Full second year cast announced for West End production of TINA - THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL

From 15 April 2019, Nkeki Obi-Melekwe will lead the cast in the title role with Ashley Zhangazha as Ike Turner. They are joined by Maria Omakinwa who will play the role of Tina’s mother Zelma, Aisha Jawando who will play the role of Tina at some performances each week, Irene-Myrtle Forrester as Tina’s Grandmother GG, Howard Gossington as Record Producer Phil Spector and Lyricist Terry Britten, Francesca Jackson as Ike and Tina’s manager Rhonda Graam,Ava Brennan as Tina’s sister Alline Bullock, Jammy Kasongo as Tina’s father Richard Bullock and Tina’s first love Raymond Hill, Edward Bourne as record company Marketing Manager Erwin Bach and Oscar Batterham as Tina’s Manager Roger Davies.

Ensemble members are Daniella Bowen, Chloe Chambers, Joelle Dyson, Lejaun Sheppard, Kibong Tanji, Jayme-Lee Zanoncelli, Cameron Bernard Jones who also plays Tina’s son Craig and Ashlee Irish who plays Tina’s son Ronnie and Joseph Richardson, and swings Gavin Alex, Derek Aidoo, Joshua Da Costa, Amandla Elynah, Hannah Jay-Allan, Angela Marie Hurst, Leisha Mollyneaux and Samuel J. Weir.

The children’s cast are Athea Andi, 11 years old from Richmond upon Thames, Navaeah Hoath, 11 years old from Bromley and Fayth Ifil, 11 years old from Swindon,who share the role of Young Anna Mae, Perola Da Cunha, 11 years old from Hackney, Jasmine Djazel, 9 years old from Wandsworth and Teri Ofon, 12 years old from Surrey, who share the role of Young Alline and Romell Barrocks-Bedeau, 9 years old from Lamberth, Riotafari Gardner, 8 years old from Brent and Myles Grant, 8 years old from Hertfordshire, and who share the role of Young Craig.

Directed by Phyllida Lloyd and written by Katori Hall with Frank Ketelaar and Kees Prins, TINA – THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL is choreographed by Anthony van Laast, with set and costume designs by Mark Thompson, musical supervision by Nicholas Skilbeck, lighting by Bruno Poet,sound by Nevin Steinberg, projection design by Jeff Sugg and orchestrations by Ethan Popp.

From humble beginnings in Nutbush, Tennessee, to her transformation into the global Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll, Tina Turner didn’t just break the rules, she rewrote them. This new stage musical, presented in association with Tina Turner herself, reveals the untold story of a woman who dared to defy the bounds of her age, gender and race.

A 2018 graduate of the The University of Michigan’s School of Music, Theater and Dance, Nkeki Obi-Melekwe will make her West End debut in the title role. She made her professional off-Broadway debut last month in Alice by Heart at Robert W. Wilson MCC Theater Space. Her television credits include Smilf for Showtime and Bull for CBS.

Ashley Zhangazha was last on stage in Death of a Salesman at the Royal Exchange in Manchester where he also appeared in Hamlet and Guys and Dolls, for which he won Best Performance in a Musical at 2018 UK Theatre awards. His other theatre credits include Henry V and Fences in the West End, Pericles and Danton’s Death for the National Theatre, A Raisin in the Sun and Macbeth (for which he won the Ian Charleson Award) at the Sheffield Crucible, Terror for the Lyric Hammersmith, Ah, Wilderness! for the Young Vic, Human Animals, Belong and Truth and Reconciliation for the Royal Court and Richard II and King Lear at the Donmar Warehouse. His television credits include Victoria II, Humans and Ordinary Lies.

The critically acclaimed production received its world premiere in April 2018 in London and subsequently has broken all Box Office records at the Aldwych Theatre. Earlier this month the German premiere of TINA – THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL began performances at the Stage Operettenhaus in Hamburg and the musical will have its Broadway premiere in Autumn 2019. In February this year a new music video of River Deep - Mountain High was released featuring Adrienne Warren performing the track from the original cast album. This was followed by the release of the single The Hunter featuring Kobna Holdbrook-Smith. The full album is now available for pre-order and is scheduled to be released for digital download and streaming shortly.

TINA – THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL is nominated for Best Musical at the 2019 Olivier awards with Adrienne Warren nominated for Best Actress in a Musical and Kobna Holdbrook-Smith for best Actor in a Musical.

TINA – THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL is produced in the West End by Stage Entertainment, Joop van den Ende and Tali Pelman, in association with Tina Turner. Nkeki Obi-Melekwe will be appearing with the support of UK Equity, incorporating the Variety Artistes’ Federation, pursuant to an exchange program between American Equity and UK Equity.