgettable.
It takes a remarkable actor to play the role of Ike Turner and David King-Yombo manages this. He embodies menace without tipping into melodrama and doesn’t overplay the role of Ike. He let’s the manipulation, the charm, the cruelty sit uncomfortably close to real. There’s a particular part that involves one of Ike and Tina’s children (I don’t want to spoil the show) and it really makes you gasp. It’s a bold performance and adds a necessary weight to Tina’s story as without it, you wouldn’t grasp the challenges that Tina had to overcome.
While the lead performers are magnetic, the entire ensemble is sensational.
This is a production that thrives on movement, on rhythm, on energy, and every single member of the cast oozes this in every moment.
Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, is my favourite production of 2025.
Get your tickets here: https://www.birminghamhippodrome.com/calendar/tina/
Although be quick as they’re very limited (even with extra dates put on due to high demand). You won’t regret it!
Disclaimer: I was invited along to the press performance. All thoughts and views are entirely my own.