Tammy Faye: A New Musical - Almeida

[mrnutz]

I'm in tonight - looking forward to it!

[vickyg]

Katie Brayben off tonight so we have Gemma Sutton (I’m pretty sure). Both swings are on and lots of shifting in the company. I hope Katie is just resting ahead of the closing shows and will be able to see out the run. It’s not the same without her!

[Dr Tom]

Gemma Sutton is on as Tammy tonight. I didn’t spot any signs in the theatre. She is brilliant!

[bobbievanhusen]

I was also there tonight, for my third and final time. Previous visits I was in row A and B upstairs, tonight I was front stalls.

There were no signs that I saw around the theatre and I didn't get a programme, so when the show started, I was looking at Tammy Faye and thinking to myself how she looked different from the circle. And then when she started speaking I realised that the understudy was on.

To her credit, Gemma Sutton did a great job. I'm guessing she had very little rehersal, but she knew the show well (there was only 1 line dropped that i noticed) She didn't quite have the character or the voice down, which is understandable given how little time she had. She seemed more comfortable in Act 2 rather than in Act 1, but thats just my opinion. Some of her comstumes were different also.

It definitely highlighted the need for Katie Brayben or anyone who has really had the chance to learn the part. Ketie's charisma and personality really boost the show that I felt was slightly lacking tonight. Jake Shears was in the house watching. (Elton was in last night)

One of the ensemble was also off, so all the swings were on, covering and swapping tracks.

I really do hope this does transfer to the West End before it goes off to NYC, which it inevitably will do at some point.

[showtoones]

Does anyone know why Katie was off tonight? Hope she’s ok…

[mrbarnaby]

Jake shears seems to be in watching every single night 🤣

[mrnutz]

My first visit last night and, though I didn't know what Katie Brayben looked like, after reading the rave reviews for her performance on here I was pretty sure within the first few minutes that we were watching her understudy. No disrespect to Gemma Sutton who did well - stronger on the acting front than in the songs - but it was disappointing not to see KB after so many of you saying she made the show!

I still enjoyed it overall, but with various other changes in the cast to fill the gaps there was more hesitation and fluffing than you'd expect from a show at this point in its run.

I thought Zubin Varla was particularly excellent and I really enjoyed Andrew Rannells' performance too.

Thought the story was good, zipped along at a nippy pace, the set was fun and there were a handful of great songs in there as well.

In summary, a hard one to judge considering the circumstances but I can only rate based on what I saw last night - 3.5/5.

[mrnutz]

Also - the bows. What is going on here? So awkward.

[kathryn]

Dec 2, 2022 6:19:11 GMT mrbarnaby said:

Jake shears seems to be in watching every single night 🤣

Can you blame him?! It’s his first hit show!

[vickyg]

Dec 2, 2022 12:17:02 GMT kathryn said:

Dec 2, 2022 6:19:11 GMT mrbarnaby said:

Jake shears seems to be in watching every single night 🤣

Can you blame him?! It’s his first hit show!

I’d be in every night if I could afford it/get tickets and I didn’t even write it!

[Dr Tom]

Last night, I was there in the (side) front row for what I expect will be my fourth and final visit. I had hoped to catch Katie one more time, but I always like to see other people in the same roles, so definitely not disappointed to have seen Gemma. I think what this has showed me is how strongly written the role is.

What I am disappointed about is that there were just no signs up at all. I am sure there are people in the audience who will have thought they saw Katie. Very unfair on Gemma, who got well deserved applause at the end.

Gemma did play the role differently, perhaps underplaying at some points, but that didn't hurt the performance at all. Plus, she really nailed the big numbers.

I will have to work out who covered what, but they certainly had Michael Kent on in a usually female track at one point, and I think there were some split tracks in there. Speaking of Michael, he didn't get to appear during the final number or bow.

I would suspect there is some illness going around the cast unless they just wanted to make sure that Gemma got to go on in the lead role once before closing night.

Gemma did have different costumes to Katie and at one point wore an almost identical dress to the woman playing Jessica Hahn, so it did make me think that appearance likely wasn't planned in advance.

Well done, Gemma. Will be interesting to hear who is on tonight.

[mrnutz]

Dec 2, 2022 12:46:40 GMT Dr Tom said:

What I am disappointed about is that there were just no signs up at all. I am sure there are people in the audience who will have thought they saw Katie. Very unfair on Gemma, who got well deserved applause at the end.

I managed to find two in the interval as I was looking for them - they were stuck on the walls either side of the bar. But definitely not obvious at all.

[vickyg]

I was also looking last night and couldn’t see a sign but I did only look around the box office which is where I would have expected to have found it. Two ladies near me were chatting in the interval about the screens in the foyer showing the rehearsal footage saying they couldn’t believe how different the lady playing Tammy Faye looked without a wig and make up. They obviously had no idea it was a different person and I think 90% of the audience will not have known.

It was quite a different performance. I agree with Dr Tom that it didn’t seem to have been planned in advance and I thought the nervously shaking hand when Tammy went on PTL alone for the first time looked very real and made me root for her even more! It did show how strong the underlying material is which is interesting because I had previously thought that Katie Brayben was a much larger part of it’s brilliance. She is fantastic, don’t get me wrong, and I still can’t imagine the show without her, but it’s also just a really great show imo.

