'Tina! — The Tina Turner Musical' opens at Bass Concert Hall

Her story starts in the humble town of Nutbush, Tenn., not as the American rock icon Tina Turner, but as Anna Mae Bullock, the fiery daughter of sharecroppers struggling to make a living in the 1940s. Before taking the crown as Queen of Rock n Roll, Tina Turner rose up from a broken household, poverty and abuse to become one of the world's best-selling artists of all time.

“Tina! — The Tina Turner Musical” tells the inspiring story of the woman who became the legend, from her tumultuous childhood to her meteoric rise to stardom.

“Our show chronicles Tina's life as a child from about age 10 when her mother ran from an abusive relationship, taking her older sister with her and leaving Tina behind,” Roz White, who plays Tina’s hard-as-nails mother, Zelma Bullock, said. “Tina stays behind with her grandmother, who teaches her about prayer and about having a voice that the world needs to hear. Then she meets up with Ike Turner and the rest is history.”

Incorporating a soundtrack of Tina Turner’s most memorable hits, including “Proud Mary,” “Private Dancer” and “What’s Love Got to Do With It?” the musical takes the audience on a journey not only of Tina Turner’s life, but through the history of the nation as well.

“It’s one of the best American stories about someone having to deal with racism, sexism and classism just to prove she could stand on the same stage with Mick Jagger and David Bowie,” White said. “We get to see her going from this young woman born in the 30s to the icon she became.”

Audiences may come to see “Tina!” expecting to see the shimmy and glitter of Tina Turner in her full glory, but they will get so much more than the flash of the woman as she struts across the stage. The backbone of the musical is in how Tina grows from the wildflower of Anna Mae Bullock into her full, empowered glory. Ari Groover, one of the performers playing Tina Turner in this touring production, masterfully shows this growth between Act I and Act II, layering in the subtle power of her vocals as Tina gradually and steadily comes into her own voice.

“I’ve heard audiences say they got a lot of history they didn’t know, where she was from and her background,” White said. “Some people assume she appeared on the scene in a spiky wig. But the music spans five decades. Her voice sustained her for 50 years. It’s amazing. A night full of excitement.”

Indeed, “Tina!” crescendos in the same dazzling trajectory as Tina Turner did in life, culminating with the massive stadium tour where Tina Turner rocked on stage before an audience of 180,000. Historically, Tina Turner won 12 Grammy Awards and sold more concert tickets than any other solo performer in music history. The finale includes Tina in her full Queen of Rock regalia — the wig, the miniskirt, the unparalleled voice filling the whole concert hall with its power.

The audience response felt electrifying as everyone leapt up to sing and dance along.

“I’ve never heard this big of a roar from an audience,” White admits. “Just from the top of the show. They love Tina.”

“Tina! — The Tina Turner Musical” will run this week at Bass Concert Hall in Austin Tuesday through Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 1:30 and 6:30 p.m. Tickets start at $35 and are available texasperformingarts. org and BroadwayinAustin.com, by phone at (512) 4771444 or from the Texas Performing Arts ticket office at Bass Concert Hall.