TAMMY FAYE will transfer to Broadway in 2024-2025 Season- Page 13

[kdogg36]

Posted: 8/21/24 at 5:58am

TBFL said: "You have never heard of her? Not even from the 2021 film 'The Eyes of Tammy Faye' that Jessica Chastain won the best actress Oscar for? It also starred Andrew Garfield as Jim Bakker?? That was only 3 years ago. I'm guessing you might be a young person?"

There are definitely some younger people (like, younger than 40) who have little idea who she is, and others for whom this singularly polarizing individual is just a turn-off as the subject of a musical. It's not at all shocking that some people aren't interested in seeing this show, regardless of its stars or creative pedigree. (To be clear, I'm interested in it; I just don't share any of your apparent confusion about why others might not be.)

Updated On: 8/21/24 at 05:58 AM

[Kad]

Posted: 8/21/24 at 9:49am

I do think knowledge or affection of Tammy Faye is more widespread amongst folks who are likely over 40. I’m about 35 and while I know about her, I don’t have active memory of her- I was either not yet born or too young to remember when she was most prolific. 
 

That being said, I’m looking forward to this production due to the team and the announced cast. 

[bway1430]

Posted: 8/21/24 at 9:50am

TBFL said: "Theatrefan2 said: "I really hate the term 'the gays', it's so outdated and borderline insulting in 2024. We aren't all the same, we don't like all the same stuff, and we aren't all aware of the same pop cultural stuff. I can't imagine it being said about any other demographic.

I can't imagine this show attracting many overseas tourists so it will be more reliant on the American market, compared to some other shows"

"I can't imagine it being said about any other demographic" he says, making the same sweeping statement and generalisations about overseas tourists. They're not all the sam and they don't all like the same stuff."

Yes - saw that as well which had me scratching my head. Can't imagine what brings in overseas tourists these days....it's been a huge mystery ever since OH, CALCUTTA! closed. :-)

[inception]

Posted: 8/21/24 at 10:00am

bway1430 said: "

Yes - saw that as well which had me scratching my head. Can't imagine what brings in overseas tourists these days....it's been a huge mystery ever since OH, CALCUTTA! closed. :-)"

When people I don't really know at work find out I'm planning a NYC trip I'm often told I should definitely see Phantom.... most people have NO idea what's playing in New York 

[rachelfran]

Posted: 8/21/24 at 10:10am

It may be true that overseas visitors don't have the same taste but my husband and I both used to work in group tourism, domestic and international and there's a lot of those folks who buy group tickets to things so individual tastes may not come into play in that scenario.  Those tickets will be sold based on how the show is doing generally, most likely.   

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 8/21/24 at 11:50am

International tourists won't care nor anyone under 40 for the most part. She is barely known outside of the United States. Also, and much more importantly, their socials are dead. A HUGE reason Gatsby is doing so well is because of their clever socials. Not having an online presence in 2024 is dumb and makes little sense. 

You have never heard of her? Not even from the 2021 film 'The Eyes of Tammy Faye' that Jessica Chastain won the best actress Oscar for? It also starred Andrew Garfield as Jim Bakker?? That was only 3 years ago. I'm guessing you might be a young person?

I love the weird judgement and the DOUBLE question marks. Lolz. That movie was a total flop in every way possible, no one saw it outside of NYC and LA. Enjoy working for the production because someone working this hard to defend the show clearly has an agenda ;)

[MrsSallyAdams]

Posted: 8/21/24 at 12:14pm

I'd never heard of Eva Peron in 1996 but I still enjoyed Evita. I think there's an audience for a show about a corrupt diva behaving badly and (I assume) belting big songs. I haven't heard the score. That will be the deciding factor for me.

[MrsSallyAdams]

Posted: 8/21/24 at 12:16pm

On the flip side, with a weak score and weak POV, it could be another Lempicka or Queen of Versailles. I've got my Tammy Faye ticket and look forward to finding out.

[Broadway Flash]

Posted: 8/21/24 at 12:26pm

I’m sure all of the new shows coming in will have a big marketing campaign and social media.  The people on this board said that Gatsby was dead on arrival and would never be able to do well at the Broadway theatre.  So clearly, nobody knows what it’s going to be until it actually starts.  Haters love to hate. But I do think Tammy Faye is a show people are most looking forward to, even if they haven’t bought their tickets yet. 

[broadwayboy223]

Posted: 8/21/24 at 12:38pm

The sales for this...are not good. Even with closing sections. I wish them well but am very confused why this show is playing the palace. Didn't it play a tiny theatre in the UK? 

[GottaGetAGimmick420]

Posted: 8/21/24 at 12:46pm

broadwayboy223 said: "The sales for this...are not good. Even with closing sections. I wish them well but am very confused why this show is playing the palace. Didn't it play a tiny theatre in the UK?"

