The Gorgeous Act By Adrienne
Truly, all you need to know about this by-the-book jukebox show, which marked its official opening Thursday at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, has to do with Warren’s earth-moving gifts. Hers isn’t so much a performance as an eruption. Blessed with extraordinary pipes, restless grace and a star’s joy of center stage, Warren creates the impression of being as good a Tina Turner as, well, Tina Turner.
Yes, that is an illusion, but as illusions go, this one’s worth buying into. Turner herself is one of the show’s producers, and one imagines the hagiography endemic to this reverential genre wasn’t the only aspect of the venture that appealed to her. It had to be the honor accorded her by a creative team having identified someone perfectly suited to the role. Warren has that extra something — the rare gene on the E! chromosome, for entertainer, maybe? — that separates a workmanlike portrayal from a great one.
Twenty-four songs make up the bulk of “Tina’s” appeal, with “Proud Mary,” “Private Dancer,” “What’s Love Got to Do With It” among them. Under Phyllida Lloyd’s direction, with an indispensable assist from choreographer Anthony Van Laast, the musical sequences give the necessary ticket-buying rationale to Turner fans and neophytes alike. A formula-driven book by Katori Hall, Frank Ketelaar and Kees Prins accompanies those other more exciting ingredients, focusing on Turner’s rejection by her mother, Zelma, and physical abuse at the hands of her mentor-husband, Ike.
The story of the Temptations, being recounted nightly at the nearby jukebox show “Ain’t Too Proud,” is more telling about the nature of the music business, and so has a more engrossing narrative spine. But it doesn’t have Tina. Or rather, Adrienne.
Yes, that is an illusion, but as illusions go, this one’s worth buying into. Turner herself is one of the show’s producers, and one imagines the hagiography endemic to this reverential genre wasn’t the only aspect of the venture that appealed to her. It had to be the honor accorded her by a creative team having identified someone perfectly suited to the role. Warren has that extra something — the rare gene on the E! chromosome, for entertainer, maybe? — that separates a workmanlike portrayal from a great one.
Twenty-four songs make up the bulk of “Tina’s” appeal, with “Proud Mary,” “Private Dancer,” “What’s Love Got to Do With It” among them. Under Phyllida Lloyd’s direction, with an indispensable assist from choreographer Anthony Van Laast, the musical sequences give the necessary ticket-buying rationale to Turner fans and neophytes alike. A formula-driven book by Katori Hall, Frank Ketelaar and Kees Prins accompanies those other more exciting ingredients, focusing on Turner’s rejection by her mother, Zelma, and physical abuse at the hands of her mentor-husband, Ike.
The story of the Temptations, being recounted nightly at the nearby jukebox show “Ain’t Too Proud,” is more telling about the nature of the music business, and so has a more engrossing narrative spine. But it doesn’t have Tina. Or rather, Adrienne.
Comments
Post a Comment