‘Tammy Faye,’ With a Big Assist From Elton John, Captures the Televangelism Era in All Its Messy Glory

Over nearly two and a half hours, the Broadway musical makes its case for the title character’s eventual ascent to heaven — loudly and ardently, with precisely the mix of earnestness and irreverence one might expect.

Matthew Murphy
Katie Brayben and Christian Borle in 'Tammy Faye.' Matthew Murphy

The first image presented in the new Broadway musical “Tammy Faye,” before the curtain even rises, is a pair of gleaming, heavily mascaraed blue eyes, representing those of the show’s heroine, Tammy Faye Bakker. Then, as the orchestra begins to play, those eyes well up and leak tears, and that mascara — through a trick of Finn Ross’s video design — begins to streak, quickly forming sizable smudges.

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