According to the official website of the project, Tammy Faye, the stage musical on the late televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker, which Elton John co-wrote with British playwright James Graham and Scissor Sisters vocalist Jake Shears, will have its Broadway debut in the 2024–2025 season. The musical debuted at the Alameida Theatre in London in the fall of 2022, and the following year it took home two esteemed Olivier Awards. Shears wrote the lyrics, Graham created the book, and John composed the music for Tammy Faye. When the show transfers to Broadway, Rupert Goold, the Olivier Award-winning director of the London production, will assume the same position. According to Playbill, Goold is bringing all of the London production’s creative team, including choreographer Lynne Page and orchestrators Mark Dickman and Tom Deering, to the Broadway adaptation. Visit the YouTube channel of the Alameida Theatre to view a trailer for the London show.
Naturally, John has a wealth of experience collaborating on theater musicals. The Lion King, Aida, Billy Elliot the Musical, and The Devil Wears Prada are just a few of his prior credits. He and lyricist Tim Rice split the 2000 Tony Award for Best Original Score for Aida. Shears has starred in the Broadway musical Kinky Boots and co-wrote a musical based on the Tales of the City novels by Armistead Maupin. He is now playing The Emcee in a London version of Cabaret. In the 1970s and 1980s, Messner first gained notoriety as Tammy Faye Bakker, co-hosting The PTL Club, an evangelical Christian news program, alongside her then-husband Jim Bakker. She was especially well-known for her extravagant mascara and cosmetics application. Later on, Tammy Faye rose to fame as an icon and advocate for the LGBT community. At 65, she passed away from cancer in 2007. The Eyes of Tammy Faye, a 2021 film starring Jessica Chastain, which took home the Best Actress Oscar for the role, likewise focused on Messner.
