BWW Reviews: SOUL SISTER, Hackney Empire, April 19 2012

So Tina Turner then eh? Not as good a singer as Darlene Love, not as tragic as Billie Holliday, not as sexy as Ronnie Spector, not as mysterious as Dusty Springfield and not as good a dancer as Lena Horne. Not exactly a promising subject for a major musical, especially as everyone knows the backstory starring abusive Ike. Soul Sister (at the Hackney Empire until 5 May) confirms all those suspicions and then trumps the lot with one irrefutable fact - on stage, Tina Turner was a better performer any of them (or anyone else).

John Miller and Pete Brooks' new musical concentrates on Tina Turner with a mic in her hand - and, consequently, as a force of nature. Not that it shies away from Ike's violence, but, in Chris Tummings' beautifully judged portrayal, we also see how Ike could charm the birds from the trees, before he forces Tina to take refuge in Buddhism and kaftans to escape the bullying and cocaine.

For all its clever use of back-projections to set the events of Tina's life against the changes in American society and with a first class band under the direction of Sean Green at hand throughout, this show stands or falls on the casting of its principal. In Emi Wokama, the producers have hit the jackpot - Ms Wokama sings, acts and dances superbly, but, more importantly, she fills this grand old theatre with gigantic charisma. She doesn't become Tina (that would be a little trite), but she shows us what it must have been like to have seen Tina at her most alive.

All the songs are there from the gospel and blues of the late fifties and early sixties to "River Deep, Mountain High" (though not before a wonderfully droll set of instructions issued from by an off stage Phil Spector - she could pick 'em, could Tina) and on to the extraordinary mid-eighties renaissance, jump started by "What's Love Gotta Do With It". Those classics build to a crowd-pleasing finale that has everyone on their feet - and they stay there to applaud Ms Wokama at the curtain.

Soul Sister offers West End production quality in a West End standard theatre with West End standard performances - all at East End prices. So if you're looking for value for your money - and who isn't these days - it is, dare I say... dare I... okay, I'll have to. In terms of value for money, it's Simply The Best.  

 

 

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