Theater Review.

Touring companies a lot of times are able to emulate the energy of the shows that once played on Broadway. I have seen many great musicals at the Morristown Performing Arts Center; "South Pacific" and "Murder Mystery" to name a few. The success of these two that I just mentioned had great acting, direction and fantastic staging.

Last night I saw "Tina" and was really disappointed. The musical lacked energy; the songs were lackluster and the story never went in depth as to Tina Turner's life other than a strick mother, an abusive father, an abusive husband. Even her voracious sexuality was never more than a casual mention. Katori Hall's book never gives us anything of substance by way of how Tina ended up the way she did with her life, music and lovers.

Where the book here fails, the direction is even worse. Phyllida Lloyd never has the audience emotionally committed to the show. While the younger Tina (Davy) is terrific by way of acting, singing and dancing, the older Tina (Darilyn Burtley) never has us committed to the show. Unemotional and detached, her acting lacks here.

The show consists of the first act tracing her early life in Tennessee, her church upbringing, her love of music at an early life. Her mother ups and leaves one day taking her oldest daughter and leaving Tina to be raised by her grandmother. In passing one day, the grandmother just casually mentions that she is a great singing. She also casually mentions about her sexuality and being with boys. Rather than having an impassioned talk with young Tina about her life, it is just in passing. Much like the whole show, "Tina" is just in passing and never goes deep on anything.

The second act has Tina older and ready to put out her well known album that brought her more fame and fortune than ever before. Here the musical gets very confusing . At first, Turner dislikes the songs, she now sees herself as a rocker and these songs don't rock enough for her. In the next scene, she is headed back to New York to meet with record producers. Being in London for three weeks she meets a young man from Germany who loves her. The love may or may not have played out, we never get an answer, however.

On Broadway, "Tina" brought the second act into a frenzy and that is why the show played well there. The classic hits here are never played out... we get the songs in dribs and drabs. Only the shows final song: "("Simply) The Best" is played in full. Anyone coming to hear her songs only gets snippets rather than played out songs.

Some of the dance numbers are good and eye catching. Anthony Van Laast captures the era of dance both in the 60's, 70's and eighties. When the backing dancers are used is when the show is at its best. The scenes with Tina and Ike Turner (Monty Kane) lack emotion and story structure. We never get a sense of their relationship other than Tina getting beaten up and getting shafted on her payments. In the end of their relationship she turns down the money, but why? We are never told why.

There are many reasons why "Tina" is not up to par. The two main reasons for the touring companies failure is lack of emotion and lack of plot. The audience walks out getting nothing new about Tina's life, nor does the audience walk out satisfied about hearing her songs. "Proud Mary" was the only song here that gives us any emotion. This "Tina" was a dud.

www.robertmmassimi.com, Broadway, New York City, Tony Awards, Tina Turner, Ike Turner, Capital Records.