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.
But after that teasing introduction, Tammy Faye’s signature Kabuki facade barely figures in the disjointed, strangely bland musical that opened on Thursday at the newly renovated Palace Theater. It is laudable that the show’s composer, Elton John; lyricist, Jake Shears (of Scissor Sisters); book writer, James Graham; and director, Rupert Goold, tried to go behind the mask of this complicated, outsize woman, whose public persona was shaped by and for television. The problem is that they ended up making her smaller than life.
The blithe big-tent-ism (which also seems to be Elton’s go-to interview stance) feels pat. Clearly the production’s not all that interested in people with serious Christian-conservative leanings, unless they have a whole lot of patience for endless puns about Jesus being “inside her/him/me/you” and “the sound of the Lord, coming right in your ear.” And if you are, to quote Tammy Faye’s version of Jimmy Swaggart, a “liberal-loving Marxist,” you’re probably too heartsick to find all this much fun.
2024 | Broadway | Original Broadway Production Broadway |
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