Roderick Lawrence has made waves with his portrayal of Ike Turner in Tina, the musical that tells the life of music legend Tina Turner.
After claiming the role in May, Lawrence took on the challenge of humanizing a damaged man who has been viewed as a villain by the masses. While no small feat, Lawrence was eager to play the role and help tell Ike’s story with more totality than it has in the past.
Sitting down with BLACK ENTERPRISE, Lawrence shared his thought process while playing Ike on stage while knowing the horrific truths
surrounding his tumultuous marriage to Tina.“I just feel like what we do know is true was terrible. And the things that happened in his life that were terrible were also true,” he explains.
But to the acclaimed actor/producer and co-founder of Black Man Films, it was important to share Ike’s story as it highlights the tale of the “broken Black man.”
“It was more about diving into this broken Black man’s life,”
“Why? It’s always in the why and how
did you become this way and I think that society in America, everything in general tends to do pretty well with diving into the whys of everyone else’s origin stories, except for when that comes to a broken Black man.”There are some intriguing historical facts about Ike Turner that Lawrence helps shed light on through his performance, including his traumatic childhood, which included witnessing his father being beaten to death by an angry mob for an alleged affair with a white woman. There’s also Turner’s belief that he created rock & roll and had it stolen from him and given to white performers of that time.
It’s also long been unknown that the legendary musician Jimi Hendrix was a backup guitar player for Ike’s band prior to being fired. Lawrence credits Ike’s musical genius and takes pride in being able to showcase that on the main stage.
“The things that he [Ike Turner] went through in his lifetime before the times that we talk about, like before Tina, a lot of it’s so tragic,” Lawrence says.
“A lot of it is so disgustingly America as well.”
Lawrence notes the “research” that can be done to support Ike’s claims of starting rock and roll music only for white music execs to take the music and “put somebody else’s name on it.”
“It’s crazy because it’s the history of our people and our culture,” Lawrence said.
Lawrence can be seen playing Ike Turner in Tina as it tours the United States into 2024. Tickets and tour dates can be found here.
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