Posted: 10/17/19 at 10:32am
Posted: 10/17/19 at 10:37am
SouthernCakes said: “What’s the design like? "
I quite liked the design. The deck is wood flooring and has a turntable. Most of then set pieces rise in and out of the deck. There entire back wall is projections. My favorite thing about the design is that the proscenium portals went up and down which allowed for smaller scenes to be “framed” in.
Posted: 10/17/19 at 11:10am
Late in posting this, but I was there at Tuesday night's performance (10/15) and they had to stop the show before the end of Act 1 because of a "technical issue." People around me initially thought it was because Adrienne Warren got injured....it looked like she slipped and fell when running off stage right before they stopped the show. But after about 15 mins or so, they started back up and she came right back on without issue. Does anyone know exactly what happened and why they needed to stop the performance?
Posted: 10/17/19 at 11:30am
Caye2 said: "Late in posting this, but I was there at Tuesday night's performance (10/15) and they had to stop the show before the end of Act 1 because of a "technical issue." People around me initially thought it was because Adrienne Warren got injured....it looked like she slipped and fell when running off stage right before they stopped the show. But after about 15 mins or so, they started back up and she came right back on without issue. Does anyone know exactly what happened and why they needed to stop the performance?"
That's when I went to see it too and since we were in the left front mezzanine, I saw her slipping and falling. She landed on her butt but she fell really hard 
I was happy that she was able to recover and didn't get seriously injured.
Posted: 10/17/19 at 11:44am
Lot666 said: "gibsons2 said: "I think the story itself was more of a filler between the songs. I was hoping to be inspired and touched by Tina's life story, but I felt it was a lost opportunity. Some scenes just lacked purpose or were really banal and simplistic. Almost cringey."
See, this is exactly how I felt about Summer, and now you've got me second guessing my purchase of tickets for this showonce again."
Don't second guess, Adrienne's performance alone will be worth the price of your tickets. Oh, and as someone already suggested, treat yourself to a cocktail or wine before :) I think this was my issue. I went with my mother in law and since she doesn't drink, I skipped the bar. I'm sure I would enjoy this musical much more if I didn't :)
Posted: 10/17/19 at 11:50am
CT2NYC said: "ACL2006 said: "It does seem to have a solid advance. No discounts available, either. Have they announced a rush/lotto yet?"
Discount MAIL1 on Ticketmaster has been aroundfor quite a while."
Are there dates tied to this offer? I just tried Nov 30 and it comes up as invalid.
Posted: 10/17/19 at 11:54am
Saw it on the West End a few months ago. I must admit I'm not the biggest fan of jukebox musicals and went because I'm a huge Tina fan and the ecstatic reviews it received. I agree with everyone here, the book was weak. Adrienne Warren sounds the most like Tina when she sings "River Deep, Mountain High". When she performed that song I was blown away. The actor who played Ike was amazing too. Some of the songs are shoehorned in at odd moments and feel forced... which is the trouble I find with jukebox musicals. I kinda liked the idea of the mock concert at the end. It was incredibly sweet because on the night Adrienne acknowledged an elderly man in the front row who was singing along and crying. I do wonder if Adrienne will win the Tony... It was mentioned about the actress in CoC being a possible front runner. I saw Sharon D. Clarke in "Death of a Salesman" and wasn't a fan of her. Tbf I hated that production so maybe I'm bias. Maybe she'll be better in CoC. I do wish I saw it when it was playing.
Also, did the West End version change when they took it to Broadway?
Posted: 10/18/19 at 9:24am
Posted: 10/18/19 at 9:33am
One more thing- the Tina dance moves- with her Ikettes- is recreated in all its frenzied mania- I loved it.
Posted: 10/18/19 at 11:21am
quizking101 said: "Do they have windowcards yet?"
Yup. And lots of cute merch too.
Posted: 10/18/19 at 4:53pm
What cracks me up is that people are dissecting this as if it's some kind of Archaeology find - the majority of people know Tina's life story and most of her music - this is a Bio jukebox musical. So you are going to hear her music and a simplified version of her life in about two and half hours. I saw it in the West End and loved it. The energy, singing, and dancing will blow you away - are there some slower scene's - YES - are there going to be some not so perfect transitions - YES - are you going to have a fun time - YES! There are tons of other shows, movies, books, tv shows, that all lag at times or just have pointless aspects - does it make the whole product bad - no of course not - it just makes it less then perfect which is a subjective idea to begin with. Tina is going to be around awhile - it's constructed and presented in a straight forward linear story telling (except the beginning) No spoiler - There is one Tina through out the show!
Go have a drink (like others have suggested as well ) and a nice dinner before, and enjoy the journey of the show - She is a mega star, an undeniable fascinating life, a record breaker, hit maker, and one hell of an entertainer- and that's the point of the show - TO ENTERTAIN! Cheers! and Adrienne does her justice and then some!
Posted: 10/19/19 at 6:39pm
So the show is selling out, anyone know if they're selling SRO yet?
Posted: 10/19/19 at 7:47pm
"One more thing- the Tina dance moves- with her Ikettes- is recreated in all its frenzied mania- I loved it."
Having seen Tina Turner in concert twice, you need to be one hell of a dancer to recreate her dance moves in all their frenzied glory !!!
Posted: 10/19/19 at 9:13pm
Has anyone seen Nkeki Obi=Melekwe perform as Tina yet? I'm currently scheduled to see her at the 11/6 matinee if the buzz is correct.
