Broadway in Green Bay series continues with ‘TINA - The Tina Turner Musical’

‘Tina - The Tina Turner Musical’ made its way to The Weidner in February as part of the Broadway in Green Bay series, bringing with it a celebration of Tina Turner’s resilience, talent, and triumphant rise from a small-town girl with a big voice to an international icon.

“One of the misconceptions about this show is that people think it’s a Tina Turner cover band, and it’s not that,” said Darilyn Burtley, who plays Tina Turner in the show. “It’s an autobiographical story told from Tina’s perspective. She was very hands-on in the production. This is the story that she wanted told.”

And portraying Tina Turner in that story is no easy task.

“It’s definitely big shoes to step into and it’s not a responsibility I take lightly…” Burtley said. “I wanted to make sure I did her justice when it came to physical and vocal stamina, but also the emotional weight of the material, because it is quite a weight to be able to do justice to her tribulations, but also to her joy.”

The show celebrates Turner’s resilience and her refusal to give up, even when many others would have.

“A lot of people told Tina she was washed up. She should throw in the towel. She should give up,” Burtley said. “There were a lot of barriers and the average person would have given up at each of those crossroads, but she pushed past it. She believed in herself.”

Turner’s musical style is heavily influenced by gospel music, which is rooted in Chicago — Burtley’s hometown and a major influence in her own musical style as well.

“A lot of people don’t know, but a lot of Tina Turner’s vocal role models were men, which is why a lot of people said she didn’t sing pretty,” Burtley said. “But she didn’t need to sing pretty. She said it wasn’t her goal to sing pretty. I think that gave her a lot of distinction in her voice. One of her major role models was Mahalia Jackson, who was a famous civil rights leader and gospel singer… Mahalia Jackson was born and raised in Chicago… And she’s one of the biggest originators of gospel music. Gospel music’s home is Chicago, Illinois, and the blues is also rooted in Chicago… I grew up in the church, singing gospel and being around the blues. I would say that my upbringing and the roots of my voice are also very much in the church. Of course I expanded into musical theater and jazz, but when it comes back down to it, my mother tongue of music is definitely gospel, so channeling that felt really good.”