Photo: Pari DukovicWhenNkeki Obi-Melekwewas auditioning for the starring role ofTina Turnerin the musical about the Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll, she didn’t even tell her parents — at first!“I was dating somebody at the time, and I just went ghost for like a week,” Obi-Melekwe, 25, tells PEOPLE. “It was a whirlwind week, so when I actually picked up the phone and said, ‘So I was auditioning forTina Turner, and I got it, and I’m moving to London in two months,’ they were like, ‘What?!’ “Tina: The Tina Turner Musicalwas the University of Michigan graduate’s first big gig since finishing college just a few months prior in 2018. Before she knew it, Obi-Melekwe was flying off to Switzerland to meet Turner and her husband Erwin Bach at their chateau for tea.There, the music icon, now 82, got to know more about the new star who would play her in London and eventually on Broadway.Obi-Melekwe comes from a Nigerian family; her parents immigrated to the United States in the 1990s during a nursing shortage. Her father is now a doctor, and her parents own and manage an assisted living center in South Carolina. As the only professional performer in her family, Obi-Melekwe says that playing Turner “is incredible to them.““It’s really accessible to my family,” she says. “The fact that it’s Tina Turner and somebody who is so globally known.“Growing up in North Carolina, Obi-Melekwe says her parents had to “warm up” to the thought of her pursuing a career as an actor. “They come from a place where the key out or the key to success is to be a doctor or a lawyer, things like that, that are stable and sturdy, so to be interested in something that is not only unstable, but also not something that they know, it took a lot of warming up,” she explains.RELATED VIDEO: See an Exclusive First Look at Beanie Feldstein and Jane Lynch in Rehearsals for Broadway’sFunny GirlStill, her parents and three siblings always remained supportive, and the Broadway actress is paying it forward — literally.As part of a tradition in Obi-Melekwe’s family, the first paycheck from a new job is shared with one’s family members. “When I knew I was coming back toTina, I had thatTinacheck, and I divvied it up to my mom’s sister, my dad’s brother… My dad’s the oldest of nine, so everyone got little pieces of the pie,” she says. “In the sense of, ‘It takes a village to raise a child,’ the child gives back to the village when they’re able.“When theaters across the globe shut down due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Obi-Melekwe spent time at home in North Carolina and even took trips to Nigeria — the first of which she describes as a “major homecoming” and a time to “get back in touch with the language that my family speaks” and “the culture that my family is from.“Now that Broadway has reopened and Obi-Melekwe headlines the bio musical at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, a little bit of Nigeria is coming to her.“Since my parents moved to the States in the ’90s, my aunt and uncle — my dad’s brother and his wife — have been trying to apply for a visa to come here,” she explains. “And it’s really difficult to get a visa to get into the States, period, but particularly from underdeveloped countries or a country that the U.S. doesn’t have an agreement with. They kept getting denied, until this last time that they applied.“Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free weekly newsletterto get the biggest news of the week delivered to your inbox every Friday.When her aunt and uncle were asked why there were coming to the United States, they explained that they planned to see Obi-Melekwe play Turner on Broadway. “The embassy was like, ‘Oh, really?’ And they looked it up, and they were like, ‘Yes, you have the same last name. This is a real thing.’ And they got their visa. So they’re actually in the country right now.“They, along with Obi-Melekwe’s parents, will seeTina: The Tina Turner Musicalon Broadway in two weeks. “They’re so beyond proud of me,” Obi-Melekwe says of her parents. “And that’s what we all want, right? To make our mom proud and do things that our parents can show off.“She jokes, “They’re constantly sending memypress! This interview is gonna come out, and they’re gonna be like, ‘Have you seen this?’ “Tina: The Tina Turner Musicalis currently playing at Broadway’s Lunt-Fontanne Theatre.
Photo: Pari Dukovic
WhenNkeki Obi-Melekwewas auditioning for the starring role ofTina Turnerin the musical about the Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll, she didn’t even tell her parents — at first!“I was dating somebody at the time, and I just went ghost for like a week,” Obi-Melekwe, 25, tells PEOPLE. “It was a whirlwind week, so when I actually picked up the phone and said, ‘So I was auditioning forTina Turner, and I got it, and I’m moving to London in two months,’ they were like, ‘What?!’ “Tina: The Tina Turner Musicalwas the University of Michigan graduate’s first big gig since finishing college just a few months prior in 2018. Before she knew it, Obi-Melekwe was flying off to Switzerland to meet Turner and her husband Erwin Bach at their chateau for tea.There, the music icon, now 82, got to know more about the new star who would play her in London and eventually on Broadway.Obi-Melekwe comes from a Nigerian family; her parents immigrated to the United States in the 1990s during a nursing shortage. Her father is now a doctor, and her parents own and manage an assisted living center in South Carolina. As the only professional performer in her family, Obi-Melekwe says that playing Turner “is incredible to them.““It’s really accessible to my family,” she says. “The fact that it’s Tina Turner and somebody who is so globally known.“Growing up in North Carolina, Obi-Melekwe says her parents had to “warm up” to the thought of her pursuing a career as an actor. “They come from a place where the key out or the key to success is to be a doctor or a lawyer, things like that, that are stable and sturdy, so to be interested in something that is not only unstable, but also not something that they know, it took a lot of warming up,” she explains.RELATED VIDEO: See an Exclusive First Look at Beanie Feldstein and Jane Lynch in Rehearsals for Broadway’sFunny GirlStill, her parents and three siblings always remained supportive, and the Broadway actress is paying it forward — literally.As part of a tradition in Obi-Melekwe’s family, the first paycheck from a new job is shared with one’s family members. “When I knew I was coming back toTina, I had thatTinacheck, and I divvied it up to my mom’s sister, my dad’s brother… My dad’s the oldest of nine, so everyone got little pieces of the pie,” she says. “In the sense of, ‘It takes a village to raise a child,’ the child gives back to the village when they’re able.