Posted: 10/28/19 at 9:19am
ggersten said: "Wow. Such silence."
But the show is selling out without any discounts. This just means not many people on these boards have seen it yet. Feels like this will be a hot ticket this season.
Posted: 10/28/19 at 11:41am
Saw it last week. It's not a very good show - but Adrienne's performance is A FORCE OF NATURE. It doesn't have the "spectacle" that The Cher Show had, but it's a lot clearer, with just one AMAZING actress playing the role. I also think most of the songs that are weaved into the story line are nicely done. Not a lot of "laughter" once they start. It wish they would recast her sons with other ensemble members that read younger - it was weird. I was worried people were going to sing-along and be rowdy but my Thurs. night show crowd was pretty well-behaved.
Posted: 10/31/19 at 12:33pm
It is crazy that the show is pretty much sold out through the holidays, but so few on the various board have seen it. Or maybe they just didn't have anything positive or negative to say about it, after seeing it?
Posted: 10/31/19 at 2:06pm
BWW is always my resource for detailed preview opinions... not so much for this show. I have been relying on snippets from various twitter posts for information. Hopefully these boards come alive soon!!!
Posted: 11/2/19 at 1:08pm
Despite my disdain for jukebox musicals, I went in, last night, with the same excitement I had, the first time I saw Tina live in 1985 with opening act Glenn Frey of the Eagles.
This didn't quite approach those heights.
The good:
Adrienne Warren is dynamite. I rarely say a performer is worth the price of a ticket, but, in this case, go see this woman. We did wonder (for good reason) if there was some lip-syncing going on, especially at the end, but after 2 hours and 45 minutes, it wouldn't surprise me.
The band is excellent. The set is mostly clever and never gets in the way, which is a good thing, here. The lighting design is quite good, too. Some of the supporting cast is good. The choreography is very good and probably 90% of the real Tina's moves are included.
River Deep, Mountain High is the best song performed.
The bad:
Katori Hall. Katori Hall. Katori Hall.
Tina deserves so much better. I've seen/read enough of Ms. Hall's work to know that she's just not a good writer, but she outdoes herself here. I could go point by point, but it's not worth it. She is solely responsible for the mess this show is. This isn't a "weak" book, it's an awful book.
The supporting cast ranges from okay to "how did they get the part?" Two people I won't name are jaw-droppingly bad.
Some iconic songs are left out, some lesser songs are included and for a "linear" play, the songs are not presented in chronological order and sometimes have no purpose being inserted where they are. Looking at you, We Don't Need Another Hero.
But enough of the bad. Back to Adrienne Warren. She is the reason, that, despite how poorly done this is, I would actually sit through it again.
I resigned myself quickly to the audience clapping and singing along and getting up repeatedly in the middle, like they were at a concert, so it didn't bother me as much as I would have thought.
Now, I would like a full concert by Adrienne Warren at Radio City. I'd buy front row for that.
Posted: 11/4/19 at 3:03pm
I saw this over the weekend and had a really great time. It's not perfect and the book does have some deficiencies (falls into the same traps as most bio musicals) but Adrienne Warren is indeed unbelievable. She's the whole show, and it's totally worth it just for her. (Although Daniel J. Watts as Ike is terrific as well.) I liked this as much as I liked Beautiful and more than Ain't Too Proud, Summer, and On Your Feet.
Posted: 11/4/19 at 5:16pm
I saw it and loved it! I don't write thorough reviews, but it 's prob my fave of the Jukebox musicals I've seen. Adrienne is incredible and I will def go back to see her again (when my schedule permits). Try and take posts here wit ha grain of salt, folks thought Ain't Too Proud wouldn't be successful, and that hasn't been the case.
Posted: 11/6/19 at 11:39pm
I caught the final preview tonight. I saw the show on the West End almost a year ago now and, like I wrote then and how people are still reacting now, I thought the book was ridiculous but the performances were pretty much uniformly very strong. But while Adrienne is still doing a very good imitation of Tina, so much of this new cast ranges from adequate to downright ridiculous. Ike is the least threatening Ike I’ve ever seen and appears to be doing an impression of Eddie Murphy playing Ike Turner in some SNL sketch. The one of her sons (the one in the blue shirt) is quite possibly the worst actor to have ever stepped foot on a Broadway stage.
The show is just a confusing mess to me. It’s basically a stage version of “What’s Love Got To Do With It”, so why rush the story to a point where act one ends where the film almost ends and then draaaaaag out act two just so you can have some more songs that don’t fit (“We Don’t Need Another Hero” after her Mother dies???)?
The musical is going to run for quite some time because the audiences love the music and love singing along (where was the pre-show message asking not to sing along like they have in the UK?) and It’s as close to seeing Tina in concert as we’ll ever get again but don’t let that confuse what you’re watching for actual quality material, because it’s FAR from it.
And what upset me the most was the staging. You have an ENTIRE BROADWAY STAGE. Why is everything set at the foot of the stage that’s already obstructed by heads in the horribly raked mezzanine? Did literally nobody from the production team watch the show from there to see that they need to move the action 5 feet upstage so everyone who paid money to see the show could actually see it?
Updated On: 11/6/19 at 11:39 PM
Posted: 11/6/19 at 11:56pm
Well now I am glad I didn't get a Mezz seat when they were lower priced. Kept hesitating. They went up to 79.00 and was still thinking of grabbing one especially after the GMA performance this morning. I think I will pass.
I have her music, know her story and have seen Tina in concert.
Posted: 11/7/19 at 12:00am
