TAMMY FAYE Reviews — Page 6

It’s really embarrassing to see all the celebrities shill for each other. So many artists, musicians and theatre folk posting their pics with Elton and Jake. Just gushing superlatives about the show and how brilliant it is. They’re all tagging each other and raving about the show, music and lyrics. Most of them had to think it was hot garbage but they want their 15 minutes next to Elton. It’s such a game and so disingenuous. It’s no wonder so many people are sick and tired of celebrities.

Isn't this a similar trajectory to what happened with American Psycho? Both opened with limited runs at the *350* seat Almeida Theatre in London, sold those 6-8 weeks very well, and got good reviews, etc. And then their next stop was opening on Broadway in a theatre four times the size, for an open ended commercial run, which got bad (very bad in this case) reviews and didn't sell well... My question is, with shows playing very differently on Broadway, and playing very differently in a significantly larger house, why wouldn't the producers think to try the show somewhere else before Broadway as another try out? A west end transfer, an out of town American run, etc? I mean, I know that adds significantly to the cost, and there are other factors to think about, but it just seems foolish to think that if I show plays well for a few weeks in a tiny, intimate theatre in London that the next stop should be a Broadway house.

EricMontreal22 said: "Isn't this a similar trajectory to what happened with American Psycho? Both opened with limited runs at the *350* seat Almeida Theatre in London, sold those 6-8 weeks very well, and got good reviews, etc. And then their next stop was opening on Broadway in a theatre four times the size, for an open ended commercial run, which got bad (very bad in this case) reviews and didn't sell well... My question is, with shows playing very differently on Broadway, and playing very differently in a significantly larger house, why wouldn't the producers think to try the show somewhere else before Broadway as another try out? A west end transfer, an out of town American run, etc? I mean, I know that adds significantly to the cost, and there are other factors to think about, but it just seems foolish to think that if I show plays well for a few weeks in a tiny, intimate theatre in London that the next stop should be a Broadway house."

While there are similarities with the trajectory of the two shows, I think one of the most important differences was the timeline regarding Katie Brayben and her pregnancy. I have a suspicion that the creatives and producers believed strongly in the material, and rapturous reception in London; knew their leading lady was integral to the project; and eschewed any additional development period that would have occurred during the time of her pregnancy as unnecessary. Instead of a West End run, or more smartly, a Stateside pre-Broadway engagement to test out how the material lands on the home audience, they must have thought time was of the essence -- and riding the wave the initial production generated would be the wisest course. (Hindsight is 20/20, of course.)

I'm in no way blaming or demeaning Ms. Brayben for her important life choice! But I think the Olivier win, critical reception, and perception of "need for speed" led the producers to not do their due diligence with the material.

ETA: And there was also probably a feeling of "insulation" with the pedigree of the creative team attached, rightly or wrongly. "The New Elton John musical!" "Jake Shears of Scissor Sisters!" "Award-winning James Graham!" In prior seasons, that may have meant more to the general public than it does currently.

Updated On: 11/16/24 at 06:13 AM

Theatremonkey said insulation... perhaps it was a sort of isolation - with the creatives all just holed up together, and not getting any inside feedback letting them know things weren't going well. I also think perhaps we are seeing a certain amount of arrogance on the part of some creators with many works a various media lately. Immediately the recent Joker Folie movie comes to mind and also Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis. Earlier this year on Broadway we saw the bad reaction the creatives had to Lempicka's failure.

An artist needs to have confidence in their work, but they also need the humility to ask for outside input. Especially for such expensive, commercial products.

broadwaybaybee22 said: "TheatreMonkey said: "EricMontreal22 said: "
ETA: And there was also probably a feeling of "insulation" with the pedigree of the creative team attached, rightly or wrongly. "The New Elton John musical!" "Jake Shears of Scissor Sisters!" "Award-winning James Graham!" In prior seasons, that may have meant more to the general public than it does currently."

You hit the nail on the head with this statement. It appears the powerson this Tammy Faye production felt that because of the Olivier Award win by the lead actress and most importantly that this is an Elton John/Jake Shearsproject they didn't feel the need to even address any of the issues prior to going into previews at The Palace.

