Katie Brayben stars as the late televangelist in PEOPLE’s debut look at the stage production, which begins performances at New York City’s Palace Theatre on Oct. 19
Tammy Faye, Elton John and Jake Shears’ musical about the life of the late American evangelist Tammy Faye Messner, is days away from its Broadway debut — and PEOPLE has a first listen at one of its score’s divine new songs.
Actress Katie Brayben steps into Messner’s mascara for the stage production, taking audiences to church in the act one closer “Empty Hands.” The inspiring and powerful ballad comes as Messner, through prayer, processes her feelings around husband Jim Bakker’s marital betrayal.
“Help me God, forgive the man / with tender mercy, open hands / I want to believe it, this woman I say I am,” she sings. “Here I am, help me understand / turn my fist to open hands / I want to believe in this woman I say I am.”
Last week, Brayben sang “Empty Hands” from the rehearsal room for members of the media (including PEOPLE) at a special press preview attended by John, Shears and the musical’s creative team.
“I’m so excited about this musical because it tells the story of someone who is misunderstood, and it gives her redemption,” John, 77, told reporters. “I want people to walk out of the musical, I want them to feel elated and to feel like they’ve learn something. This was a good woman with a great Christian heart who was not just about mascara, big hair and everything like that.”
John, a Tony winner and five-time Grammy winner, worked for over a decade on the show, collaborating with Scissor Sisters frontman Shears. The two had previously collaborated on Shears’ band’s biggest hit, “I Don’t Feel Like Dancin.’ ”
“What a pleasure and an honor it’s been to write all these songs with Elton,” said Shears, 46. “I still pinch myself that we’ve gotten to do this together. We’ve been friends for 20 years now.. and it’s just been really thrilling. If you’d have told me when I was 12 hears old that I’d be writing a show with Elton John about Tammy Faye Bakker … You know, it’s just … unbelievable.”
Tammy Faye is set to begin performances at the Palace Theatre in New York City on Oct. 19, with opening night set for Nov. 14. It’ll be the first production to play the theater since it shut down in late 2019 for a massive $80 million renovation.
“I’m very excited to be at the Palace Theatre because I had such a wonderful experience there with Aida and with [theatre owner] Jimmy Neederlander, who had been a friend of mine for absolute centuries because he’s that old,” John said. “He’s renovated the theater so beautifully and we’re the first new production inside the theatre and I really hope we can do the theatre proud. I think we will.”
The musical, which also features a book by James Graham, comes to the Great White Way after premiering in London’s West End in 2022. It earned two Olivier Awards out of four nominations, including a best actress trophy for Brayben.
Set in the 1970s, Tammy Faye follows the Christian television star’s rise to fame alongside her then-husband, preacher Bakker. The pair built a nationwide congregation on screen, but did so while rivals behind the scenes, jealous of Messner’s popularity and threatened by her determination to lead with love, plotted to take them down.
In addition to Brayben, the musical stars two-time Tony winner Christian Borle as Jim Bakker, and Tony winner Michael Cerveris as Reverend Jerry Falwell.
Joining them are Nick Bailey, Charl Brown as Steve Pieters, Mark Evans as Billy Graham, Allison Guinn as Jan Crouch, Ian Lassiter as Jimmy Swaggart/Ronald Reagan/Archbishop, Raymond J. Lee as John Fletcher, Max Gordon Moore as Thomas S. Monson/Marvin Gorman, Alana Pollard as Jessica Hahn and Andy Taylor as Pat Robertson/Ted Turner. Autumn Hurlbert (Legally Blonde) will be the alternate for the title role.
The company also includes Amanda Clement, Michael Di Liberto, Jonathan Duvelson, Lily Kaufmann, Denis Lambert, Elliott Mattox, Brittany Nicholas, Keven Quillon, Aveena Sawyer, Allysa Shorte, TJ Tapp, Daniel Torres and Dana Wilton.
