Tammy Faye, which opened Thursday at the Palace Theater, runs as sloppily as Tammy Faye Bakker’s notorious mascara. There’s an amateurishness to director Rupert Goold’s production that’s shocking, from audible offstage voices to meandering spotlights to a video projection focused on the lead’s torso for an entire verse. British actress Katie Brayben has a rich and formidable belt to deliver Elton John’s many power ballads as the title character, but her accent drifts around the entire North American continent and she’s saddled with generic ‘80s looks that often make her look more like Reba McEntire or an extra on Dynasty. The final scenes are a mess, placing Tammy Faye in Purgatory (a concept that evangelicals reject) and having her credit ‘the gays,’ not God, for her resilience. I don’t buy that. But it’s just like this overblown, condescending, and misguided show to place its heroine on a literal pedestal while also ridiculing her and her beliefs.
You can read my full review in the January issue of U.K.-based Musicals magazine.
TAMMY FAYE
Palace Theater, Broadway
Running time: 2 hours, 35 minutes (with intermission)
Production closed Dec. 8
Culture Sauce 