Tony Award winning entertainer Sir Elton John has had some big successes on Broadway including the current longest running show on the strip – “The Lion King”; but his newest Broadway contribution is not living up to the king of the jungle and the show has announced its final performance date.
“Tammy Faye” has made the announcement that December 8 will be their final performance after just over 50 total performances – 24 preview and 29 performances.
Penned by Sir Elton and Jake Shears (Scissor Sisters), the musical premiered on the West End in 2022 where it was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Musical. In October, the show made its debut on Broadway with some of the characters reprising their roles from the West End.
The musical tells the story of American evangelist Tammy Faye Messner – the wife of tele-evangelist Jim Bakker. The couple founded the PTL – Praise the Lord – Club in 1974 and created a Christian tele-evangelical empire. Despite her husband’s views on society, Tammy Faye was an advocate for the LGBTQIA+ community.
In last week’s Broadway box office report, the musical brought in less than half a million dollars; down nearly 10 percent from the previous week with an attendance rate of less that 65 percent.
On Off-Broadway, “The Big Gay Jamboree” has also announced a closing date of December 15 after an official opening on October 6. After 15 previews and 88 performances the show will have gperformed just 103 shows.
After a night of heavy drinking, Stacey finds herself trapped in a Golden Age musical and has to figure out how to escape.