Shawn Barker, star of The Man in Black – A Tribute to Johnny Cash, appears at the Living Arts Centre on March 28.Supplied
Tina. Aretha. Johnny. The pathos and the passion behind these three megastars – each so iconic they are usually identified by their first name – is back in the spotlight this spring. While many fans are well acquainted with the biographies and biopics linked to these sonic royals, three new Toronto-based stage adaptations from the Living Arts Centre in Mississauga, The Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Mirvish Productions aim to offer audiences a new perspective on the trio’s lives and times.
Simply the Best
Playing at the Ed Mirvish Theater (June 18-July 28), Tina – The Tina Turner Musical, dramatizes the private and public highs and lows of the most influential reigning monarch of rock’n’ roll.
Through a series of powerhouse anthems and ballads, like “What’s Love Got to Do with It?” “The Best” and “Better Be Good To Me,” this tribute recounts Turner’s trajectory in two acts.
The first act speaks to her early days as a struggling newbie touring with her abusive husband in the Ike and Tina Revue in the 1960s and touches on her humbling-yet-liberating post-divorce disco era performing “Disco Inferno” at venues across the continent, including Caesars Palace in 1977.
Ari Groover as Tina Turner in the North American touring production of Tina – The Tina Turner Musical.Matt Murphy/MurphyMade
The second act incorporates Turner’s mammoth comeback and success story through several of her Billboard hits from the 1980s throughout the early 2000s. Turner not only gave her blessing to the show’s creators but also insisted on schooling Tina’s choreographers on signature fancy footwork (like “the Pony,” a move which she taught Mick Jagger).
During Tina’s Broadway debut, Turner confided in Oprah Winfrey that she felt the bio-musical was a “big victory.” After the production’s first New York City show, Turner even took to the stage to vocalize her appreciation, saying: “Thank you for giving me that feeling of wondering what it would be like to sit in an audience and watch a performance of mine!”
R-E-S-P-E-C-T for Aretha
It’s no surprise that the Toronto Symphony Orchestra had to ask three singers to split vocal duties while tackling the Queen of Soul’s grand repertoire for Freedom! A Tribute to Aretha Franklin. This soulful homage, which takes place at Roy Thompson Hall (May 21-22), incorporates Franklin’s most outstanding recordings, a legacy which criss-crosses R&B, blues and dance.
The TSO’s tribute to Aretha Franklin, featuring Shaleah Adkisson, plays May 21-22.Supplied
Her distinct repertoire allowed Franklin to bend, curve, blast and lull her notes in such a profound way that the city of Detroit declared her pipes to be a natural resource. Last year, Rolling Stone magazine named her the greatest singer of all time. Career-changing songs are reimagined in Freedom, by Broadway supernovas Shaleah Adkisson, Blaine Alden Krauss and Tamika Lawrence. The show’s set list includes Franklin’s famed feminist anthem “R-E-S-P-E-C-T,” her subtly crooned cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” and her smouldering treatise to lust, “Dr. Feelgood.”
Adkisson – a New Yorker who stars in Freedom – says preparing for it required taking a deep dive into the Queen’s catalogue.
“Many of Aretha’s songs are iconic and this show is packed with them,” says Adkisson, who tackles some of Franklin’s hardest hymns, including the gospel-soul ballad “Ain’t No Way.”
“I listened to as many versions of each song I could find,” Adkisson says. “They each helped me discover how each song evolved for her.”
Franklin’s own flesh and blood attended Freedom during its stop in the Queen of Soul’s hometown. “The cast met Aretha’s family when we played Detroit – one of whom sang background vocals on several of her albums,” Adkisson says, “They gave Freedom their seal of approval.”
Soul-pop singer Blaine Alden Krauss sings Aretha Franklin’s rendition of “A Change is Gonna Come” in Freedom! A Tribute to Aretha Franklin at Roy Thompson Hall in May.Supplied
Spectacular numbers from the Arethaverse were methodically chosen, which opened up an opportunity for soul-pop singer Blaine Alden Krauss. He sings Franklin’s rendition of “A Change is Gonna Come”– a Sam Cooke cover Franklin sang on her breakthrough album of 1967, I Never Loved a Man (the Way I Love You). “As the only male vocalist in the show, it’s a unique experience getting to interpret the Queen,” he says. “This show speaks to the universality of her musicianship as a songwriter and pianist, and to her lyrics – which touch everyone.”
Tip of the hat to the Man in Black
Having done more than 1,000 shows across 12 countries, Shawn Barker – the star of The Man in Black – A Tribute to Johnny Cash – is a bass baritone tailor-made for rousing tears in beers. The show’s stop at the Living Arts Centre in Mississauga on March 28 is an accumulation of the singer/actor’s channelling of the King of Country.
Dedicated to his job, Barker went to Tennessee and devised a pilgrimage to Cash before stepping on stage. “I visited Johnny’s house and his grave,” Barker says of his preparations. “I was even asked to front the Johnny Cash band when they continued [to] tour after his death,” he says proudly. “I worked with Johnny’s drummer, and we became good friends, so I got a lot of backstory. It helped with the history in the show.”
The Man in Black brings audiences on a chronological journey of Cash’s personal peaks and valleys. Barker shares the stage with singers cast as the underrated country legends, the Carter Sisters. One of the members in the group, June, wrote Cash’s hit “Ring of Fire” and became his long-time muse and wife.
Among the highlights is Barker mirroring Cash’s stark coolness while performing “A Boy Called Sue.” In it, he echoes his idol’s dark humour by crooning “This world is rough… you gotta be tough” with conviction.
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