The story of a traveling preacher’s wife who beamed into homes with a message of hope… and stole the country’s heart.
It’s the 1970s. As satellites broadcast brand-new cable programming into American homes, millions fall in love with Tammy Faye Bakker – the charismatic wife of pastor Jim Bakker. Together, they build a nationwide congregation that puts the fun back into faith. But, even as Tammy dazzles on screen, jealous rivals plot behind the scenes, threatened by her determination to lead with love.
Wrapped in a joyful and deliriously fun score that could only come from Elton John, with lyrics by Scissor Sisters’ Jake Shears, a book by Olivier Award-winning playwright James Graham, and directed by Olivier Award winner Rupert Goold, TAMMY FAYE shines a sparkling light on the generous, loving, often lonely soul behind the illustrious lashes. Reprising their celebrated West End performances, the divine cast is led by two-time Olivier Award winner Katie Brayben as Tammy Faye and Olivier and Tony Award® nominee Andrew Rannells as Jim Bakker.
Directed by Rupert Goold (Ink, Patriots), this show is a guilty pleasure awash in a colorful struggle between good and evil. As fun as it is, the musical might seem quaint to anyone who’s come of age in an era where Donald Trump is the hero of the Evangelists, despite being an adjudicated rapist, adulterer, and fraudster. Tammy Faye is a healthy reminder that back in the good old days, scandals could actually harm you.
The structure and messaging of the musical is a puzzle. At moments, it wants to be as gleefully salacious and irreverent as The Book of Mormon with songs like “He’s Inside Me” featuring Brayben and Christian Borle (Jim; both excellent of voice) imagining God physically inside them. “God’s House/Heritage USA” also revels in the technicolor, surreal lunacy of the Bakkers constructing a Christianity-centered theme park. Here, the musical briefly, and successfully, revels in how excessive their subject matter is. The rest of the songs—shockingly, given the musical bona fides of their creators—are earnest, forgettable duds, with a story surrounding the Bakkers that becomes more and more ill-fitting as the performance progresses.
2024 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
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