Tammy Faye, the stage musical about late televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker on which Elton John collaborated with Scissor Sisters singer Jake Shears and British playwright James Graham, will get its Broadway premiere during the 2024-2025 season, the production’s official website announced. The musical got its premiere in the fall of 2022 at the Alameida Theatre in London and won a pair of prestigious Olivier Awards the following year.
Videos by American Songwriter
John composed the music for Tammy Faye, while Shears penned the lyrics, and Graham wrote the book. Rupert Goold, an Olivier Award-winning director who oversaw the London production, will fill the same role when the musical moves to Broadway.
Meanwhile, Playbill reports that Goold is bringing the rest of the London production’s entire creative on board for the Broadway version, including choreographer Lynne Page, and orchestrators Tom Deering and Mark Dickman. Check out a trailer for the London production at the Alameida Theatre’s YouTube channel.
John, of course, has had plenty of experience working on stage musicals. His previous credits include The Lion King, Aida, Billy Elliot the Musical, and The Devil Wears Prada. In 2000, he won a Tony Award for Best Original Score for Aida, which he shared with lyricist Tim Rice.
Shears’ theatrical experience includes co-writing a musical based on Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City novels and starring in the Broadway musical Kinky Boots. He’s currently featured in a London production of Cabaret, playing The Emcee.
Messner first came to prominence during the 1970s and ’80s, when, as Tammy Faye Bakker, she co-hosted the evangelical Christian news program The PTL Club with her then-husband Jim Bakker. She was particularly known for her flamboyant use of makeup and mascara. Tammy Faye later became an icon and a supporter of the gay community. She died of cancer in 2007 at age 65.
Messner also was the subject of the 2021 film The Eyes of Tammy Faye, which starred Jessica Chastain, who won a Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal.
(Photo by Cameron Smith/Getty Images)
