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[0:00] Jackson Klein: You're listening to The Ensemblist, the only podcast that shows you Broadway from the inside out. Welcome! I'm your host, Jackson Klein.

[0:14] Jackson Klein: The Tonys are quickly approaching, and we could not be more excited to continue our celebration of the 2019-2020 Broadway season, and the dazzling ensembles bringing each musical to life. Today, we're looking back at Tina: The Tina Turner Musical. Tina opened on Broadway on November 7, 2019, after a spring 2018 world premiere on London's West End. Not only does this biomusical feature high-octane performances of Turner's greatest hits, but it dives deep into her life offstage, thanks in large part to the talented ensemblists populating Tina's world.

[1:00] Jackson Klein: Ensemblist co-creator Mo Brady caught a performance of Tina back in November. Here's what he thought of the show.

[1:17] Mo Brady: If you've heard anything about the new Broadway show, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, it's probably praise for the astonishing performance of Adrienne Warren in the title role. Reprising her take on music icon Tina Turner, Warren imbues the role with seemingly endless energy that shakes the Lunt-Fontanne to its foundation. However, working alongside and opposite Warren are many of Broadway's finest ensemble members in key roles in Turner's life. Working opposite Warren means her stage partners must bring the same energy and clarity of purpose to the stage. Nick Rashad Burroughs plays a series of what I can only refer to as Nick Rashad Burroughs roles, ensemble standout features that combine virtuosic comic timing with impeccable vocals.

Mars Rucker combines seasoned assuredness and youthful excitement in their standout feature as Tina's sister, Eileen. As the Iquettes, Holly Conway, Kayla Davion, Destiny Rae, and Rucker each draw audiences to them, pairing fast moves with just a hint of knowing flirtation. Many of the show's ensemble are heavily featured vocally along Turner's journey. Gerard Caesar's silky vocals are an act one highlight in his two-hander version of Let's Stay Together. A longtime company member of the Book of Mormon, Charlie Franklin's pristine vocals soar in his duet with Turner in Tonight, and Jessica Rush, performing in her third Broadway musical in less than one year, is a standout as Tina's longtime manager, Rhonda, performing a stirring rendition of Open Arms.

Stepping out of ensemble roles for the first time on Broadway, Daniel J. Watts is a revelation as Ike Turner. While Watts is a seasoned veteran of eight previous Broadway shows, Tina is his first chance to take on a principal role on the main stem. Watts endows Ike with such truthfulness and spontaneity, his performance feels like a true living and breathing interpretation of a man torn between his desire for success and his own self-doubt. Opening on the heels of many biomusicals featuring female music icons such as The Cher Show, Summer: The Donna Summer Musical, On Your Feet, and Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Tina steps above the pack by giving us more than just a musicalization of the star's Wikipedia page. By digging deeper into some of the most challenging points in Turner's journey, Warren and her castmates deliver a satisfying and entertaining night at the theater.

[4:04] Mo Brady: Tina Turner's story pops on stage largely due to the clearly drawn supporting characters portrayed by the show's ensemble. One of these characters is Rhonda Graham, Tina's longtime manager and friend, played by Broadway veteran Jessica Rush. Jessica spoke to our team last winter about bringing Rhonda to life on the main stem. Here are some highlights from our conversation.

[4:26] Jessica Rush: Ask me no questions, I'll tell you no lies. Come to me when you're down, I'll give you friendly advice. September of 2018, so a year ago this past September, my best friend was doing Aladdin in the West End, Michael James Scott, and I went to go see him, and Tina was running. Adrienne was doing it, and I took myself to go, and I was sitting in the house watching, and when Francesca Jackson, who plays Rhonda in the West End Company, when she started singing Open Arms, I had this overwhelming sense, and I actually vocalized it to myself. I sort of whispered, I was like, that's my track, that's my track. Now the irony here is at the time, I was doing Summer: The Donna Summer Musical, and I was playing Joyce Bogart, who was also a manager of Donna Summer.

So here I am watching one manager playing another. Michael always says that when we went to the bar that night, when I met him, he's like, you walked in the door, and the first thing you said was, I just saw my next gig. And funny story, they wouldn't see me for this show for months, months. I guess there were some preconceived notions, or perhaps they were thinking they wanted to go a different direction, but I would ask my agent, you have to get me in. I'm telling you, this is my job. I know it. And finally, in January, I was seen for it, and the rest is history. I got the offer, and I was like, I told you, I told you it was my gig.

