Elton John Musical 'Tammy Faye' Closes After Just Five Disastrous Days

The Elton John-composed musical Tammy Faye announced just five days after it opened that it is now leaving Broadway, with the sudden early closing being attributed in reports to poor ticket sales and negative reviews.

A $22 million stage musical based on the life of televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker, Tammy Faye features music by Sir Elton alongside lyrics by Scissor Sisters' Jake Shears and a book by James Graham. It opened on Broadway on Nov. 14 at the newly renovated Palace Theatre on the Great White Way, after a string of preview showings that started on Oct. 19.

Now, however, it seems the musical is closing up shop on Broadway for good, after less than just 30 regular shows — in fact, it will be 29 performances and 24 previews in total upon its closing date, newly announced as Dec. 8.

So what happened that caused Tammy Faye to exit Broadway so soon, after such a short run?

When the musical's jarring closing date was announced on Tuesday (Nov. 19), Deadline Hollywood reported that Tammy Faye had posted some disappointing box office figures, with numbers for the week of Nov. 17 showing just 63% of seats at the Palace were filled. The gross for the week was a reported $374,371 — well under expectations. But negative reviews also played a part in its early demise.

In a review for The New York Times, the critic Elisabeth Vincentelli called Tammy Faye a "disjointed, strangely bland musical," adding, "Narratively and emotionally, Tammy Faye is always on shaky ground because it can't decide if it's a satire of televangelism and power-hungry faith salesmen, the tale of the rise of politicized religion, or the earnest feminist journey of an independent-minded woman."

A blog called New York Theater concurred, writing, "For all its promise, Tammy Faye struck me as essentially hollow, without a clear reason for existing. The score sounds largely generic, the sets look deliberately chintzy, the book mistakes crudeness for cleverness."

"Wrapped in Elton John's deliriously fun score," the play's website says, "Tammy Faye shines a light on the generous soul behind the illustrious lashes. Two-time Olivier Award winner Katie Brayben reprises her celebrated performance as Tammy Faye Bakker, starring alongside two-time Tony Award winner Christian Borle and two-time Tony Award winner Michael Cerveris."

As also noted by Deadline, the closing of Tammy Faye frees up the Palace for another big show to take its place, with proposed contenders rumored to include shows like Ragtime.

Tags

Elton John, Sir Elton John, Broadway, Broadway Musical