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Simply The Best
Aug. 2nd, 2023 09:29 amWe saw Tina! last night, which as you might imagine is the Tina Turner jukebox musical. It was a surprisingly great time! I'm wary about jukebox musicals -- they're either one long review of someone's greatest hits rearranged for musical theatre, or a weirdly-paced biography they jump through hoops to add a list of songs to. Either way it's generally not worth the effort. I could listen to a greatest hits album from the actual artist any time I want to, and the disconnect between song and action can really muddle the story in a biography.
Tina! goes with the latter, and has those same problems. They would often shorten or cut the big crowd-pleasing songs with abuse from Ike or a short scene of strife with her family, record execs, etc. The music really wants you to be hype and happy, but it's impossible when you see the conditions Tina actually created most of her art in.
Everyone knew about Ike Turner, but it's different when you realize just how long the abuse played out (16 years) and how much he messed with her after she left him. It's also kind of awful how little her parents did for her, how clear it was that her mother didn't really want to raise her. The first scene after the opening number shows her parents fighting when she was young -- and her mother leaving suddenly with the older child but not her. I couldn't really talk about it with the folks I was with, but it took me right back to being nine years old and seeing MY parents fighting on the floor. And my dad leaving, and my mother obviously not really wanting to raise us.
It made me feel a lot more connected to Tina Turner in a way I hadn't anticipated and it makes her art so much more inspiring, you know? She came from a poor family that didn't want her, endured domestic abuse, racism, and betrayals from the people who were supposed to love her most. But she kept working, trusted in her vision, and eventually became an enormous mega-star. I know I haven't sold out a 180,000-seat stadium or anything, but I feel like our lives have similar trajectories. And it makes me feel grateful for the family and friends I have now, the amazing support network who've invested themselves in me.
Anyway, the musical ends on a weird note. Tina's mother, on her deathbed, tries to get her to sing with Ike one final time and chastises her when she refuses. Tina confront her mother about her constant criticism and obviously cool demeanor, and her mother says that she knew she wasn't woman enough to raise her. Then she dies, and we move into "We Don't Need Another Hero (Beyond Thunderdome)" for some reason. Then, we wrap up with "Simply The Best". Like, I have no idea how to feel about any of the last fifteen minutes.
After the curtain call, the audience was treated to a little mini-concert where we got the full version of "Proud Mary" and "Nutbush City Limits", one of the songs she wrote for the Ike & Tina Turner review. That part was amazing, and the crowd was fully behind the lead actor while she straight-up *channeled* Tina. Despite the problems with the actual musical, that part ruled and we went home happy.
K. and I talked a lot about his D&D game on the ride up, and I may have been thoughtlessly unkind with some of my feedback. My character is a firbolg druid, and the campaign is about a brewing war between native gods who are just waking up after the realm has been taken over by interloper gods from other places. The story is really engaging, but K. and I don't really align on my love of hippie-nature shit. :)
I've been trying to sprinkle in little bits of character here and there, but I'm also not a great spellcaster -- at least, at this table. One of the most-exciting aspects of spellcasting in D&D is finding novel ways to use your toolset, but I don't think we're on the same wavelength on which rules can be stretched and which are hard and fast. That's fine -- interpretation is up to the DM -- but it hurts to think I'm trying to find ways to be creatively useful and then be told that I'm just interested in gaming the system. Or spending five minutes picking the perfect spell only to find out that it won't work in this situation or doesn't do what I thought I did.
But it's something I'm really committed to getting right -- and shifting my character so that he's a bit more party-oriented. Another thing we've noted about the game is how scattered the PCs are, how they don't form a cohesive unit in combat and aren't really that invested in each other. It'd be neat to, you know, form bonds with the folks you're fighting.
It's a work-in-progress. I know I've contributed to the problem in my own ways, so I'm invested in cleaning up my act there.
Tina! goes with the latter, and has those same problems. They would often shorten or cut the big crowd-pleasing songs with abuse from Ike or a short scene of strife with her family, record execs, etc. The music really wants you to be hype and happy, but it's impossible when you see the conditions Tina actually created most of her art in.
Everyone knew about Ike Turner, but it's different when you realize just how long the abuse played out (16 years) and how much he messed with her after she left him. It's also kind of awful how little her parents did for her, how clear it was that her mother didn't really want to raise her. The first scene after the opening number shows her parents fighting when she was young -- and her mother leaving suddenly with the older child but not her. I couldn't really talk about it with the folks I was with, but it took me right back to being nine years old and seeing MY parents fighting on the floor. And my dad leaving, and my mother obviously not really wanting to raise us.
It made me feel a lot more connected to Tina Turner in a way I hadn't anticipated and it makes her art so much more inspiring, you know? She came from a poor family that didn't want her, endured domestic abuse, racism, and betrayals from the people who were supposed to love her most. But she kept working, trusted in her vision, and eventually became an enormous mega-star. I know I haven't sold out a 180,000-seat stadium or anything, but I feel like our lives have similar trajectories. And it makes me feel grateful for the family and friends I have now, the amazing support network who've invested themselves in me.
Anyway, the musical ends on a weird note. Tina's mother, on her deathbed, tries to get her to sing with Ike one final time and chastises her when she refuses. Tina confront her mother about her constant criticism and obviously cool demeanor, and her mother says that she knew she wasn't woman enough to raise her. Then she dies, and we move into "We Don't Need Another Hero (Beyond Thunderdome)" for some reason. Then, we wrap up with "Simply The Best". Like, I have no idea how to feel about any of the last fifteen minutes.
After the curtain call, the audience was treated to a little mini-concert where we got the full version of "Proud Mary" and "Nutbush City Limits", one of the songs she wrote for the Ike & Tina Turner review. That part was amazing, and the crowd was fully behind the lead actor while she straight-up *channeled* Tina. Despite the problems with the actual musical, that part ruled and we went home happy.
K. and I talked a lot about his D&D game on the ride up, and I may have been thoughtlessly unkind with some of my feedback. My character is a firbolg druid, and the campaign is about a brewing war between native gods who are just waking up after the realm has been taken over by interloper gods from other places. The story is really engaging, but K. and I don't really align on my love of hippie-nature shit. :)
I've been trying to sprinkle in little bits of character here and there, but I'm also not a great spellcaster -- at least, at this table. One of the most-exciting aspects of spellcasting in D&D is finding novel ways to use your toolset, but I don't think we're on the same wavelength on which rules can be stretched and which are hard and fast. That's fine -- interpretation is up to the DM -- but it hurts to think I'm trying to find ways to be creatively useful and then be told that I'm just interested in gaming the system. Or spending five minutes picking the perfect spell only to find out that it won't work in this situation or doesn't do what I thought I did.
But it's something I'm really committed to getting right -- and shifting my character so that he's a bit more party-oriented. Another thing we've noted about the game is how scattered the PCs are, how they don't form a cohesive unit in combat and aren't really that invested in each other. It'd be neat to, you know, form bonds with the folks you're fighting.
It's a work-in-progress. I know I've contributed to the problem in my own ways, so I'm invested in cleaning up my act there.
