By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out”)
Thirty-seven years after the scandal-ridden story of televangelists Tammy Faye and Jim Bakker and their popular PTL Club made headlines, an unlikely musical on Broadway tells the tale in song.
An improbable venture to say the least, the music is being furnished by none other than Sir Lord Elton John himself (Aida, The Lion King). With lyrics by popular singer-songwriter Jake Shears of The Scissor Sisters and Tony Award and Oliver Award winner James Graham (Ink), Tammy Faye opened last Thursday night at the newly restored and refurbished Palace Theatre, but within five days of opening had already posted a closing notice for December 8, 2024.
While some aspects of the show may have needed saving, it was not so thoroughly beyond salvation as the hasty closing notice might have indicated.
Transferred from a successful run in London’s West End, Tammy Faye stars in the interim two-time Olivier Award winner Katie Brayben, who reprises her original role as Tammy Faye Bakker. There is no doubt this musical is firmly centered on her and she does not disappoint in her deliberate and nuanced portrayal of the deeply devoted and inspired religious figure.
We are prepared for the joyous nature of TV evangelism while witnessing a young and charismatic Billy Graham (Mark Evans) express the joy in finding salvation through acceptance of God and Christian values. Inspired through her heavily-layered mascara eyes, Tammy Faye sets herself on a path to prove herself worthy of bringing others to her Christian faith.
But as a woman, she is discounted and demeaned by other established members of the existing televangelist network. It is not until she is befriended by Jim Bakker, a Christian puppeteer, that she begins to see the possibilities of success. Bakker is played by two-time Tony Award winner Christian Borle, an enormously talented actor who seemed a curious choice. Distinguished in various over-the-top roles such as William Shakespeare in Something Rotten!, Black Stache in Peter and the Starcatcher and multiple roles in Little Shop of Horrors and Some Like It Hot, having him play just one solitary leading role seems like a bit of shortchanging.
Once the two join as a couple, they begin to spin their simple approach to spreading joy through their Christian faith through the help of cable television programming. It’s during this period of rapid expansion of their PTL (for “praise the Lord”) network that other televangelists led by the Rev. Jerry Falwell (a superb Michael Cerveris) begin to take jealous notice.
Cerveris plays the heavy as few on Broadway can. His “Satellite of God” is one of the most spellbinding numbers of the entire show and his performance is astounding. He quickly establishes himself as a very manipulative and opportunistic ally, who ends up helping himself to what remains of their TV empire.
With television and screens a running theme throughout the production, imaginative scenic designs by Bunnie Christie (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time) featured massive structures that resembled rows of TV sets. In a running gag, characters like Pope John Paul II, Ted Turner, Pat Robertson (all Andy Taylor), Jimmy Swaggart and the Archbishop of Canterbury (both Ian Lassiter), Marvin Gorman and head of the LDS Church Thomas Monson (both Max Gordon Moore) make comments first about the Bakkers’ success and later about their downfall throughout the show.
Before investigations about financial improprieties and gross overspending on personal items by the Bakkers were revealed in the press and courts and Jim Bakker’s attempt to cover up his earlier sexual assault of his former secretary Jessica Hahn (Alana Pollard) was leaked, the PTL Club and their Heritage USA amusement park had them riding high on a veritable sea of tax-deductible donations. But like the fabled walls of Jericho, one day it all fell down as the nation grew weary of the scandals and Falwell swooped in to come to their “rescue.”
Brayben’s “If You Came to See Me Cry,” an 11th hour number that has Tammy Faye as her lowest ebb, but also at her greatest resistance, is the other top selection that will have mascara running on the eyes of what audiences remain until closing.
While the music by Elton John should have been the biggest draw to making this production a bigger success, there is less flash in Tammy Faye from the singer and composer who years ago captivated audiences with his overblown live performances and seemed to have patented the very word “flash.” There are moments of brilliance here and there, but for the most part many of the songs fail to carry the work along as they did in Aida and The Lion King.
Director Rupert Goold, who as artistic director of the Almeida Theatre, guided and shepherded the work on the British stage before its transfer to Broadway, might be questioning why Tammy Faye largely succeeded on the West End, but failed to catch fire in New York. It may have been the show was the victim of the malaise following the recent presidential election, but Broadway audiences have traditionally bounced back after tragedies like 9/11 and the COVID shutdown. The adage “God only knows” may be inserted here because, on paper, this was a heavenly cast.
Tony and Olivier Award-winning costume designer (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child) Katrina Lindsay’s are a source of inspiration in this production and the lighting designs by Neil Austin (Leopoldstadt) and Finn Ross’ (Back to the Future) video designs are also exceptional.
Lynne Page’s choreography in the opening “It’s the Light of the World” featuring Mark Evans as Billy Graham is beyond brilliant, but financial mismanagement and sexual improprieties are hardly the kinds of topics that easily make stage actors break out into dance as the show moves towards it inevitable conclusion in Act II.
In the end, poor advance sales and unenthusiastic reviews have contributed to the demise of what on paper appeared to be a promising venture on Broadway. It is a sin that the producers pulled the plug before it had a chance to find its audience. Perhaps, one day we will see Tammy Faye born again. Can we get an amen to that?
Tammy Faye (2 hours and 30 minutes including a 15-minute intermission) with music by Elton John, lyrics by Jake Shears and a book by James Graham continues at the Palace Theatre, 160 W. 47th Street until its final show on Dec. 8, 2024. At the end of its run, it will have enjoyed 24 previews and 29 shows.
