TURNING INTO TINA
Ruva Ngwenya is wowing audiences with her sparkling performances in TINA, her first leading role. She tells The Equity Magazine what it has meant to be catapulted into the spotlight and how, as a black singer who has often felt isolated, she cherishes the opportunity to star on an Australian stage.
In May this year, Ruva Ngwenya was just weeks into her titular role in TINA — The Tina Turner Musical at Sydney’s Theatre Royal when the Queen of Rock ’n’ Roll passed away in Switzerland, aged 83.
“It definitely raised the stakes,” says Ruva. “I felt like I was doing this for her memory and that’s really hard. I think her passing brought the general public in a lot more and got everybody else really invested her story and her legacy. So the pressure’s definitely on but I welcome it, because it’s an absolute honour to tell a black woman’s story every day and have people walk out in tears, feeling uplifted and motivated.”
Shortly before Ruva and the company’s first performance, they received a message from Tina Turner giving them her blessing, saying she was excited the show was being put on in Australia, somewhere with a special place in her heart, and that she believed “Ruva will bring her soul to the role”.
“To have her blessing meant everything to me,” says Ruva, who went through 12 rounds of auditions to land the role, her first lead. Previous credits included The Lion King, We Will Rock You, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Ragtime and Moulin Rouge! The Musical.
Early in the show’s run, The Guardian’s Elissa Blake described TINA as “likely to be a star-making vehicle for the 30-year-old… Ngwenya barely leaves the stage. She’s like an athlete pacing herself through the acting scenes (including difficult scenes of domestic violence), with the enormous vocal strength she needs to nail Turner’s exuberant and powerful style. She captures her range too… Then there’s the dancing.”
“The workload was incredibly daunting, probably more so than playing such an icon, although that freaked me out, too!” Ruva laughs. “That’s what continues to daunt me − the workload and the training and the skill it takes to be able to pull it off every day. It’s not only physically taxing − it’s also mentally quite draining.”
Ruva considers herself first and foremost a singer, and to prepare for the role, she had to hone her acting and dancing skills. “I went to London for training,” she says. “Let’s be honest, that training was just a dance boot camp. I danced and danced and danced for five days straight. It was so awesome to watch myself improve and start to nail the steps. The acting was also challenging, of course, and the director really pushed me because I don’t have formal training. So we did a lot of that foundation work around intentions and actions and breaking down the script and analysing the script − stuff that I’d never done before − and it was really cool to see my acting just leap forward. Now I can get on that stage and control the scene.
“I think that’s what’s been truly life-changing about this experience − seeing what else I’m capable of and doing something scary and going into the unknown and coming out triumphant. That has been the best thing ever.”
Ruva is playing Turner five times a week in Sydney until the end of the year, then, after a short break, she’ll tour with the show to Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane and Melbourne throughout 2024.
“I don’t like to hold back,” she says. “I don’t like to leave juice in the tank; I want to leave it all on the stage. And to be able to do that, I need to be rested. That means vocal rest. That means sleeping in. That means not going out. You need to make sacrifices. You’re not going to be able to go to every social event on the calendar. And it’s ironic because when you’re Tina, all of a sudden everyone invites you to everything. No one was inviting me to these things before!
“I love the saying, ‘On the other side of discipline is freedom’. You do the work — rehearse, rehearse, rehearse, train, work with your vocal coach, rest between performances and then trust that when you get out there, you’re free and relaxed, you’re not holding tension in your body, and you can just do it freely and with ease.”
Ruva grew up in Melbourne, the child of Zimbabwean immigrants. She didn’t imagine a career as a performer, but her natural vocal talent landed her a part in her high school musical, Leader of the Pack, which required her to belt out River Deep −Mountain High, made famous by Turner in 1966. By 16, she was doing Melbourne’s jazz bar circuit and, with the encouragement of a high school drama teacher, she studied music at the Victorian College of the Arts.
Following a stint on The X Factor, where she made it to the top six in her category, Ruva was invited to join the cast of The Lion King and moved to Sydney for the show at 21. “I started my career in a genuinely diverse environment, but when I entered other areas of the industry, I realised, ‘Oh, it’s actually not like that’,” she says. “It kind of feels full circle to come back to a show that is diverse and displays the black experience in a true way… black sound, black aesthetics, different body and hair shapes, different sounds. I’m grateful to be enjoying that because it’s not often showcased on Australian musical-theatre stages.”
When discussing diversity and inclusion in the local live performance industry, Ruva is careful with her words: “I’m trying to avoid saying things that we already know and repeating the same old thing. I don’t want to just say, ‘Inclusion has really been disappointing in Australia’ − we already know that.
“So how else can I paint a picture of what it felt like to me? I guess I would say I felt very alone and isolated in my career. I’m used to being the only black person in the room or on stage. Things that I think everyone else kind of takes for granted because white people are used to being the standard − the standard of beauty, the standard of phonics and sound and how to sing.”
If we want to see continued positive change, Ruva says talent needs to be nurtured from an early age: “That’s what happened to me. I had a gift − I could sing − and I ended up being transferred to an arts school. Talent needs support in both primary and high schools, and it needs to be intentional, going to areas where there’s a diverse environment, with kids who are not going to be exposed to as much training as they need.
“And then, of course, producers and others in charge of putting on shows need to be inclusive on casting panels and briefs. It can’t just be an afterthought or appeasement to the uproar − it has to be an intentional part of casting and recruitment of people in creative and leadership positions, as well as in parts for performers.”
For Ruva, being cast as Tina Turner has been a life changing experience in more ways than one: “Mostly in terms of realising what I’m capable of. I also know how hard it is to make a living as a performer in this country, so I don’t take that part for granted. Getting paid to do what I love is such a privilege.”
In between appearing in some of Australia’s biggest musicals, Ruva has worked at Target and in other casual jobs to make ends meet. Her main advice for up-and-coming performers is to become financially literate early.
“Understand that if you’re going to take on a career in the arts, you need to be very good with finances because your income is going to fluctuate dramatically,” she says. “Don’t get too big for your boots when you book that Disney contract because you could be back at the cafe the month after you finish.”
Ruva also says that in such a small industry, relationships are everything: “You need to move with respect, integrity and kindness because people talk and your reputation is very, very important. You want a positive representation to precede you. People want to work with someone who brings a positive experience to auditions, to table reads, to workshops and to the show itself.”
Like every performer, Ruva has experienced disappointment and rejection, and says learning to focus on the ‘why?’ is essential. “I didn’t get a lot of shows I auditioned for,” she says. “I really wanted to do Hamilton. It was disappointing when I didn’t get what was bucket list show for me. But your journey is not the big show, the big lead role, the journey is following your path and your passion, and you do it every single day, regardless of whether you’re in an audition room or on stage or in an ensemble or wherever you fit in the puzzle at that moment in time.
“We know people don’t get adequately compensated for their work in other areas of the industry and they’re striking about it. So I’m very fortunate that I’m able to make a living singing. I would say, overall, I’m blessed and very fortunate to be part of the industry in Australia.”
• TINA — The Tina Turner Musical is currently playing in Sydney and will tour the rest of Australia in 2024. For more information and tickets, visit tinathemusical.com.au
Lizzie Franks is editor of The Equity Magazine.
