ON FIRE WITH "THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL" AT THE BUSHNELL

A title like the Queen of Rock and Roll is not to be taken lightly. Tina Turner earned that crown in an adventurous journey that was often lonely and difficult. Born Anna Mae Bullock in Nutbush, Tennessee, she had a poor beginning, being raised by her grandmother after her parents went their separate ways. Her love of singing in the community church served her well and began early on in her turbulent life. You are invited to learn about her career and how meeting a young up and coming singer Ike Turner and his Kings of Rhythm band was one of the best and the worst times of her life, at the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts in “TINA - THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL” written by Tony Award nominee and Pulitzer Prize winner Katori Hall with Frank Ketelaar and Kees Prins. From Tuesday, April 11 to Sunday, April 16, Ari Groover and Zurin Villanueva will share the role of playing this fiery icon, with Garrett Turner as the violent and abusive Ike Turner, Roz White as her mother Zelma Bullock, Ann Nesby as her grandmother Gran Georgeanna and Lael Van Keuren as Ike Turner’s manager and later Tina’s manager, Rhonda. This show, with the blessing of Tina Turner herself, has won 12 Grammy Awards and received the same amount of Tony Award nominations, including Best Musical. With its world premiere in London in April of 2018, it opened on Broadway in November of 2019 and reopened in October 2021 after being closed for the pandemic. Being inducted in 1991 with Ike Turner to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, she is only one of three women in the institution’s history to be inducted twice. The second time was in October of 2021 when she was 81. Come hear her music raise the rafters with her signature songs like “What’s Love Got To Do With It,” “Proud Mary," “Private Dancer,” “River Deep -Mountain High,” ”A Fool in Love,” and “We Don’t Need Another Hero,” two dozen in all. Under the direction of internationally acclaimed Phyllida Lloyd, Tina’s songs and story are sure to ignite your heart and soul in a triumphant comeback tale like no other. With choreography by Tony Award nominee Anthony van Laast and set and costume designs by Tony Award nominee Mark Thompson, this show is stuffed with superlatives and resonates with spirit and joy. For tickets ($42 and up), call the Bushnell, 166 Capitol Avenue, Hartford at 860-987-5900 or online at bushnell.org. Performances are Tuesday to Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.. Come see and hear for yourself that Tina Turner is and will always be “simply the best."