Hey, Soul Sister! Tina Turner show is simply the best

SOUL Sister rolled into town this week as the hit West End musical arrived at the Grand Opera House for a week long run.

Based on the life story of global superstar Tina Turner and her turbulant relationship with husband Ike, the show featured all the highs and lows of Turner’s life and career, and had the Belfast crowd dancing in the aisles to some of Turner’s greatest hits.

Emi Wokoma gave a superstar performance as Turner. Superb vocals and tireless energy were just two of her attributes as she captured the essence of Turner in a faultless display.

Equally engaging was Chris Tummings as Turner’s abusive husband Ike. From the charasmatic man first introduced to naive teen Anna Mae Bullock in 1956, when the 16 year old arrived in St Louis straight out of Nutbush, Tennessee, to the abusive womanizer, addicted to drugs he became, Tummings didn’t fail to deliver.

Soul Sister began backstage at the Ritz Ballroom, New York in 1985 where a nervous Turner was waiting to make her first major live solo performance, before the action swept back to 1956 as Anna Mae auditioned for Ike Turner and his Rhythm Kings.

Taking the audience through the decades with a series of live performances, which not only displayed the talent of the singers and dancers, but the musicians alongside them, as well as flashback video projections, which cleverly gave a brief update on world events happening at the same time, the musical told the story of the couple who seemed to have it all, whilst the reality was so different.

Featuring a soundtrack of Turner’s greatest hits from the 60’s through to the 80’s, including Private Dancer, A Fool in Love, Shake a Tail Feather, River Deep, Mountain High, Proud Mary, I Don’t Wanna Fight Anymore, What’s Love Gotta Do With It, and of course, The Best, Soul Sister, brought laughter, gasps of shock at the violence Tina Turner suffered at the hands of her husband, and a mass sing along as the audience were on their feet joining in.

Soul Sister is a thoroughly entertaining show that’ll have you laughing, feeling emotional and most of all, have you singing along to some of the greatest songs of all time.

Soul Sister runs until Saturday May 4. For more information visit www.goh.co.uk