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Hancher brings Tina Turner’s life to the stage with ‘Tina — The Tina Turner Musical’
Soundtrack includes most beloved hits like ‘What’s Love Got to Do With it,’ ‘Private Dancer’
Ed Condran
May. 27, 2025 6:00 am, Updated: May. 27, 2025 2:37 pm
The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
There has never been anyone quite like Tina Turner.
The larger than life singer-songwriter emerged during the 60s as a powerhouse vocalist while performing with her first husband, Ike Turner. After becoming a favorite on the R&B circuit with such hits as "A Fool in Love" and "It's Gonna Work Out Fine," the duo, Ike & Tina, crossed over to a pop audience with their incendiary cover of "Proud Mary."
However, the tandem bottomed out during the early 70s after Ike Turner lost control due to drug addiction. Tina Turner left her husband after enduring violent spousal abuse in 1976.
For nearly a decade, Tina Turner tried to find her groove as a solo artist. Against the odds, Turner struck pop gold with 1984's "Private Dancer." Turner became a superstar at mid-life courtesy of such hits as "What's Love Got to Do With It," "Better Be Good to Me" and the title track.
Turner's unparalleled life inspired "Tina — The Tina Turner Musical," which is slated for Friday, May 30 through Sunday, June 1, at Hancher Auditorium.
Meghan Dawson, who portrays Turner, joined the cast in February and is enjoying the experience. "It's such a wild ride," Dawson said. "It's a huge role. It's one of the biggest roles for a woman. Tina had a fascinating life with so many ups and downs."
It's a demanding role for Dawson, who is featured throughout the show.
"I'm onstage the entire time," Dawson said. "I'm up there singing, fighting and just playing Tina. I have a lot on my plate doing six to eight shows a week. I have to pace myself but it's such an amazing story and an incredible opportunity for me to play this extraordinary woman."
"Tina" starts with Turner meditating before a concert in Brazil, which she performed to more than 180,000 fans. Turner's story begins at childhood in Tennessee. The jukebox musical goes from there and follows the trials and tribulations of a woman, who would become one of the best selling recording artists of all time with more than 100 million albums sold.
Dawson, 28, was born after Turner's peak but grew up on the icon's music while coming of age in Louisiana.
"I knew Tina's music," Dawson said. "But I dug deeper. I read her biography. I grew up around some of the towns she started out in on the Chitlin Circuit. She was getting her feet wet with Ike back then. Her entire career and life is just fascinating. People know her for her legs and her energy, but she was so much more than that. What she was able to do was amazing, especially when you factor in her age. When she was 50, she was running around on stage like it was nothing. Tina was funny, creative and just like no other performer. Tina was incredibly successful and broke so many barriers.
Turner was the first Black artist and the first woman to be featured on the cover of Rolling Stone. Turner was also the first Black female artist to win an MTV award and the first woman to accumulate $100 million in concert revenues. Turner received 12 Grammy Awards, and Rolling Stone ranked her among the greatest artists and singers of all time.
If you go
What: “Tina — The Tina Turner Musical”
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 30; 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 31; and 2 p.m. Sunday, June 1
Where: Hancher Auditorium, 141 Park Rd., Iowa City
Cost: $45 to $115
Tickets: (319) 335-1160, hancher.uiowa.edu
"One of the greatest experiences of my career was working with Tina Turner," Bryan Adams said while calling from Auckland, New Zealand. "Tina was unique."
Adams wrote the song "It's Only Love" as a duet with Turner. The catchy track was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, and the accompanying video won an MTV Video Music Award for Best Stage Performance.
That MTV spaceman statuette was just one of the many pieces of hardware Turner collected during her enviable 60-plus year career.
Turner announced in 2016 that she was working on a musical about her life in collaboration with Phyllida Lloyd and Stage Entertainment. "Tina" opened in London in April 2018 and debuted on Broadway in the fall of 2019.
"I'm not surprised that 'Tina' is such a success since her story is a story of triumph," Dawson said. "She not only created new music, but she also created a new identity. She survived being middle-aged in a difficult industry. She was a single mother, and she just never let adversity deter her."
What surprised Dawson while researching the role was how Turner had an impact on creative elements going back to her early days with Ike Turner.
"I was surprised that she had her hands in everything," Dawson said. "Tina had a say about the tempo of her shows, the makeup, the choreography. She didn't take any shortcuts. She was a woman that went the distance and was just so wonderful."
Dawson enjoys belting out the Turner catalog.
"One of the best parts of doing this show is that the songs are so much fun to sing," Dawson said. "It's a joy and a blessing to be able to sing these incredible songs every night, and it's crazy since it feels like they were written for my voice. It's been a great experience for me to be able to take on this role, and in the process I had the opportunity to learn so much about this incredible woman that more people should know about. She had a fascinating life."
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