Louisiana native Meghan Dawson is making waves as she steps into one of musical theater’s most demanding roles. The accomplished performer, who credits her upbringing surrounded by rich musical culture for sparking her performance aspirations, now commands the stage as Tina Turner in the national tour of “Tina, the Tina Turner Musical.”
Fresh from her acclaimed performances as Catherine Parr in “Six! The Musical” and having trained operatically at Louisiana State University, Dawson brings both technical prowess and authentic storytelling to her portrayal of the rock and roll legend. Her journey from the Louisiana bayou to center stage represents a testament to the power of staying true to one’s roots while reaching for the stars.
Currently captivating Chicago audiences, Dawson reflects on embodying powerful women throughout her career, the challenges of stepping into Tina’s iconic shoes and the message of limitless possibility she hopes to share with every performance.
What does it mean to step into Tina Turner’s shoes on such a massive stage, and how did your journey lead to this moment?
It’s a blessing. It is truly a blessing to be able to fill the shoes of trailblazers in my career. My whole career, I always joke, I’ve always played queens. My first queen I did, Queen Catherine Parr; then I was doing Aretha Franklin; and now I’m doing the Queen of Rock and Roll, so I’ll joke sometimes I don’t know what Queen is gonna be next, but I hope she[s] ready for me.
Tina’s story is filled with pain, power, and triumph. What part of her journey resonates most deeply with your own experience as an artist and as a woman?
I think both as an artist and a woman, we get told what we can and can’t do, and who we can and can’t be. Throughout my own life and career, and Tina’s as well, there’s always just been that underlying idea of I don’t know how I’m gonna get there, but I know what I have; and I know that that can get me there. How? I don’t know. Who’s gonna need to help me, what tools I’m gonna need; I don’t know all of that. But the underlying feeling of knowing that what you have is strong enough to battle, to come up against any type of thing anybody wants to put against you to think that you can’t do this, you can’t be this.
Okay, we’ll see. I think that she was a big “we’ll see” type of person. Let us see what this is gonna be. It’s one of my favorite lines in the show; and I know that very well.
You’ve played powerful women like Catherine Parr in Six and now Tina Turner. What draws you to these roles and how do you approach embodying women who’ve left such a major cultural impact?
I almost want to say I feel like the stories are drawn to me, because as an artist, it’s all about the hustle, and I personally don’t sit at home and say, “Well, I will only accept Queen roles,” but when it comes to certain things, when you get the material and you’re able to read the stories and you can do your research and when you’re able to go in the room, it’s just certain stories and certain people that you try it on and you go, “you know what? This feels right, this feels right.” And when I got the call to play Tina, there was a wow moment; but there was a “Yeah, I’m ready. I’m ready.”
You’re proudly from Louisiana and often speak about your community and faith. How have these shaped your artistry and how you show up in your performances?
Authenticity and honesty. I grew up in the country, very Cajun, very grounded, very simple; and then [I] flipped to being operatically trained. My accent not being professional, and the way that I naturally was not being professional; and then [I was] switching back into musical theater where they wanted me. They didn’t want what I was taught, so I think it was refreshing honestly to be able to reconnect with who I am. The time that we spent away specifically for the pandemic, I think that it really made people question, “Who am I when I’m alone and when I’m by myself?” And I think for a lot of people, it made us better artists, because the only way you can really dive into who a person or a character is, is if you know yourself in which you find those parallels. I think the more honest I can be, the more I am able to step into who Tina was, because she was unapologetically herself; and that is what made her so likable for everyone. She couldn’t be anybody else, and I’m the same way.
There’s a lot of singing, dancing and acting involved. Which was the most challenging part of this process for you?
The dancing. I’m not a trained dancer. I could hit a step, I could keep a groove, but to keep up with the incredible dancers in this show. Because when Tina was dancing with the Ikettes it was a blend. Most of the choreography she made herself. So, even though they specifically were not trained at the highest level of being dancers, they were tight, and they made it look like we just came up with this on the fly, even though they were rehearsing for hours. It looked organic, and I think keeping the things that make it feel organic is actually what helps me as not being a trained person, to make it all really fit together. And so you’re not just sitting there like, “Oh, this is a theater show with trained dancers.” It looks real, we bring the realness.
As you travel with this tour and bring Tina’s story to cities across the country, what message do you hope audiences leave with after seeing your performance?
There is no ceiling. Truly the quote is “the top of one mountain is the bottom of another,” and I think the message of Tina’s entire story is she never stopped climbing. She reached her pinnacle later on in life, where she said, “I think I’m good. I can rest now.” But as far as her career, as far as self-discovery and all of those things, she never quit trying things. She never quit playing and experimenting, and never stopped climbing. There’s no boxes, there’s no ceiling.
“Tina, the Tina Turner Musical” runs June 3-8, 2025, at the Cadillac Palace Theater in Chicago as part of its North American national tour.
