The mascara was legendary. It ran down her face in dark, jagged rivers while she wept for the world on national television. Most people remember Tammy Faye Bakker as a punchline from the 1980s, a caricature of evangelical excess and heavy eyeliner. But when the Tammy Faye Broadway musical arrived at the Palace Theatre in late 2024, it aimed to do something much more difficult than just parodying a fallen televangelist. It tried to find the soul inside the spectacle.
Honestly, it was a massive swing. You've got music by Sir Elton John, lyrics by the Scissor Sisters' Jake Shears, and a book by James Graham, one of the sharpest political playwrights working today. On paper, it was a juggernaut.
Then it hit the stage.
The production opened on November 14, 2024, and by the time the dust settled, it had become one of the most talked-about Broadway stories of the year—though maybe not for the reasons the producers hoped. It closed just weeks later on December 8, after 24 previews and only 29 regular performances. It left behind a $25 million loss and a lot of confused theatergoers.
The Vision: Putting the Fun Back in Faith
The show didn't start in New York. It actually began its life at the Almeida Theatre in London back in 2022. There, it was a bonafide hit. Critics loved the "glitz-bomb" energy. Katie Brayben, who played Tammy Faye, even snagged an Olivier Award for her performance.
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When the transfer to Broadway was announced, the hype was real. The Palace Theatre had just undergone a multi-million dollar renovation, and Tammy Faye was chosen to reopen it. The set design by Bunny Christie was a marvel: a massive 7-by-6 grid of television screens that looked like a high-tech version of Hollywood Squares. It was meant to mimic the way the Bakkers lived their entire lives through a lens.
A Cast of Powerhouses
Even the harshest critics couldn't deny the talent on that stage.
- Katie Brayben reprised her role as Tammy, bringing a voice that could peel the paint off the back wall of the balcony.
- Christian Borle, a two-time Tony winner, stepped in as Jim Bakker, playing him with a sort of twitchy, boyish desperation.
- Michael Cerveris gave a chilling performance as Jerry Falwell, the fundamentalist who eventually orchestrated the Bakkers' downfall.
The musical follows the couple from their early days with puppets in a traveling tent revival to the heights of the PTL (Praise the Lord) Network and the construction of Heritage USA, their ill-fated Christian theme park. It basically tries to condense decades of financial fraud, sexual scandal, and religious warfare into two and a half hours.
Why the Tammy Faye Broadway Musical Fizzled
So, why did a show with Elton John’s name on the marquee fail so quickly? The answer is kinda complicated.
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Timing was a huge factor. The show opened exactly one week after the 2024 U.S. Presidential election. New York audiences were exhausted, and the sight of televangelists manipulating the political landscape—even in a satirical musical—felt a bit too "on the nose" for some. What played as "wacky Americans" to a London audience felt like a grim reality check to a Manhattan one.
The reviews weren't kind, either. The New York Times called it "strangely bland," which is a wild thing to say about a woman who wore three pairs of eyelashes at once. Critics felt the book by James Graham couldn't decide if it wanted to be a serious drama about the rise of the Religious Right or a campy Elton John pop-rock concert.
The Music and the Tone
Elton John’s score was... fine. That was the problem. People expect The Lion King or Billy Elliot levels of melody from Elton, but many felt the songs in Tammy Faye were serviceable but forgettable. There were highlights, though. "Open Hands," a massive ballad about Tammy’s radical inclusivity during the AIDS crisis, was a genuine showstopper.
The lyrics by Jake Shears leaned heavily into camp. You had songs like "He’s Inside Me," which played on double entendres about Jesus, but then the show would suddenly shift into a dark, political debate about the tax-exempt status of churches. The "tonal whiplash" became a common complaint in the lobby during intermission.
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The Legacy of the "Outcast"
Despite the short run, the musical did manage to highlight the one thing that makes Tammy Faye Bakker still relevant: her heart. In the 1980s, when the evangelical world was largely turning its back on the LGBTQ+ community during the AIDS epidemic, Tammy Faye did the unthinkable. She interviewed Steve Pieters, a gay pastor living with AIDS, on her show. She told her viewers they needed to love and support people through the crisis.
The musical puts this moment front and center. It paints Tammy not as a co-conspirator in Jim’s financial crimes, but as a woman who was too busy trying to love everyone to notice the house was on fire.
What We Can Learn from the Flop
Broadway is a brutal business. You can have the best talent in the world and still miss the mark if the "vibe" of the city doesn't align with your story.
If you're looking for lessons from the rise and fall of this production, here are the real takeaways:
- Star power isn't a shield: Even Elton John and Tony-winning actors can't save a script that lacks a clear point of view.
- Cultural context is king: A hit in London doesn't always translate to the U.S., especially when the subject matter is deeply tied to American politics and religion.
- The "Flop" status might change: History is often kinder to Broadway "flops" than the initial reviews are. Shows like Merrily We Roll Along or Side Show became cult classics years after they closed.
While the Tammy Faye Broadway musical won't be breaking any longevity records, it remains a fascinating snapshot of a specific moment in theater history. It was big, it was messy, and it was unapologetic. Sorta like Tammy herself.
For those who missed the production, the best way to understand the story now is through the 2021 film The Eyes of Tammy Faye starring Jessica Chastain, or by diving into the original PTL broadcasts available online. The musical may have closed its doors, but the fascination with the woman behind the makeup isn't going anywhere.