REVIEW: TINA — THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL Almost Burned The House Down In Sacramento
Tina Turner, the legend whose 1986 memoir inspired a hit feature film and who headlined concert tours that sold out all over the world, was a force of nature on stage. I’ve been told that you almost had to see her to believe her. I never got to see Turner live. She died in 2023, so I’ve thought since then that I’d missed my chance.
God was kind last night at the SAFE Credit Union Performing Arts Center in Sacramento, to me and a few hundred patience-filled Broadway Sacramento patrons. We got to experience Turner’s spirit as it inhabited the body of Meghan Dawson, who’s making her national tour debut in TINA: THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL. The show plays through Saturday, March 8.
Why was patience such a virtue last night? Right after the show’s 20 minute intermission, fittingly after Dawson and company smoldered during “Disco Inferno,” the lights to the venue blinked intermittently as a message scrolled across screens above the exits, instructing patrons to exit the building. Soon thereafter, a Broadway Sacramento spokesperson told me that a mist effect during the performance had triggered the venue’s fire alarm.
Those of us who had been in the audience knew better: Dawson’s incendiary performance as Tina Turner threatened to burn the place to the ground last night. The girl set off the fire alarm!
More than half of the audience disbursed, returning to their homes and lives, while the rest of us patiently lingered in the chilly evening air, clamoring to see the balance of that show and more of Dawson. About an hour later, we were rewarded with a second half that miraculously out performed the first.
Now that I think about it, the course of last night’s show mirrored Turner’s own life: she only got better at middle age, and barreled on until the very end.
So did Dawson, giving a two song encore after the riotous curtain call, in the best Tina Turner drag anyone could imagine, and shutting the place down. Throughout the three hour performance, the actor’s voice was every bit as strong and elastic as Turner’s.
Portraying a stylist as identifiable and eclectic as Turner is challenging, as lapsing into parody would be easy. Dawson walked that line as deftly as Turner strutted across stages all over the world in those iconic stiletto heels.
Dawson’s casemates rose to the occasion as well, with standouts being Elaina Watson as Zelma Bullock and Sterling Baker McClary in dual roles as Ike Turner and Ronnie Turner. In the former role, McClary made even the show’s villainous Ike just a little lovable.
But like those who surrounded Turner in life, the brave actors who shared the stage with Dawson in Sacramento last night had their work cut out for them. She was absolutely show-stopping during every second she was on stage.
A note to parents: like Turner’s life, elements of the show, including the depiction of domestic violence and its language in a few scenes, might be a bit disturbing for the very young or to those unfamiliar with the history of racism in this country.
Do yourself a favor, especially if you never got to see Turner live: snatch up a ticket to TINA: THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL while it’s in town. Something tells me that after word gets out about last night, and about Dawson, the balance of those shows is going to sell out very quickly. Dawson is one of two “Tinas” featured during this show’s run. I hope the other thespian, Jayna Elise, is up to the challenge!
Tickets to TINA — THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL (show runs through March 8th) are available at BroadwaySacramento.com.
Connect with Meghan Dawson on IG: @moxdawson.
Connect with freelance writer Michael P Coleman at MichaelPColeman.com.
