Christine Conquergood said being a good Tina Turner impersonator was all about nailing her “signature” look — the red lips and her long legs.
And on Saturday, Feb. 2, at the Rock of the Ages fundraiser in the Cultural Arts Theatre — Conquergood nailed her air guitar performance.
“I think Tina Turner was a fan favourite — she was almost identical to Turner,” said event organizer and R.F. Staples drama teacher Jerry Buchko said. “I was Elvis and I’m even voting for Tina Turner’s You Better Be Good to Me.”
Buchko said the money would contribute to a facelift at the theatre, anticipating the event could have raised about one third of the costs.
“We don’t know how much money we made,” he said, “because we still have to take care of some bills. But we’ll probably know more next week.”
Conquergood traveled to an Edmonton-based costume shop to ensure her performance would sparkle that night.
“We were glad we had that place,” she said with a chuckle. “We said to her, ‘OK — we need a Tina Turner wig’ and bam, she knew exactly what we needed and what to give us so that was good.”
Although she said her costume was just a matter wearing the pantyhose, the dress, the wig and the hot red lipstick.
“Anybody that knows Tina knows she had lips that were … pretty … out there,” Conquergood said. “Tina’s legs were very, very infamous. And I am 5’11” so that did help a little bit.”
But the glamour of that night was only one part of the fun for Conquergood. The highlight, for her, was how much the event resonated within the community.
“The crowd had fun and you could hear them getting into it and cheering,” she said. “The most beautiful thing is that the entire community came together for an event that you wouldn’t really expect to see people in such a small farming community participating in.”
Roughly 230 people attended the show, and Buchko added people who attended the fundraiser have already been asking him when the next one is. “So it looks like we’ll be doing it again next year,” he said.
