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[title]Tina – The Tina Turner Musical has finally rolled into Melbourne’s Princess Theatre, after making its Australian debut in Sydney back in May 2023. There’s a laundry list of reasons Tina goes beyond your average imported jukebox musical, making for something extra special. Australia’s national obsession with ‘Nutbush City Limits’ comes to mind, as does Turner's stirring story of overcoming domestic violence, racism and ageism to mount one of the most successful musical comebacks of all time. Factor in 37 award nominations globally, including for Best Musical at the Tonys, and it’s no surprise the blockbuster production has sold more than 600,000 tickets nationwide so far.
In Australia, the iconic role of Tina Turner is played by Kew High School alumnus Ruva Ngwenya. She’s been gracing our stages for years in the likes of The Lion King, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Ragtime and Moulin Rouge! Now, Ngwenya has taken to her leading role like a duck to water, even scoring a nomination for Best Performance in a Musical at our inaugural Arts & Culture Awards. Despite all that, she tells Time Out Melbourne that she grew up viewing singing less as a career ambition and more as a party trick she “just happened to be really good at”.
“I don’t think I grew up thinking I was going to have a musical theatre career,” says Ngwenya. “I grew up singing, it was a way of life. The neighbours could hear me coming before they’d see me and I got nicknamed ‘songbird’.”
“It’s also part of the culture of being African – we’re very vibrant and musically inclined people,” says Ngwenya, who is of Zimbabwean descent.
But one day when she was 15, Ngwenya’s drama teacher asked her to sing ‘River Deep Mountain High’ (yes, really). Suddenly, the whole school was talking about it, she was transferring to the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School and the rest, as they say, is history.
After earning her stripes in productions across the country, the opportunity to audition for the role of Tina Turner herself arose. And when we say ‘audition’, we mean approximately 12 of them.
“Lord have mercy, did the work start,” says Ngwenya. “It became not just resting on my talent. I had to study this icon, I had to train. I think I rehearsed the ‘Proud Mary’ dance routine 50 times in auditions before I got the role.”
It’s been the best experience of my life playing this role. It has changed the essence of how I do life and how I handle pressure.
Unlike your prototypical music theatre performer who studies the craft from a young age through to university, Ngwenya cut her teeth singing jazz sets at Cherry Bar.
“I was one of those people who learnt these skills on the job,” she says. “It was a real stretch. I had to push above and beyond my natural capabilities into honing a skill, training and working up to it.”
Dropping out of tertiary training is far from the only part of Ngwenya’s musical theatre journey that’s atypical. She’s quick to emphasise her thankfulness for the chance to step into the massive shoes of Turner, whose “unmatched” mental resilience she deeply admires.
“She was able to master her mind, her wants and her wills, regardless of the ‘isms’: the racism, the sexism, the ageism, the classism,” says Ngwenya.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity to represent myself, to represent Tina as a black woman and other black people who come and see the show.”
However, Ngwenya also points out that “it’s very rare to see a black woman unequivocally leading a show in Australia. It’s not something we’re used to.”
“Seeing me, my body, my type, my singing, the way I do things – it’s not common. For me, that’s something that needs to change.”
We need to create spaces and opportunities for black people to fill these roles, and invite black people to lead shows and tell famous stories in new ways.
“There’s more to black and POC performers than just playing black and POC roles. I implore us as an industry to invite black and POC people into famous stories that we all connect with. Don’t keep us categorised into one genre of black stories and racially charged stories.
“From experience, I know that when given the opportunity, we’re more than capable.”
As the curtain rises on Tina – The Tina Turner Musical’s final season in Melbourne, Ngwenya is feeling triumphant.
“I’ve climbed the summit, having done all these other incredible cities for the last year and a half. It feels like I’ve reached the top of the mountain and I get to give it all back to the people who nurtured me and created the performer that I am today.”
Having witnessed the gasps Ngwenya pulled from audiences at the show’s Melbourne opening night, it’s clear to see that she is indeed on top of the world, and ‘capable’ is a massive understatement.
Photographer: Carmen Zammit
Lead designer: Conor Mitchell
Design: Jack Puglielli
Location: Princess Theatre
Hair and make-up: Make-up By Reemh