TINA: The Tina Turner Musical

Rebecca Varidel
1st Aug 2022

The waitlist for information and tickets to TINA – THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL is open now >> www.tinathemusical.com.au/

Tina Turner’s Australian connections run deep. Upon its original release in 1973, her semi-autobiographical hit Nutbush City Limits spent an entire year in the top 100 of Australia’s single chart. In 1977, one of Tina’s first-ever solo tours – which took place before she had even recorded her first real solo album – thrilled Australian audiences.

Yet it was when Australian-born Roger Davies – her manager since 1980 – convinced Tina to record What’s Love Got To Do With It that her solo comeback, which occurred in her forties, truly took flight: this chart-topping, multiple-Grammy-winning song quickly became her signature tune and still stands as Tina’s biggest hit. Tina’s star turn in the Australian film Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome (1985) – as Aunty Entity, the villain with the platinum-blonde mullet and chain-mail dress – was memorable for all the right reasons and spawned yet another chart-topping single: We Don’t Need Another Hero (Thunderdome), which appeared in the cult film.

Many Australians will also associate with Tina’s smash hit The Best after it became the centrepiece of the campaign for the National Rugby League. A new take on this song – recorded as a duet with Jimmy Barnes and retitled (Simply) The Best returned to the Australian charts upon its 1992 release and was performed live by the pair at 1993’s NRL Grand Final.

One of the world’s best-selling artists of all time, Tina Turner has won 12 Grammy Awards and her live shows have been seen by millions, with more concert tickets sold than any other solo performer in music history. When she was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in October, 2021, Tina Turner became one of only three women in the institution’s history to be inducted twice (she was initially inducted in 1991, alongside Ike Turner).

A new musical based on the life of legendary artist and presented in association with Tina Turner herself, received its world premiere in April 2018 in London, where it opened to five-star reviews and has broken box office records at the Aldwych Theatre. In March 2019, the German production opened at Stage Operettenhaus in Hamburg, the Broadway production followed in November 2019 and was nominated for 12 Tony Awards including Best Musical. The Dutch production opened at the Beatrix Theater, Utrecht, in February 2020. A third European production opened in Fall 2021 at the Teatro Coliseum in Madrid, Spain and the North American Tour will commence in September 2022.

NOW TINA – THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL is coming to Sydney 2023

NSW Minister for Tourism, Stuart Ayres together with TEG DAINTY, Stage Entertainment and Tali Pelman, in association with Tina Turner are thrilled to announce that the smash hit TINA – THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL is coming to Theatre Royal Sydney in May 2023!

Written by Tony Award nominee and Pulitzer Prize winner Katori Hall with Frank Ketelaar and Kees Prins, TINA – THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL is directed by Tony Award nominee Phyllida Lloyd with choreography by Tony Award nominee Anthony van Laast, set and costume designs by Tony Award nominee Mark Thompson, musical supervision, additional music and arrangements by Nicholas Skilbeck, lighting by Tony Award nominee Bruno Poet, sound by Tony Award nominee Nevin Steinberg, projection design by Tony Award nominee Jeff Sugg, orchestrations by Tony Award nominee Ethan Popp and wigs, hair and makeup design by Drama Desk Award winner Campbell Young Associates.

Produced by TEG DAINTY in special collaboration with Stage Entertainment, Tali Pelman and Tina Turner, the musical reveals a comeback story like no other, of a woman who dared to defy the bounds of her age, gender and race to become the global Queen of Rock n’ Roll. TINA – THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL is a celebration of resilience and an inspiration of triumph over adversity.

“Hello Sydney! I am so excited to be announcing that TINA – THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL will be opening in Sydney next year. Australia has always shared abundant love with me, going back to my early concerts in the late 70’s through the uplifting partnership with the National Rugby League. It is very special for me that we will be reunited. The joy, passion and message of resilience in my musical is so important now as ever. Thank you from the bottom my heart for welcoming me with open arms once again” Tina Turner said.