Tammy Faye: A New Musical - Almeida

[shownut]

Oct 27, 2022 10:40:51 GMT lonlad said:

Yes, I noticed that, too: a political divide where one wouldn't necessarily have expected it. God only know what Quentin Letts will say !

After his 5 star review of that POS known as Andrew Lloyd Webber's CINDERELLA, I have become less interested in his POV.....and I say that as an ALW fan.

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Oct 27, 2022 10:48:40 GMT Mark said:

Could this be the current frontrunner for Best New Musical at the Olivier Awards (No doubt Bonnie & Clyde will win the WOS Awards)

It's worthy competitor will more likely be THE BAND'S VISIT.

[Being Alive]

I think across the board the reviews seemed ever so slightly more favourable to The Band's Visit.

Understated very rarely wins here though, as opposed to on Broadway, so I would say Tammy Faye is probably in the lead as it stands.

[c4ndyc4ne]

Oct 27, 2022 11:24:36 GMT Being Alive said:

I think across the board the reviews seemed ever so slightly more favourable to The Band's Visit.

Understated very rarely wins here though, as opposed to on Broadway, so I would say Tammy Faye is probably in the lead as it stands.

and you can already picture katie brayben's big performance on the RAH stage powering them home 

[shownut]

Another **** from Financial Times 

[Fleance]

Oct 27, 2022 10:01:26 GMT c4ndyc4ne said:

Fours now from the standard, independent, guardian, time out, WOS - I think it's a sturdy hit with a few shortcomings! the angry press just clearly had the energy to vent last night.

The New York Post, owned by Rupert Murdoch, is the lowest and most right-wing of New York City newspapers. It has a noble history, having been founded by Alexander Hamilton in 1801 and owned and operated by the Schiff family for many years during the 20th century, during which it was a highly respected mainstream newspaper. Since Murdoch purchased it 1976, it has been positioned at the bottom of the heap. Not just because of it's right-wing agenda, but because of the sensationalist and sometimes outrageous manner in which it covers the news and other subjects.

It wouldn't surprise me if the ridiculous Post review of Tammy Faye has more to do with pandering to Murdoch's evangelical base in America than it does with a true vision of an objective reviewer. Perhaps that political agenda also informs The Times (London) review, also owned by Murdoch, though not quite so trashy as the Post?

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Oct 27, 2022 12:19:28 GMT Fleance said:

It wouldn't surprise me if the ridiculous Post review of Tammy Faye has more to do with pandering to Murdoch's evangelical base in America than it does with a true vision of an objective reviewer. Perhaps that political agenda also informs The Times (London) review, also owned by Murdoch, though not quite so trashy as the Post?

I agree and posted something along those lines earlier. The opinion divide so far does appear to be along political lines...lets see if NYTimes or other mainstream US reviewers break that pattern.

[lonlad]

4 stars just in from The Arts Desk, londontheatre.co.uk, and Sarah Hemming in the FT

Those few early reviews are looking like real outliers.

[BurlyBeaR]

Could it be that this one is for…….. THE MASSES? 😏

[lonlad]

Or that it's actually just very very good - which it is !

[juicy_but_terribly_drab]

Oct 27, 2022 12:53:26 GMT BurlyBeaR said:

Could it be that this one is for…….. THE MASSES? 😏

Don't right-wing newspapers have much better circulation than left-wing publications? So perhaps quite the opposite if they're apparently the ones giving this poor reviews. Sorry to say but looks like we've got another show that's just too high brow for those lowly masses!

[BurlyBeaR]

I thought it was a load of camp old tomfoolery!

(I haven’t seen it) 

[c4ndyc4ne]

In a way I think this is done a disservice by opening at the Almeida – where critics expect a certain 'kind' of production – more akin to Spring Awakening.

A straight West End bow might have suited it better, as had reportedly been originally planned. Waiting for the New York Times review!

[kathryn]

Oct 27, 2022 12:53:26 GMT BurlyBeaR said:

Could it be that this one is for…….. THE MASSES? 😏

😄 Think some people are missing the in-joke!

[samuelwhiskers]

Oct 27, 2022 13:50:34 GMT BurlyBeaR said:

I thought it was a load of camp old tomfoolery!

(I haven’t seen it) 

[Insert Saturday Night Live "Accurate" gif here]

[Fleance]

The New York Times has weighed in with a sensible review:

www.nytimes.com/2022/10/27/theater/tammy-faye-review-almeida.html

Here's a quote. I can cut and paste if the pay wall prevents anyone from reading the full review:

Review: Praise the Lord for ‘Tammy Faye’
A new musical about the life of the televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker, composed by Elton John, makes spectacular entertainment from a righteous subject.

LONDON — Praise the lord for “Tammy Faye,” the new musical that opened Wednesday at London’s Almeida Theater. Telling the unlikely story — for the English stage at least — of the American televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker, the show has a heart as big as the title character’s bouffant hairdo, and runs through Dec. 3.

