145
A FEW YEARS AGO I was sitting in
the dimness of the Music Box The-
atre on West 45th Street watching a
rehearsal of the soon-to-open musi-
cal Shuffle Along when Adrienne
Warren, a slight young woman with
delicate features, walked onstage
and, accompanied on the piano,
performed Noble Sissle and Eubie
Blake’s sprightly 1919 number “I’m
Simply Full of Jazz” with such mad-
cap joy and effortless charisma that
before the song was over, I knew that
I was witnessing the birth of a star.
Warren’s eventual performance in
the show earned her a Tony nom-
ination and put her on the theater
world’s radar, though it didn’t quite
vault her into the stratosphere. That’s
about to change, though, as Warren
gets ready to bring her electrifying,
leave-it-all-on-the-field performance
as the titular diva in Tina: The Tina
Turner Musical to Broadway this
month after a hit run in London.
“When I found out that I’d gotten
the job, I thought, I’m so grateful and
I’m so honored—but I’m scared out
of my mind,” Warren recalls. “You
see the strength that Tina has, and
you think, How can I possibly portray
that onstage and empower people the
way that she makes me feel empow-
ered? How can I fully embody that?”
Warren doesn’t have Turner’s
Beyond Thunderdome physique,
though when she turns up to meet
me for coffee near Lincoln Center
in black workout clothes, fresh from
a boxing class, she looks as fit as a
Navy SEAL. She attributes this to
her trainer, former middleweight
champion Michael Olajide Jr., who,
in the course of four months, helped
her gain back the muscle she lost
to play a 1920s showgirl in Shuffle
Along, giving her not just an approx-
imation of Turner’s build but the
stamina to get through a physically
and emotionally punishing two-and-
a-half-hour musical during which she
almost never leaves the stage.
“This role is King Lear times five,”
says Phyllida Lloyd, the show’s direc-
tor. “After doing two shows in a day in
London, she had to be virtually car-
ried to her dressing room and put into
an ice bath, like a footballer. She’s one
of those performers who’s prepared
to go down with the ship.”
Now back in New York after her
year in London, Warren lives on Man-
hattan’s Upper West Side. And though
she’s transparent and wildly enthusias-
tic when talking about playing Turner,
she prefers to not discuss her romantic
life. “Right now, I’m married to this
show and this character,” she says.
Warren’s connection to the icon
goes back to her childhood. “Tina
and I come from similar back-
grounds,” she tells me. “We were
both raised in the South—her dad
was a preacher, my dad is a preacher.
And we were both tomboys, running
through fields and climbing trees
barefoot. When we’re around each
other, I sometimes feel like she’s
my auntie. We have a rapport that
feels very easy and comfortable and
familiar.”
Adrienne Warren
channels an electrif ying,
go-for-broke spirit
and a harrowing,
against-all-odds
life—as Tina: The
Tina Turner Musical
comes to Broadway.
By Adam Green.
Photographed by
A nton Corbijn.
SIMPLY THE BEST
Adrienne Warren wears a Miu Miu cape
and tank top ($690); miumiu.com.
Agolde jeans, $178; agolde.com. Hair,
Nikki Nelms; makeup, Mariel Barrera.
Details, see In This Issue.
Fashion Editor: Max Ortega. CONTINUED ON PAGE 165
Star
Turn
PRODUCED BY WILLIAM GALUSHA
