Confession: I never saw Tammy Faye or her husband Jim Bakker on TV. I know their show was extremely popular, but it just wasn't my cup of tea. My image of Tammy Faye was just a photo of her with mammoth eyelashes and smeared mascara running down her cheeks. Advance publicity for this play tells us she was so much more. But was she? All I saw in Tammy Faye the musical was a woman who hugged a man with AIDS, sent a message to love everyone, and mastered lots of singing to music by the great Elton John.
So, for anyone who wanted Tammy Faye to preach to us, this ain't it. What we get instead is a phenomenal performance by an actress who has already won two Olivier Awards and has appeared in several prestigious TV shows.
Katie Brayben projects both a warm heart and a roaring ambition with her voice. As her husband Jim Bakker, Christian Borle seems to have largely banked his zest. It's hard to see why the charming firecracker that is Tammy Faye, ever worshipped at his alter.
I also quickly lost track of who was who in the parade of Tammy/Jim detractors. We got Jerry Falwell, Billy Graham, Jimmy Swaggart, Ronald Reagan, Pat Robertson, and Ted Turner. (Apologies to anyone I've left out.) After awhile I couldn't remember who anyone was. They all seemed to merge into one let's-get-Jim-and-Tammy mob. I was also confused by why exactly Jim got thrown into jail. Was it fraud, or the fact that her told Jessica Hahn how much he loved his wife while zipping up his pants?
The plot is confusing, but it's worth putting up with to get to experience Katie Brayben. The men around Tammy Faye are all jerks, but she's a shining star in a dark murky night.