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And that NYTimes review all but ensures that investors will be chomping at the bit to invest in an inevitable Broadway run.

Looking forward to seeing what next steps this show takes and hoping they announce something soon. Makes sense that they would do an ad splurge in the Sunday papers and announce a West End tranfer date/theatre then? Would be silly to put it off much longer if they already have a theatre in place.

[catw]

I don’t think some of the negative reviews are far off, I know there are Tammy musical evangelists here, but there is something to be said about the recent trend in UK musical theatre, so many surface level adaptations and biopics. I actually think there is a really outstanding show in Tammy, I just hope improvements can be made for the eventual transfer. It’s not a perfect 5 star show for me but it could be. I think a more developed West End design will be great too.

[singingbird]

I'm seeing this on Wednesday and I'm really valuing all the intelligent, perceptive discussion here, as it means I'm able to adjust my expectations before going in, and will probably enjoy it more as a result.

I often find that I have a pre-conceived notion of a show and when what I see onstage doesn't match that I end up feeling frustrated. It's not fair of me to expect the creative team to have made the show I would have made - and getting such wonderful feedback on this board helps me know what I'm going to.

In the case of Tammy Faye, I was expecting (I'm not sure why) something very dark, where the upbeat music and staging would be used as an ironic commentary on a very black story of manipulation, and unsavoury characters. Something very surreal and quite disturbing. Now I know it won't be that I can hopefully enjoy it for what it is!

[kathryn]

From the Variety Review

But as in “Billy Elliot” and most of “The Lion King,” John’s theater writing is worryingly generic, despite the wide variety of forms it mimics. It lacks anchoring, memorable individuality. He supplies what’s needed, but without distinctive qualities the songs only really work because the performances transcend the material.

Question: do I just have a different idea of what musical theatre composing should be? Is the music not meant to be an expression of the characters in the story, to set them in time and place and tell you something about who they are, rather than the composer? I wouldn’t really expect to be hearing Elton John the pop/rock artist in a musical about Lions in Africa or County Durham miners on strike in the 80s. (Though I’d also argue that the music in both of those musicals is memorable!)

Tammy Faye is actually more recognisably Elton John-ish (though possibly only if you know his early, country-and-gospel influenced work) than Billy Elliot is. But I’ve always thought it a good thing that you’d not recognise Billy Elliot as ‘written by Elton John’ if you didn’t already know it. Because the show isn’t about him.

[Rory]

Panel on Front Row just now unanimously think a transfer will happen, but to where?

[Rory]

[viserys]

Oct 27, 2022 18:01:44 GMT kathryn said:

From the Variety Review

But as in “Billy Elliot” and most of “The Lion King,” John’s theater writing is worryingly generic, despite the wide variety of forms it mimics. It lacks anchoring, memorable individuality. He supplies what’s needed, but without distinctive qualities the songs only really work because the performances transcend the material.

Question: do I just have a different idea of what musical theatre composing should be? Is the music not meant to be an expression of the characters in the story, to set them in time and place and tell you something about who they are, rather than the composer? I wouldn’t really expect to be hearing Elton John the pop/rock artist in a musical about Lions in Africa or County Durham miners on strike in the 80s. (Though I’d also argue that the music in both of those musicals is memorable!)

Tammy Faye is actually more recognisably Elton John-ish (though possibly only if you know his early, country-and-gospel influenced work) than Billy Elliot is. But I’ve always thought it a good thing that you’d not recognise Billy Elliot as ‘written by Elton John’ if you didn’t already know it. Because the show isn’t about him.

I think what the reviewer is going for is not that he expected it to sound more like Elton John the rock/pop artist but more... specific to the story. 

There is a certain generic musical theatre sound (which was lampooned in Spamalot with "The song that goes like this") where the song(s) could be part of any show. One composer who's really awful at this is Frank Wildhorn, whose generic power ballads sound exactly the same all over the many shows he's churned out without giving them an individual sound/voice.

However, I find it strange to accuse Elton John of this, who did give Lion King and Billy Elliot fairly distinctive tunes rooted in Africa and Northern England. Can't speak for Tammy Faye yet.

[mrbarnaby]

Elton didn’t write the African sounding songs in Lion King. He wrote the pop songs like Circle of Life, can you feel the love tonight etc..

Lebo M wrote the rest I believe.

[viserys]

Oct 28, 2022 7:16:20 GMT mrbarnaby said:

Elton didn’t write the African sounding songs in Lion King. He wrote the pop songs like Circle of Life, can you feel the love tonight etc..

Lebo M wrote the rest I believe.

I know that, but I still feel that those songs have a certain African undertone to it. You couldn't drop "Can you feel the love tonight" into Billy Elliot, nor could you drop "Solidarity" into Lion King.