Could ticket sales (not just for this, like the low presales for most new musicals across the board) be indicative of the incoming recession? Because ... it's coming. *tin foil hat goes on*

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 8/21/24 at 1:05pm

broadwayboy223 said: "The sales for this...are not good. Even with closing sections. I wish them well but am very confused why this show is playing the palace. Didn't it play a tiny theatre in the UK?"

It played the 325-seat Almeida Theatre in London. Starting at the Almeida is equivalent to starting somewhere like Playwrights Horizons or LCT or The Public.

I'm of the belief that most shows do not need 1600 seats and Broadway would be better off with more houses in the Broadhurst/Richard Rodgers/Nederlander range (1200 to 1350 seats). But some producers feel they can fill the seats, or they need a big house to make the budget work. I'm sure TAMMY is also being expanded for Broadway, scenically and orchestrally, compared to what was done in London.

Keep in mind it's also being lead-produced by Nederlander. They have no smaller houses available: HAMILTON, MJ, and SIX aren't going anywhere, TOMMY was at the Nederlander when these deals were made, and some people (wrongly) feel that reopening a renovated theatre can get press coverage that will help a show.

Updated On: 8/21/24 at 01:05 PM

[Broadway Flash]

Posted: 8/21/24 at 1:38pm

Remember, they closed the balcony for this, it’s no longer on sale. So that’s about 1300 seats.  Thats 300 less seats than Audra Gypsy is trying to move and 200 less than Death Becomes Her.  It’s also less than Great Gatsby which closed the rear mezz and is selling 1500 seats.  Sunset Blvd has to sell 1700 seats. If Tammy gets good reviews, good word of mouth, and has a good marketing campaign, they should be fine. 

[Kad]

Posted: 8/21/24 at 1:39pm

Advance sales at this point aren't going to be indicative of much. As we've seen this past season, unless there is a celebrity attached, more sales are happening closer to performance dates. And Tammy Faye has yet to really start its marketing machine. I imagine next month, we will start seeing a massive push. I do think there needs to be a greater shift in marketing strategies-  a lot of campaigns seem passive and to take audience attendance for granted. Times have changed and productions that aren't anchored by celebrity casting or very recognizable properties need to be far more assertive in courting audiences and building recognition.

Updated On: 8/21/24 at 01:39 PM

[Broadway Flash]

Posted: 8/21/24 at 1:49pm

Katharine Quinn, who did the marketing/social media for Shucked and Great Gatsby, she says that if you wait to start marketing your show when you’re on Broadway, you have waited too long.  Every production is a media company until they start previews.  I also hope to see more from Tammy Faye, probably after Labor Day when more people start paying attention. 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 8/21/24 at 2:31pm

There are many schools of thought for how to market a show. This thing doesn't start previews for 2 more months and when a budget is limited (as with most shows), spending a ton of money now isn't going to help. Wait till mid-September.

For SHUCKED and SOMETHING ROTTEN, filling previews at a low ticket price helped build WOM for silly shows based on no notable IP. That wouldn't work for every show but it made sense for those.

For some shows, influencers help; on others, they don't.

If you're trying to position yourself as a prestige play, that's usually a whole different playbook than a populist musical.

[Broadway Flash]

Posted: 8/21/24 at 2:46pm

Great Gatsby also had a big opening day at the box office with $50 seats for preview performances.  It worked out well for them too

[TBFL]

Posted: 8/21/24 at 9:49pm

Sutton Ross said: "International tourists won't care nor anyone under 40 for the most part. She is barelyknown outside of the United States. Also, and much more importantly, their socials are dead. A HUGE reason Gatsby is doing so well is because of their clever socials. Not having an online presence in 2024 is dumb and makes little sense.

You have never heard of her? Not even from the 2021 film 'The Eyes of Tammy Faye' that Jessica Chastain won the best actress Oscar for? It also starred Andrew Garfield as Jim Bakker?? That was only 3 years ago. I'm guessing you might be a young person?

I love the weird judgement and the DOUBLE question marks. Lolz. That movie was a total flop in every way possible, no one saw it outside of NYC and LA.Enjoy working for the production because someone working this hard to defend the show clearly has an agenda ;)"

You're wrong on nearly every count. I live in London and saw the movie. It is possible to not see the movie, but catch news about who won the Oscars. If people in the UK know who Tammy Faye is, i find it surprising that people are not more familiar with her in the US. I don't work on the production and have nothing to do with it at all. I'm a fan of the show who has seen it a few times and i'm looking forward to seeing it again in November.
No agenda. But nice try.

