Elton John turns the saga of televangelist Tammy Faye into song for Broadway
When Elton John was on tour in America during the 1970s, there was someone on TV who caught his eye
NEW YORK (AP) — When Elton John was on tour in America in the 1970s, there was someone on TV who caught his eye. She was an over-the-top, heavy makeup-wearing performer who wore her heart on her sleeve and yet seemed in on the joke — televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker. You could say game was recognizing game.
John — who back then toured in bedazzled hats, cartoonish outfits and sported enough sequins to choke an elephant — was drawn to a woman with caked-on makeup, an ability to connect with fans and the skill to return after a gut-punch of betrayal.
“She fascinated the hell out of me,” John tells The Associated Press. “I love people who come back from the dead, more or less. She was completely outlawed and banished, and she fought through that because of her goodness and kindness and her belief and her faith. It’s an amazing story, Shakespearean in a way."
John has put this Shakespearian heroine's story to song with the stage musical “Tammy Faye” and the latest iteration lands on Broadway this month, championing what he calls “a gladiator on her own terms.”
