This week on the Inside Broadway podcast, Christine Nagy chats with Daniel J. Watts about starring in Tina- The Tina Turner Musical. He talks about the intensity of playing Ike Turner and the connection he has with his co-star Adrienne Warren. The show is playing at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. Michael Riedel is out this week.
“It’s both exciting and exhilarating, I love how the story and the show is built. It is like a rock concert from start to finish. Telling Tina’s story and showing her resilience and what she went through.
Playing Ike Turner is not always the fun part. It’s a little bit of a challenge sometimes, you can feel the audience trying to warm up but the damage is done. So it’s just a little bit of understanding that it might be a tricky ride for other people.”
To prepare for this role, Watts read Ike Turners autobiography and went to Turner's childhood home in Clarksdale, Mississippi. Watts wanted to understand Turners past and what made him into the person he is became.
Photo: Getty