TAMMY FAYE Previews — Page 6

I was there this afternoon as well. It took WAYYY too long to get off the ground and things didn’t take off (for lack of a better term) until almost the end of Act I. The entirety of the show seemed almost afraid to lean into ANYTHING campy, with the exception of the song “He’s Inside Me”, which is just mile-a-minute innuendo festival.

Christian Borle looks remarkably uncomfortable and stiff. I know he can play into the clownishness of Bakker, but none of it feels genuine. Brayben also suffers from a similar issue - too much “aw, shucks” earnestness (as well as a slipping accent, having volleyed between plain American, British, a little Carole King, and a little Dolly Parton). Those small emotions do NOT register in the mighty Palace. Act II is her moment to shine, but at that point, it’s just too little, too late. The book also deviates away from her character WAY too much.

I honestly think Cerveris comes out the best here, because there isn’t anything he can’t do. He definitely knows how to lose himself in a role and I buy him as Falwell, both righteous and nefarious. In what could be a slight category, it’s possible he might slide in to Featured Actor in a Musical. (He did it for the EVITA revival). Charl Brown also is great as the AIDS patient that Tammy Faye embraces on air, but the character is underused. 

Honestly, I feel like a personality of this character requires a HERE LIES LOVE-esque treatment. Here. It feels like a smaller musical with a midlevel cast trapped in a giant theatre.

If it’s still open, I’ll go back in a month to see Autumn

I’m going tonight and absolutely dreading it. Excited to see The Palace though.

quizking101 said:  I honestly think Cerveris comes out the best here, because there isn’t anything he can’t do. He definitely knows how to lose himself in a role and I buy him as Falwell, both righteous and nefarious.

This is certainly good to hear. Wasn't sure about seeing this again at Broadway prices, but a great performance by Cerveris could get me there

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Has the book changed much since London? As I read reviews between here and Reddit, it seems like the biggest complaint is the book. Funny how the book was raved in London. Also interesting that they list this as 2:30 runtime on the website but people are saying it runs about 2:45. Are they throwing the kitchen sink to see what lands and have major cuts coming? 
 

I do appreciate hearing all the reviews—keep ‘em coming!

Bettyboy is dead on while still being way too kind. This is a steaming pile of dog mess. I had to leave at intermission. It commits the greatest crime in show business: it’s boring. The lead actress has a lovely voice but she looked and sounded nothing like Tammy Faye. Why was she doing a Staten Island accent? She looked much more like Amy Sedaris and I kept wishing that it was Amy Sedaris. She would have been able to turn this low camp mess into something entertaining. Maybe.

The show itself is like a painful Drag Race acting challenge that never ends. Song after song after song. Crass, cringe “jokes” that get no laughs. Tacky costumes with an ensemble working overtime to sell the mess they’re in and failing miserably. There was a “gay tap dancing Jesus” moment that was particularly humiliating.

Tammy herself is mostly lost (in the first act, anyway) and it falls on Christian Borle’s shoulders. He tries his best but it’s a bit clear he knows this is a turkey. The many screens on stage are distracting, distorted, and tacky.

The Palace renovation is a little cruise ship but still handsome. The orchestra looked mostly full (half of the audience was asleep) and when I went upstairs to see the renovations I noted that the mezz was about 1/3 full.

Next.

Updated On: 10/28/24 at 09:55 PM

TotallyEffed said: "It commits the greatest crime in show business: it’s boring."

More or less boring than New York, New York?

 

well, the Palace looks great!

usually when yall come out and trash a show, my lowered expectations are pleasantly surpassed and i find myself having fun despite a show's many flaws. not tonight. maybe its the fantastic movie with such compelling turns from Chastain and Garfield but oh em gee was this rough.

And by rough I mean mostly boring. The dullness is primarily the fault of the score which is mind numbingly bad until Act 2, when a few good numbers suddenly appear way too late. This might sound insane, but i thought everyone was doing a good job on stage, which somehow made it worse? The crappy music is made worse by insultingly unfunny dialogue between scenes. Its just uncomfortable--the jokes dont land, and the "moments" they were going for fall totally flat (that scene at the end with the choir members was criminally horrible). As others have said, the pace did pick up a bit in Act 2 but I actually think the show is too kind on the Bakkers, both of whom (and especially she) are portrayed as tragic heroes, even while acknowledging that they were thieving scam artists. Yes its very nice that Tammy Faye was kind to AIDS patients, but that single (and admittedly wonderful) instance is trotted out more than once it almost felt exploitative. 

Odd choices abound, and most arent successful. We open and close on Tammy Faye in a proctologists office for what seems to be the sole purpose of making butt jokes. Once every ten minutes actors enter/exit up the center aisle of the enormously long orchestra for reasons beyond my understanding. There are platforms that rise up whenever someone sings a big song, like clockwork, to the point of silliness. The video work is impressive but imperfect- the Sunset Boulevard rip off scene was marred by the fact that the borders of the 20 smaller TVs cut right across Brayben's face as shes having her moment.

Cerveris is fantastic in a thankless buffoon villain role. I quite liked Christian Borle- i actually cannot imagine Andrew Rannels in this role at all- but hes not given anything funny or interesting to do, and we dont really learn much about him except that he seems like a greedy sexual predator who may be gay which they throw in out of left field at the very end. Brayben is definitely the highlight, and her accent didnt bother me at all. There was a raspiness to her voice that I half liked but half thought might be wear/tear. 

TDF put us in the very back of the orchestra, which was mostly full (we tried to sit together in the entirely empty last row, but were scolded by the ushers that we must stay in our assigned seats). No bad seats though- we saw enough of the (handsome, pretty basic) sets. Cannot fathom whose idea it was to try to pack the Palace with this- i guess they thought Elton John's name would do the trick, but man did he drop the ball on this. 

The book writer has been in NY all through rehearsals and previews.

BIG THANKS!! to all if you for putting yourselves through this & reporting back so the rest of us don't waste our money on it.

All I can think is that maybe some higher power doesn't feel that this group of crooks who used religion to totally fleece their gullible followers deserve to be remembered in a musical comedy. 

Out of curiosity, I looked online at availability for the next week and damn. I know a lot of shows don’t sell out well in advance anymore but that’s just insane. I’m assuming just looking at this, that their advance is next to nothing - how long can a show of this scale go like this?

My first interaction with Tammy Faye was watching her on The Surreal Life on VH1 but the main thing I will never forget is when she was dying from cancer and would go on Larry King Live on CNN and give them most heartbreaking interviews. They are all on YouTube but fair warning it’s very hard to watch. Also highly recommend the two documentaries that were made by World of Wonder (the creators of RuPauls Drag Race) they are available on Wow Presents Plus. 

Posters actively cheering and celebrating the show selling poorly are hardly hiding their bias. This forum has been longing for the show to flop since AR’s firing, if not before.

Never heard of “ShowScore”, who contributes to it?