Tina – The Tina Turner Musical at The Lyceum Theatre Sheffield Review

DISCLOSURE – TICKETS TO SEE THE SHOW WERE GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER AND GUEST FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW

Reviewed by Jenny Bray

This musical tells the story of Tina Turner’s rise to fame, from her initial rise with her husband Ike Turner in the 1960s to her having to start over and recreate herself as an independent solo singer (who wasn’t allowed to remain singing any of the songs created when with Ike due to his contractual hold over them). There are no less than 23 famous songs dotted throughout the show, including ‘River Deep – Mountain High’, ‘(Simply) The Best’, ‘We Don’t Need Another Hero’ and, of course, ‘What’s Love Got To Do With It’. Tina was involved in the creation of this musical and the programme states, ‘Tina wanted to ensure we told her whole story, not only to share her success and her iconic music, but the major challenges she had to overcome in her life. As she said to us on opening night, we turned poison into medicine’.

There was an announcement at the start to remind people not to sing and dance along until told that they can, which is at the very end. You could tell that this was a hard task for some people in the audience, especially when the most well known and catchy songs were sung!

There are 2 people that alternate playing Tina. After seeing the show I can fully understand why, as that person is an almost constant presence and is very active throughout the full 2 hours and 45 minutes of the show. Tonight’s Tina was played by Elle Ma-Kinga N’Zuzi, who had the Tina like dance moves absolutely down to a tee on stage. Her voice was very Tina like, although slightly more raspy, especially in the first half. She looked and sounded like she came into her own when doing the final stage performance of Tina songs at the end.

Ike was skilfully acted by David King-Yombo who initially received big boos at the end when he came out to bow, although these quickly turned into applause. He had a difficult part to play as he had to act out a person no-one was likely to really like due to his character including his physical and emotional abuse towards Tina and his son as well as physically fighting some of his band members and his ongoing drug abuse.

The overall cast was quite large, including backing singers and dancers, band members, family members, managers, producers etc. Of note was Chloe Angiama as young Tina, still Anna-Mae Bullock before Ike renamed her, even before marrying her! She was very cute on stage and I’m sure is a star in the making.

The stage setting was minimal, with a backdrop that had a projector on it to depict different images, including moving road when travelling between places. Although I initially thought it was a bit of a cop out, it actually worked really well and worked to make some scenes more immersive, including the aforementioned moving road scene. There were still some actual props brought on and off stage too, such as a table, desk, bed, doorframe etc. for different scenes. The very beginning of this musical is Tina before the start of a show, with brightly lit stairs in front of her. These then feature at the end as we are made aware that she is about to triumphantly sing to 180,000 people in Brazil after having major hits as a comeback solo artist.

Despite some of Tina’s life being quite dark and depressing, other sections were light hearted and the overall mood remained heartening. I especially found the part where Erwin Bach (William Beckerleg) is trying to sing ‘What’s Love Got To Do With It’ to her very badly to convince her to sing it to be entertaining. Director Phyllida Lloyd and choreographer Anthony van Laast seem to have expertly created the perfect fusion to depict all stages of her life, including the darker moments, through a musical that remains upbeat and keeps you captivated throughout.

I hadn’t realised that Tina hadn’t really got on with her mother and that Ike and Tina had only married so that she was tied to him and that they hadn’t even been dating when he suggested it. She had actually been dating someone else. Despite that, she stuck by him for 16 years, while he abused her, took drugs, slept with multiple women, as well as keeping all the money so she had no money at all when she finally worked up the courage to leave him.

The racism that was portrayed both when they were trying to become famous as a band and then combined with ageism when Tina is trying to recreate herself in an industry dominated by white men, was apt despite being horrendous to think of it actually happening. That was also true of the domestic violence elements, as it was part of her story so needed to be included. These aspects keep the show grounded and a reminder of some of the full spectrum of the details of things that Tina endured to become famous, rather than just the shiny, nice bits. It could possibly have done with more of an advanced warning upon entrance to the theatre as I should imagine that some of the scenes could have been quite triggering for some audience members, although those who knew the story already would probably have expected them.

The outfits were as expected of the era and of Tina, particularly the dresses that looked a lot like Tina would have worn; suitably short, sparkly and swishy with high heels.

The Lyceum is in the centre of Sheffield and is easy to find. If you park in the Charles Street Q Park, you can get a voucher from the theatre for the first hour free. Street parking in the local area is currently fixed at £2 from 4.30 until the meters stop at 8.30, which is a cheaper option if you can find a space.

This is the first UK tour of this musical after playing in the West End for 7 years, but I’m sure it won’t be the last. I think even someone who may claim not to like Tina Turner or like or know her songs would be toe tapping and hip wiggling during some of the hit songs during this show. The songs weave through the passionate and stirring story really well, while also at times feeling a little like being at a Tina concert due to the amount of hits that managed to be covered. Despite some of the plot being quite dark it is ultimately an exhilarating story of how Tina fought back against all the trauma in her life and managed to eventually have huge success as a solo singer.

Rating: 4.5/5

Tickets cost from £15 to £71.50

Tina – The Tina Turner Musical is on at the Sheffield Lyceum between 9th and 20th September 2025.
For more information or to book tickets, visit www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk or call the Box Office on 0114 249 6000

Sheffield Theatres, 55 Norfolk Street, Sheffield, S1 1DA