[6:05] Jessica Rush: I sort of had a very visceral feeling with regards to who she was. I had seen the show, like you said, and so I saw that there was a bond between the two of them, and there was a warmth there. I have to say, I trusted who I am as a person and what I've been told I bring to the table, and I think that I sort of just went with it. I love the song Open Arms. It's a song I love singing because it sits so nicely in my voice, to be honest. It's not hard. I'm not trying to belt an E or an F or anything. It's just a really lovely song, and I think that what was interesting was when I auditioned, I auditioned and I sang the song, and then the music director, Nick Skelbeck, said to me, he's like, can you do it again, and he's like, can you sing around yourself?

I was like, around myself? He was like, yes, around yourself. He's like, do you know what I mean? I was like, I'm sorry, I actually don't. I'm so sorry. I said, I don't, though, and he's like, well, don't sing at her. Sing around yourself, and so that made a little more sense, but with that song, you're conveying so much, the love that you're trying to convey to Tina and to help her know that she is not alone, because that is something. She feels alone so often in our show, in our play. At the beginning, when her mother and father...

[9:06] Jessica Rush: He's like, thank you, Miss Rhonda. And it's just a really sweet moment that, you know, people can think of it as just a normal moment. But for me underneath, I know that, you know, he was my special one. He was my special boy. So, um, that's a nice little, uh, human moment that we've been able to put inside. When Tina, the Tina Turner Musical becomes part of the musical theater canon in high schools and middle schools are doing Tina Junior and someone out there is playing Rhonda Graham. What's one thing you think they should know? Well, first off, what those listeners should know is that you just made me cry because I imagined it because it's like, it's dream come true to get to originate something.

And I would want them to know Rhonda is a warm, kind, fiercely protective, strong woman and friend. And I think that that is what's very important to know because it's women friends are special. And it's so often talked about that women backstab each other and are awful towards one another. And I think to see this friendship that has lasted this long and has endured and one that has is really a sister is what's most important. I think that that, if you use that to sort of infuse your take on Rhonda and your performance, just remember that she's family.

[10:50] Mars Rucker: Another ensemblist bringing Tina's tribe to life is Mars Rucker. Mars is heavily featured throughout the show as Tina's sister, Aileen, as well as one of the iCats. Between getting cast in the Broadway production and the start of rehearsals, Mars came out as non-binary. In a blog feature last November, read now by Anna Altide and Mars, they spoke with us about why it was important to open up to Tina's creative team and work with them to create a safe and respectful workplace. From every introduction in theater, starting with ladies and gentlemen, to most bathrooms being gendered for men and women, attending the theater has typically reaffirmed the gender binary. That system is also typically affirmed on the other side of the proscenium, where onstage roles and offstage dressing rooms usually align as either for men or women.

One of the trailblazers in challenging these norms is Mars Rucker of Tina, the Tina Turner musical. In Tina, Rucker is heavily featured in the show's omnipresent ensemble. Playing Tina's sister, Aileen, Rucker is a guiding but light-hearted female presence in young Tina's development, particularly in light of their mother's emotional and physical absence. Rucker also plays one of Tina's four iCats, swiftly matching Tina Turner's signature speed and specificity in songs such as I Want to Take You Higher and Proud Mary. Rucker came out as non-binary in early 2019. While they had already been cast in the production, rehearsals for the Broadway Mountain had not yet begun. In their process, Rucker was concerned coming out to the creative team would result in their losing the offer to be in the production. However, it was important for them to open up about their transition to the Tina team.

[13:02] Mars Rucker: Throughout the creation process, Rucker and their Tina collaborators worked to build a safe and respectful space. One of the additional challenges Rucker faces is assuming the role of teaching others about non-binary identity. One of the most effective ways to diffuse that teaching responsibility has been to keep an open line of communication about the gender spectrum. By graciously but strongly challenging theater's many gendered norms, the Tina team has found ways to create affecting theater while affirming collaborators on the gender spectrum. It's been a hard, long process, but there has been exponential growth.

[14:23] Jackson Klein: Special thanks to Jessica Rush and Mars Rucker for allowing us to share their stories this week. The Ensemblist was produced today by Mo Brady and me, Jackson Klein. There are two great ways you can be helping The Ensemblist right now. One is by leaving us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. The second is by becoming a Patreon member at patreon.com slash The Ensemblist. Please follow The Ensemblist wherever you listen to podcasts, whether that's on Spotify, on Apple Podcasts, or at bpn.fm, the home of Broadway Podcast Network. You can also follow us on Instagram. Stay safe and thank you for listening. Until next time.