“When theaters across the globe shut down due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Obi-Melekwe spent time at home in North Carolina and even took trips to Nigeria — the first of which she describes as a “major homecoming” and a time to “get back in touch with the language that my family speaks” and “the culture that my family is from.“Now that Broadway has reopened and Obi-Melekwe headlines the bio musical at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, a little bit of Nigeria is coming to her.“Since my parents moved to the States in the ’90s, my aunt and uncle — my dad’s brother and his wife — have been trying to apply for a visa to come here,” she explains. “And it’s really difficult to get a visa to get into the States, period, but particularly from underdeveloped countries or a country that the U.S. doesn’t have an agreement with. They kept getting denied, until this last time that they applied.“Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free weekly newsletterto get the biggest news of the week delivered to your inbox every Friday.When her aunt and uncle were asked why there were coming to the United States, they explained that they planned to see Obi-Melekwe play Turner on Broadway. “The embassy was like, ‘Oh, really?’ And they looked it up, and they were like, ‘Yes, you have the same last name. This is a real thing.’ And they got their visa. So they’re actually in the country right now.“They, along with Obi-Melekwe’s parents, will seeTina: The Tina Turner Musicalon Broadway in two weeks. “They’re so beyond proud of me,” Obi-Melekwe says of her parents. “And that’s what we all want, right? To make our mom proud and do things that our parents can show off.“She jokes, “They’re constantly sending memypress! This interview is gonna come out, and they’re gonna be like, ‘Have you seen this?’ “Tina: The Tina Turner Musicalis currently playing at Broadway’s Lunt-Fontanne Theatre.
WhenNkeki Obi-Melekwewas auditioning for the starring role ofTina Turnerin the musical about the Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll, she didn’t even tell her parents — at first!
“I was dating somebody at the time, and I just went ghost for like a week,” Obi-Melekwe, 25, tells PEOPLE. “It was a whirlwind week, so when I actually picked up the phone and said, ‘So I was auditioning forTina Turner, and I got it, and I’m moving to London in two months,’ they were like, ‘What?!’ "
Tina: The Tina Turner Musicalwas the University of Michigan graduate’s first big gig since finishing college just a few months prior in 2018. Before she knew it, Obi-Melekwe was flying off to Switzerland to meet Turner and her husband Erwin Bach at their chateau for tea.
There, the music icon, now 82, got to know more about the new star who would play her in London and eventually on Broadway.
Obi-Melekwe comes from a Nigerian family; her parents immigrated to the United States in the 1990s during a nursing shortage. Her father is now a doctor, and her parents own and manage an assisted living center in South Carolina. As the only professional performer in her family, Obi-Melekwe says that playing Turner “is incredible to them.”
“It’s really accessible to my family,” she says. “The fact that it’s Tina Turner and somebody who is so globally known.”
Growing up in North Carolina, Obi-Melekwe says her parents had to “warm up” to the thought of her pursuing a career as an actor. “They come from a place where the key out or the key to success is to be a doctor or a lawyer, things like that, that are stable and sturdy, so to be interested in something that is not only unstable, but also not something that they know, it took a lot of warming up,” she explains.
RELATED VIDEO: See an Exclusive First Look at Beanie Feldstein and Jane Lynch in Rehearsals for Broadway’sFunny Girl
Still, her parents and three siblings always remained supportive, and the Broadway actress is paying it forward — literally.
As part of a tradition in Obi-Melekwe’s family, the first paycheck from a new job is shared with one’s family members. “When I knew I was coming back toTina, I had thatTinacheck, and I divvied it up to my mom’s sister, my dad’s brother… My dad’s the oldest of nine, so everyone got little pieces of the pie,” she says. “In the sense of, ‘It takes a village to raise a child,’ the child gives back to the village when they’re able.”
When theaters across the globe shut down due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Obi-Melekwe spent time at home in North Carolina and even took trips to Nigeria — the first of which she describes as a “major homecoming” and a time to “get back in touch with the language that my family speaks” and “the culture that my family is from.”
Now that Broadway has reopened and Obi-Melekwe headlines the bio musical at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, a little bit of Nigeria is coming to her.
“Since my parents moved to the States in the ’90s, my aunt and uncle — my dad’s brother and his wife — have been trying to apply for a visa to come here,” she explains. “And it’s really difficult to get a visa to get into the States, period, but particularly from underdeveloped countries or a country that the U.S. doesn’t have an agreement with. They kept getting denied, until this last time that they applied.”
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free weekly newsletterto get the biggest news of the week delivered to your inbox every Friday.
When her aunt and uncle were asked why there were coming to the United States, they explained that they planned to see Obi-Melekwe play Turner on Broadway. “The embassy was like, ‘Oh, really?’ And they looked it up, and they were like, ‘Yes, you have the same last name. This is a real thing.’ And they got their visa. So they’re actually in the country right now.”
They, along with Obi-Melekwe’s parents, will seeTina: The Tina Turner Musicalon Broadway in two weeks. “They’re so beyond proud of me,” Obi-Melekwe says of her parents. “And that’s what we all want, right? To make our mom proud and do things that our parents can show off.”
She jokes, “They’re constantly sending memypress! This interview is gonna come out, and they’re gonna be like, ‘Have you seen this?’ "
Tina: The Tina Turner Musicalis currently playing at Broadway’s Lunt-Fontanne Theatre.
source: people.com
