CMU School of Drama


Wednesday, November 20, 2024

‘Tammy Faye’ Musical to Close After Failing to Find Broadway Audience

The New York Times: “Tammy Faye,” a new musical about the scandal-wracked singing televangelist, will close on Broadway after an unexpectedly short run, a major disappointment for a costly and ambitious show that picked up some good reviews in London but was poorly received in New York and failed to find an audience.

2 comments:

Jasper Gitlitz said...

It’s always sad to hear about shows having to end their runs sooner than expected and it’s especially sad when they have to close so soon into their run with this one announcing their closing barely after they’ve opened. However, from what I’ve heard of the reviews for this show I’m not surprised they decided to close. Most of the reviews I have heard have said that the show is at best just not worth seeing but this surprised me because everything I heard about it before it started performances on Broadway made me think the show would be great. I heard great things about the London and pre-Broadway runs and there was so much excitement drummed up before they transferred. I was sorry to hear that this Broadway production just didn’t live up to the expectations people had for it. I’m hopeful that the other shows this season do though and hopeful that other shows have much longer runs.

Jack Nuciforo said...

I think it’s so sad how a production can fail so quickly after so much work is put in by the performers, creative team, and production team. I am a firm believer that not EVERY production is meant for Broadway, and I’m sure that the Tammy Faye musical could gain a cult following if it was able to find its niche. Some of the best plays I’ve ever seen have been in black box theaters with less than thirty seats. The venue and audience size really helps set the tone of a production, and not every production is meant to fill out a massive venue with over one thousand seats. This doesn’t just apply to straight plays—plenty of musicals, like Six for example, have been a lot more successful touring and on cruise productions than they have been in New York City. Part of the issue with treating Broadway like the end goal is that, if it fails on Broadway, we assume it’s failed as a whole. That’s not the case by any means.