Anna Mae Bullock was a teenage gospel singer who had only ever sung in churches when she met the man who would turn her life upside-down.

Ike Turner was a musician, bandleader, songwriter, and record producer who took charge of the 16-year-old, moulded her into one half of a charismatic double act and renamed her Tina Turner.

When Tina eventually fled the volatile relationship, she was to emerge two decades later as a superstar solo performer with a volcanic voice. With around 180 million album and single sales worldwide, she has nine Grammy Awards and was declared one of the greatest artists of all time by Rolling Stone magazine.

Soul Sister, a lively musical celebrating the music, life and times of Tina Turner, has won acclaim from critics and audiences since its inception at Hackney Empire.

The praise is largely reserved for Emi Wokoma, who delivers an explosive performance as Tina Turner, aged 16 to 45.

“It’s been the best experience of my life,” says Emi. “Tina never kept still, so going through her performances is like having a work-out every night. It’s a very demanding role, but I love it.”

The score, tracing Ike and Tina Turner’s success in the 1960s to Tina’s sensational comeback in the 1980s, includes River Deep, Mountain High, Proud Mary, You Should’a Treated Me Right, Private Dancer and What’s Love Gotta Do With It.

Emi studied footage of Tina to capture her distinctive style of performance. “I’m an actress playing Tina, I’m not doing an impression of her, but I try to embody her,” says Emi.

“She had a raw appeal; she wasn’t bothered about being sexy or pretty, she had her own style. It was said that Ike and Tina’s act was ‘too white for black audiences and too black for white audiences’, but somehow their music crossed over.

“The 1950s and 60s was a classy period, but even then, as a young woman, Tina had her quirks. In the racially-segregated Deep South, life was tough for a black woman and she was a survivor. Her wild woman persona was also an outlet during her tempestuous relationship with Ike.”

Soul Sister follows the highs, lows, passion and heartbreak of Ike and Tina as their careers soared while their marriage crumbled. Emi says that while the show doesn’t shy away from portraying their violent relationship, it presents them both as rounded, credible characters.

“You can’t excuse Ike’s behaviour, but this was a man who was being pushed out. When Phil Spector got involved, he only wanted Tina – she wouldn’t have been anything without Ike, who took her out of Nutbush and moulded her, yet she was getting all the attention.

“As a five-year-old boy, Ike had watched his father being beaten to death by a group of white men, that had to have some kind of effect on his life.”

Emi played Daphne Fox in EastEnders and has appeared in stage productions including Hairspray and Trevor Nunn’s Porgy and Bess. She was working as a fitness instructor when she landed the role in Soul Sister.

“I didn’t think I’d get it, and almost didn’t go for the audition, but I’m so glad I did,” she says. “We get diehard fans coming along to the show so there’s a responsibility with getting it right. Tina touched and meant a lot to a lot of people, for various reasons.

“She’s an iconic strong, independent woman, she has always been different from other female artists and out of the box – and her music has touched so many hearts. It’s the role of a lifetime.”

Soul Sister runs at the Alhambra from Monday to next Saturday. For tickets, ring (01274) 432000.