TAMMY FAYE Previews — Page 7

It's interesting that many weeks ago, when some people including myself were trying to say that this musical has no audience because nobody any longer knows who Tammy Faye was, there were individuals trying to argue the opposite. Citing the movie that won Jessica Chastain the Oscar. Yes, that movie that collected a couple of million at the box office. Nobody saw that movie and nobody cared. Although I do have my very cheap ticket for November (hope the show stays open til then), this has to be one of the most obscure and oddly specific themes for a Broadway musical. On par with Lempicka. The biggest issue with Lempicka wasn't that it was badly directed, but because not enough people cared about the main character. Anyone remembers HLL? Same reason for these shows tanking.

48% showscore is quite telling, given how many shill reviews used to be posted there.

Updated On: 10/27/24 at 09:52 AM

Bwaygurl2 said: "It'd be one thing if people were raving about how good it is but the show can't find an audience because of an obscure subject.

But the issue is that it's bad(according to most accounts of people who have gone and shared their thoughts), not that people don't know who Faye is."

Sure, maybe it's bad. But people still argue that Hamilton, Moulin Rouge, The Book of Mormon and recent Sunset Blvd. are "bad". These shows aren't going anywhere. Evangelicals have caused so much damage to this country and individual people, that thinking even the dead one will somehow be a draw for American audience who can sustain a very expensive Broadway show, is wild. I kind of thought maybe Elton John's name will make a difference but it looks like the score isn't all that great either.

Updated On: 10/27/24 at 10:30 AM

bwayphreak234 said: "Oooof. This one is ROUGH. There’s no other way of putting it. The biggest problem at hand is that this is an inherently small show that has been bloated into an overstuffed production. I did not see this across the pond, but I can 100% see how this would have worked better in a much smaller venue. The show feels out of place in the (beautifully renovated) Palace Theatre.

The score is very one note. Lots of upbeat Gospel style numbers that drag on too long about 2-3 minutes each. The story is interesting, but the book is plodding. The cast does their best. Katie Brayben is REALLY good as Tammy, and her numbersdefinitely fare the best. Christian Borle seemed lost at sea. He’s not BAD, but I’ve certainly seen him do a whole lot better. Michael Cerveris, god bless him, is saddled with some of the worst songs I’ve heard in a new musical in quite some time.

The cheap set and flashy lighting designs are gaudy and garish. The act 2 opening camera gimmick is merely a bad rip off of what they’re doing down the block at Sunset Boulevard. The orchestra sounded extremely tinny and canned in.

This was amiss for me. The cast was taking their bows at 4:37PM this afternoon, so the good news is that it is no longer 3 hours. The bad news, though, is that it still feels like 4."

In London, Tammy Faye was at the Almeida theatre, which has seating capacity for around 300 people. The Palace theater on Broadway can house over 1600 people! Since they did close the balcony, I'm guessing the capacity for each performance at the Palace is around 1100-1200.

I'm glad to hear they are still shortening it as the general consensus amongst my friends is the whole show felt long. Of course there are great performances here and there by the cast but if a show is boring, it will feel long no matter what. I think the show can end a few mins after Tammy's 11 o'clock number song "If You Came to see me Cry". They can delete all that extra dialogue with Falwell, Judy Hahn, the priest, etc. afterwards. I don't know but there's room to shorten this show and still keep the focus on Tammy Faye herself and her message of love & tolerance.

BTW, for an audio snippet of Tammy's emotional number "If you came to see me cry" I found this on twitter: https://twitter.com/ShaunTossell/status/1768069754500092208

gibsons2 said: "Evangelicals has caused so much damage to this country and individual people, that thinking even the dead one will somehow be a draw for American audience who can sustain a very expensive Broadway show, is wild."

I was reading a discussion about why this show was perceived very positively at Almedia but seemingly not working on Broadway. One person pointed out that the British people aren't exposed to Evangelicals and lack the knowledge to be critical of the subject matter. On the other hand people in the US is knowledgeable about evangelicals and Tammy and have their perceptions and biases. For example, putting the show aside on this thread we have seen people post things like "that's not who Tammy was", "that's not how Tammy dressed" and so on.'

Be prepared for someone to accuse you of being part of the Andrew Rannells-led conspiracy of hate to bring down musical theatre.

Just for my own edification, how well does Katie Brayben pull off Tammy's Minnesotan accent? I thought Jessica Chastain nailed it unexpectedly well.

perfectlymarvelous sums this project up very well, very clearly. This is a talented cast in an unfortunately misguided piece. Well, three or four pieces actually. It can't make up its mind. It's an attempt at satire (inept, sadly) one moment, then camp extravaganza the next, followed by a stab at pathos. Send up the American Christian Right all you want. Bring it on. They deserve it. But do it well and do it viciously and do it with talent. None of that is in evidence here. And there's no way you can drop an attempt at a sympathetic portrayal of someone like Tammy into the middle of that and expect us to care or root for her. And the video simulcast stuff does not work for multiple reasons: the delay is excruciatingly bad (especially when compared to the nearly perfect work at SUNSET BLVD), and the design of the "TV Wall" leaves a grid of deletions over any single full-scale shot (often across eyes or mouth which is... sloppy) and it splits focus in a maddening way when intimacy and clarity of the scene is what's important. Borle and Cerveris are pros, but not quite masking their discomfort. They are both millimeters away from outright eye rolls to the audience.

KevinKlawitter said: "Just for my own edification, how well doesKatie Brayben pull off Tammy's Minnesotan accent? I thought Jessica Chastain nailed it unexpectedly well."

I thought Brayben was a highlight of the show, but this is the first I am hearing of a Minnesota accent- i thought Tammy Faye was doing Southern Belle the whole time.

This really isn't a lucky theatre for Elton John after Lestat!

lilpunkin said: "PipingHotPiccolo said: "lilpunkin said: "This board is the place where the show is being slated and this board has been an echo chamber of hate towards the show before it even started."

This board has nearly a dozen detailed, considered reviews, which explain precisely what it is they did/did not like about the show. Some of those posts come from people who walked in expecting to like it and/or having liked it in London. You sound unhinged and like youre taking this a bit personally.

The Rannells comments are baffling, as if Andrew did the show for months in London and then knew it was going to be fail here in NY so he walked away from it. That isnt what happened, and I think ita kinda insulting to his friends in the show to keep pushing this silly narrative."


Please don’t make abusive comments. There really is no justification for name-calling.

You obviously don’t work on the show and have no idea what went down between AR and the production over the months and the fallout from those months.


What it your source for your claim that AR chose to walk away, because he thought the show would be bad? Because that’s simply a straight up lie, and you know it’s a straight up lie. You obviously don’t work on the show or have any insider knowledge into the incident that resulted in him leaving."

And you clearly do?