‘Tina: The Tina Turner Musical’ returns to Northeast Ohio, this time at EJ Thomas Performing Arts Hall in Akron, for two nights only (Tuesday, September 24 & Wednesday, September 25), less than 18 months after a successful three-week-long run at Cleveland’s Playhouse Square in 2023. The show, set to the music of legendary performer Tina Turner, tells the troubled-to-triumph life story of the 12x Grammy Award-winning artist who has sold more concert tickets than any other solo artist in the history of the music business.
Written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Katori Hall, the Broadway run (2019-2022) and touring production have received rave reviews from critics and theater patrons alike.
In a recent phone interview with CleveRock ahead of the upcoming shows in Akron, the actress in the titular role, Jayna Elise, dished everything one needs to know about the show (and her exciting life)!
Any biographical musical is tricky to produce. It is ever-so-important to tell the subject’s story accurately with minimal artistic license while still doing justice to their life and legacy. Jayna feels that this show does both!
“I definitely think so,” she said. “I mean, before I was even in it the way that I am now, just receiving the script alone, written by Katori Hall, and reading through it and just seeing how they pieced her life together and each number… It’s obviously Tina Turner’s songs, but the way that they are placed creates such a fusion of the story in a way that I don’t think people have ever seen. I like to say that we do her justice.”
At only 22 years of age, Jayna is embarking on her first national tour. She expressed her excitement about being selected as the lead in a show, and specifically, trusted with the role of the iconic Tina Turner.
“I can only describe it as being such a huge honor,” she said. “I have loved Tina Turner. I grew up listening to her music, just like Rock and Roll in general. I’m a huge Rock fan, so being able to play the Queen of Rock and Roll is just an absolute honor.”
Acting out the role of a fictitious character is difficult enough, but being tasked with playing the role of a legend presents a new set of challenges. Audiences have a preconceived notion of how Tina Turner looks, acts, and, most importantly, sounds. Jayna is up to the challenge!
“I first want to shout out to director Sharika [Niles]. She is incredible at kind of getting us to invoke the spirit of Tina Turner,” Jayna said. “We do it without making a caricature of her because we want to stay true to her, but we don’t want to impersonate her. It’s next to near Impossible anyway because she’s so iconic. There’s definitely a fine line, but we like to do what we call the ‘Tina voice,’ trying to get that now, listen to the story, that kind of 70s Southern drawl that she has, while still maintaining the modernity of it.”
Aside from the music of Tina Turner and following her life story, there are many additional elements to this incredible production, from the set, to the lighting and, of course, the wardrobe, that theater patrons might take for granted. Jayna provided some tips about what to look out for.
“I think the opening number has a lot of different moving parts. I think it’s the one that a majority of the cast is on. That, in and of itself, is just that opening number. There’s going to be a lot of things happening, but just kind of paying attention to the different amazing cast that we have and what they’re doing in that number, I think, is something fun,” she said. “Also, of course, any time ‘Proud Mary’ comes on, there’s going to be a lot happening, but that’s one of our favorite numbers that people see. The costuming for that specifically is so great, and I think really true to the Tina-esque there.”
Jayna may be embarking on her first national tour, but she is no stranger to bright lights! Earlier this year, she was a Top 12 finalist on ‘American Idol.’ This was her second go-round on the hit television program, and she also made it to the quarter-finals on Season 11 of ‘America’s Got Talent.’ (She even received the coveted Golden Buzzer!)
This interviewer has spoken with several ‘American Idol’ alumni, including 2011 champion Scotty McCreery and 2005 competitor Constantine Maroulis. Both raved about the opportunities that resulted from the exposure they received from being on the show. Jayna echoes those thoughts.
“I just got off of ‘American Idol’ in May, and this opportunity came not even a month and a half after. I received a call for this in July, and I’m assuming that they saw me from the show,” she said. “Win, lose, or draw, those shows, and specifically ‘American Idol,’ in this case, definitely grants you a plethora of opportunities once you leave the show. I think what’s interesting about my ‘American Idol’ journey specifically, is that I auditioned for the show last season, and I made it to what they call the Showstoppers, which is before you make it to the top 24, which is the live shows. I made it to that point, and I got cut last season at that point,” Jayna said. “There was one thing that [‘American Idol’ judge] Katy Perry said to me, and she said: ‘It kind of seems like you’re a background singer who’s just stepping into the light of being a lead singer.’ And I was like, ‘Really?’ And that kind of made me think, this is something that I’ve been doing for the majority of my life. And that comment kind of took me and made me go, ‘Well, if Katy Perry is saying that, if she sees something, but she doesn’t see that thing, has that been what’s prohibiting me?’ It kind of made me think; get out of your own way kind of thing. So I came back to the show, and it was her words that ultimately made me be like, ‘Try again!”
Finally, why should Northeast Ohio theater fans come to check out ‘Tina: The Tina Turner Musical’?
“If you are a rock music fan like me or a Tina Turner fan, we definitely stay true to her legacy,” Jayna wrapped up. “It’s an emotional roller coaster, but in the end, the show is just fun, and it’s just something that everyone can take something from this experience and apply and just live out their life on some of the advice that you could get from this musical.”
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