[gibsons2]

Posted: 8/21/24 at 10:54pm

GottaGetAGimmick420 said: "broadwayboy223 said: "The sales for this...are not good. Even with closing sections. I wish them well but am very confused why this show is playing the palace. Didn't it play a tiny theatre in the UK?"

Could ticket sales (not just for this, like the low presales for most new musicals across the board) be indicative of the incoming recession? Because ... it's coming. *tin foil hat goes on*"

You're right, the recession comes when people stop spending. And many people already stop spending because of fear of layoffs, infamous fake job interviews and subsequent ghosting by employers. It looks like nobody is giving out well paid tech or finance jobs anymore to anyone who asks, like it was just a few years ago. It's rough out there. 

[bway1430]

Posted: 8/22/24 at 2:07am

You're wrong on nearly every count. I live in London and saw the movie. It is possible to not see the movie, but catch news about who won the Oscars. If people in the UK know who Tammy Faye is, i find it surprising that people are not more familiar with her in the US. I don't work on the production and have nothing to do with it at all. I'm a fan of the show who has seen it a few times and i'm looking forward to seeing it again in November.
No agenda. But nice try."

To your point, I live in London and the friends I went to see the show with didn't know a thing about her. Other pals who I know enjoy theatre were mostly clueless as well. But the idea of a new Elton John musical, the reputation of the Almeida and the word-of-mouth/mostly excellent reviews made this a very hot ticket and a much-discussed show. 

I think that once the marketing kicks in and word gets out, there will be little trouble in selling TAMMY FAYE. I can't wait to see this revised version. I thought the original production needed more work but had a LOT of promise and I would pay anything to see the last 10 mins of Act One again. It was a true tour-de-force for Katie Brayben.

Updated On: 8/22/24 at 02:07 AM

[lilpunkin]

Posted: 8/22/24 at 4:28am

broadwayboy223 said: "The sales for this...are not good. Even with closing sections. I wish them well but am very confused why this show is playing the palace. Didn't it play a tiny theatre in the UK?"

Originally the production company had a deal to put the show straight into the West End.

When Elton hired James Graham, he brought his creative partner Rupert Goold in, who has been AD of the Almeida for a million years. One of Rupert’s conditions for joining the production was that they add a pre-West End run at his theatre to test out the material, and of course because Rupert wanted such a prestigious show to be associated with his own theatre.

If not for him, it would have opened straight into the Gillian Lynne as the Gillian Lynne deal was actually signed before the Almeida deal. (Then obviously the Gillian Lynne run was cancelled due to Katie’s pregnancy.)

FWIW I’m under 30 and European and I knew who Tammy Faye was and was familiar with the Jessica Chastain movie.

[ivy3]

Posted: 8/22/24 at 9:01am

Sutton Ross said: "International tourists won't care nor anyone under 40 for the most part. She is barely known outside of the United States. "

If that determined attendance, not a single international tourist would have attended Hamilton. 

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 8/22/24 at 9:28am

 i find it surprising that people are not more familiar with her

Is that why you complained half a dozen times and said the same thing over and over again, that you just don't get why people aren't more interested? Then when people gave you their answers, you simply didn't accept them? And I love how you stated the "PTL network" as if that's just something people would just know. Unless this is a Righteous Gemstones situation, I can guarantee people here aren't all that interested. Sales reflect this. 

[gibsons2]

Posted: 8/22/24 at 9:31am

ivy3 said: "Sutton Ross said: "International tourists won't care nor anyone under 40 for the most part. She is barely known outside of the United States. "

If that determined attendance, not a single international tourist would have attended Hamilton."

Hamilton for years was a prestige show with impossible to buy tickets. Comparing American founding fathers whose names are familiar to anyone who attended school and opened a history book to an obscure US televangelist from the 70s is ridiculous. Hamilton is a groundbreaking and innovating musical. Tammy has Elton John's score, so it's a plus. I hope it has a great book, because this will be a selling point for me personally. So far, Christian Borle is the  only really attractive thing to me about this musical, but general public doesn't know who he is. I'll be ecstatic if this musical succeeds because I'm a theater nerd and root for all theater productions. 

[GottaGetAGimmick420]

Posted: 8/22/24 at 9:35am

Sutton Ross said: "i find it surprising that people are not more familiar with her

Is that why you complained half a dozen times and said the same thing over and over again, that you just don't get why people aren't more interested? Then when people gave you their answers, you simply didn't accept them? And I love how you stated the "PTL network" as if that's just something people would just know. Unless this is a Righteous Gemstones situation, I can guarantee people here aren't all that interested. Sales reflect this."

Hey, producers and PR reps will keep singing their shows praises on here no matter how the ship is sailing or if its sinking