Soul Sister @ Darlington Civic

Like many people born in the 70's I didn't really know a lot about Tina Turner until she hit the charts in 1983 with "Lets stay together", quickly followed by "What's love got to do with it" and, later, my personal favourite "Simply the Best" (used for a few seasons as Newcastle United's entrance tune).  I was aware that she had been around for a while before that but it wasn't until more recently that I came across her back catalogue of hits including "River Deep, Mountain High" and "Proud Mary" so this was a great opportunity to learn much more about the "Private Dancer".

This show plays as Anna's life story, Tina was the stage name given to her by Ike Turner when they first started touring; the opening scene is set in 1983 backstage at her comeback performance before taking the audience back to her very first years as a singer in her fathers baptist church.  We follow her first encounters with Ike, the subsequent successes of their review shows (not to mention cross over success from R&B to mainstream pop charts) and then the descent into domestic abuse, separation and near financial ruin - when Tina left Ike mid tour he instructed all the venues to sue her personally leaving her penniless and destitute. 

Rochelle Neil plays the title role (unfortunately, the billed star, Emi Wokoma, about whom many rave reviews have been written, has suffered for the past week with a sore throat and was unable to perform) and, without a comparison to be made, I can safely say that if Emi is heralded as the 2nd best Tina Turner in the world then we were treated to the 3rd best.  Rochelle brought an innocence and small town naivety to the role coupled with a love for Ike that was heartbreaking to watch, especially as she endured his manic drug-fuelled episodes of doubt, guilt and violence.  Of course, playing Tina Turner needs a voice to match and Rochelle has that in abundance - at times she was soft, warm with a little throaty growl like a bedtime cup of cocoa spiked with a shot of bourbon, at others she would belt out so strong I swear the skylight windows rattled.

Chris Tummings, playing Ike, was wonderful too; egocentric, single minded, pig headed and with a chip on his shoulder that would sink a battleship, he portrayed Ike as a tormented musical maestro who just couldn't make peace with himself, or anyone else.  His descent into drugs, women and abuse was handled perfectly, never shirking the impact but never glorifying the shock value either.  Always the sign of great acting, even though you knew you should hate him you just couldn't help feeling sympathy for him too.

Bringing the story back to the 80's revival performance, Rochelle leads the cast on a finale of hits including a sultry cover of "I can't stand the Rain" which had the whole auditorium on its feet

The production of this show, and in particular the use of huge sliding panels to effect the scene changes and video monologues, help to keep the story moving along at a brisk pace; of course the music is key but this never felt like a jukebox musical or simply a vehicle to play out the back catalogue - the songs all added to the journey.

Whether you know Tina Turner's songs or not, deep down this is a tragic love story played out to a great soundtrack and performed by a wonderful cast - it is "Smply the Best"