The biggest concern should have been can we go from a smaller venue like The Almedia Theater to the Palace and still maintain the "feel" for this show? Will we be able to fill over 1600 seats every night?They only had a 6 week run in the UK at a theater with 320 seats.

Also did they do any marketing research on the public interest in its subject matter? And most importantly what audience were they actually targeting? If it's the gay community then great. Target them... market them... etc.

Not to be mean but I am not aware of Tammy Faye having a huge fanbase like other celebrities. It's a scandal from almost 40 years ago and she's been deceased for close to 20 years. Most younger people would most likely be clueless to who this person is.

The loss of Andrew Rannells wasn't expected. This further complicated the production trying to scramble to find a quick suitable replacement. By the time they started previews on Oct 19ththey clearly weren't ready but maybe thought the issues they were facing were minimal and could be addressed and fixed over the next few weeks of previews.

They didn't expect the extreme negativeaudience reaction to the musical and especially on the various message boards. This left them trying to fix severalproblems/issues that would have required several months or more to fix. Certainly not 3 or 4 weeks like they had to work on this. I was always under the impression previews were mainly to work out technical difficulties and minor changes. Notcomplete book rewrites, songs etc.

The cast I believe worked extremely hard and were dedicated for sure. These are very talented individuals working on this project. They tried to make improvements and according to some posting on herethe musical did improve somewhat.

I hope the people involved in the decision making (Elton, David, the director and producers)will all look at what the critics are saying with an open mind and not be offended. Art is about taking constructive criticism, learning from it, and growing and improving. I am sure they are very upset over the negative reviews and it is understandable considering the amount of money, time and hard work that went into making this musical happen.

"

Good points! I feel Elton is aware of how bad this musical is, remember reports saying he walked away from Devil wears Prada in the Chicago try-out? He knows when something simply doesn't work.

Elton isn’t a stranger to horrible reviews - his Broadway production LESTAT was dragged thru the coals back in 2006. Heck, even though the Original Broadway Cast Recording was recorded, he pulled the plug on it and its release was cancelled. This is his second colossal flop on Broadway. Let’s hope THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA fairs better when that decides to cross the Atlantic to Broadway.

pablitonizer said: "
Good points! I feel Elton is aware of how bad thismusical is, remember reports saying he walked away from Devil wears Prada in the Chicago try-out? He knows when something simply doesn't work."

You're right. When checking his social media his focus is now on his new album with Brandi Carlile. He had posted about the new single they recorded but no updated photos from his appearance at the opening night of the Tammy Faye musical.

I'm sure reading the critics negative reviews after the opening had to be depressing for all involved but especially Elton since his name is attached to it. I noticed they even changed the title from "Tammy Faye the Musical" to "Elton John's Tammy Faye". Sadly the title change didn't seem to help boost ticket sales.

That incarnation of Tammy Faye’s story with Chenoweth was a completely different project and featured a score by composer Henry Krieger and a book by Australian playwright Anthony Crowley.

I was in my late teens/early 20s and completely remember the whole Tammy Faye and Jim Bakker era perfectly and as a non-religious person. Yes, she was ridiculously hilarious and everything about her was over-the-top and campy, from those insane shoulder pads, her curly perm and of course, the “way too much mascara” make-up. Somehow there was this sadness about her due to her trying so hard to be mainstream. What we remember the most is her always crying and her mascara running down her face. When all that expose craziness started unfolding, that’s when the country became invested as it all became one sh*t show in the news. Jerry Falwell, Jessica Hahn - it was tabloid gems and everyone was watching. Calling her an icon is farfetched as no one saw her this way - pop culture icon? Absolutely.

This is how many viewed Tammy Faye and Jim Bakker during their heyday in the 1980s:

Up In One said: "Hope the Queen of Versailles team are reading these reviews many of the same criticisms are true of that show with its eye on Broadway."

I thought the same thing this morning!

It's a shame this apparently isn't coalescing because the Faye/Bakker story is painfully relevant and also a great piece of contemporary history (the rise of the 24 hour news cycle and the modern christofascist empire, both of which have basically lead directly to Trump). I'm almost curious enough to try to see it but I have no idea if it'll last long enough for that to happen. Tammy getting eaten alive by cancer while her rapist husband has been allowed to go on hawking his nightmare nonsense is a pertinent and cruel cosmic joke.