I thought the second act was much more confident and seemed more rehearsed than the first for Gemma, but the missed line in the first 2 seconds of the show really put me on edge in the first half so maybe that contributed to my perception.

Glad to have seen Gemma, but I’m really hoping to get a ticket for tomorrow and it would be great to see Katie one last time.

[kathryn]

Dec 2, 2022 13:15:45 GMT vickyg said:

! It did show how strong the underlying material is which is interesting because I had previously thought that Katie Brayben was a much larger part of it’s brilliance. She is fantastic, don’t get me wrong, and I still can’t imagine the show without her, but it’s also just a really great show imo.

Interesting to hear this. I was wondering if this was one of those cases where people mix up a great role with a great performance.

It’s often the case that what we attribute to an individual performer is baked into the role itself.

Though, naturally, as KB originated the role she will have influenced it during rehearsals, and an understudy is expected to deliver the interpretation of the lead rather than do something totally different.

[matildaswinton]

Saw this on Wednesday with Elton. What a gift to be able to see the beginnings of a potentially great piece. The music is mostly wonderful. Very catchy. Love, If Only Love was a standout for me in Act One, as well as Tammy’s solo. Act One heavily follows her… she barely has offstage time. Same goes for Jim, but everything besides Katie is in grayscale compared to her technicolor star quality.

Act Two isn’t as good because the focus shifts to the villains, although I’m glad she got some time to rest. There is a number that tries to be Easy Street, right down to the choreography, but it’s not effective because our villains aren’t on that campy love-to-hate Hannigan level. He Promised Me sounds amazing. However, these two moments bring me to one issue I had…

The limits of the Almeida inhibited the direction. It’s a small space, even smaller when you can’t use the sides because of so many restricted view seats. A lot of the show was front and center head-on, presentational and simple. I think some moments worked, but if this is going to transfer to a bigger space, they need to bring in more tricks. It felt like a great regional production with star talent. I want this piece to flow Michael Bennet Dreamgirls style. It should be a constant surprise of where we use the space and how we reveal scene and time changes. Let us get enveloped in this world. The choreography is energetic but rote. I think a director/choreographer could really give it needed focus.

In He Promised Me, it wasn’t clear that we were really inside Tammy’s paranoid and drugged-up head…. I kept thinking, “Why are we villainizing Jessica Hahn?” Then I finally got it at the end. It just wasn’t clear because it started after their plea for money on PTL, which was a very real and grounded scene. Then we transitioned into this number that was probably meant to be a break from reality. Katie was showing some great stuff, but it’s not enough to have her emote on an elevated box surrounded by everyone. They could go much further with her darkness. Generally, the “sad section” of the show is a slog and lasts way too long. Too many villain ballads.

If this goes to New York, I think Raul Esparza or Cheyenne Jackson could make a great Falwell. Casting someone who can compete with Katie would help the piece. Same with Jim. Rory O’Malley? John Groff? Andrew seemed too aware he was acting. His timing is almost too perfect. Katie is alive. Oddly enough, the cartoonish Tammy is the most realistic human on that stage. Everyone in the roles around her needs to be on a better level for us to buy the stakes.

I really want this show to succeed. The pathos of Katie as Tammy is begging for a better show to work from. Rework the book and focus the concept. Change directors. Go big. As of now, we don’t know what this show is because it’s trying to be other things. It is part Tammy Faye Superstar, part Beautiful: the Tammy Faye Musical, part Dear Tammy Faye…. But if it gave into its most powerful moments and worked forward, it could be an incredible event. I could easily see this role joining the great leading lady repertoire. And I can’t wait for a cast album.

Shoutout to the very talented ensemble!

[kathryn]

Dec 2, 2022 15:57:02 GMT matildaswinton said:

. Oddly enough, the cartoonish Tammy is the most realistic human on that stage.

I don’t think this is odd - it’s part of the point of the show, to humanise this person who was treated as a cartoonish figure (and is still used as a punchline).

She should seem like a realistic human. Camp and larger than life, but still a realistic (and sympathetic) human.

I agree with the point about it not being entirely clear when we are in Tammy’s drug-addled imagination and when we’re in reality.

[ShoreditchTom]

Cancelled tonight, cast illness!

[matildaswinton]

Dec 2, 2022 16:48:55 GMT kathryn said:

it’s part of the point of the show, to humanise this person who was treated as a cartoonish figure (and is still used as a punchline).

She should seem like a realistic human. Camp and larger than life, but still a realistic (and sympathetic) human.

Totally agree she should be humanized. I just felt that Katie did that work, not necessarily the book. And that it cheated her hero’s journey a bit because the rest of the characters were not fully fleshed out.

[Dr Tom]

Dec 2, 2022 17:29:12 GMT ShoreditchTom said:

Cancelled tonight, cast illness!

What a shame for everyone. I hope they are able to get in shape for the closing performance tomorrow.

[ThereWillBeSun]

Dec 2, 2022 18:11:45 GMT Dr Tom said:

Dec 2, 2022 17:29:12 GMT ShoreditchTom said:

Cancelled tonight, cast illness!

What a shame for everyone. I hope they are able to get in shape for the closing performance tomorrow.

Seconded and how gutting for audience members too. :/ 

[Mark]

Dang! Was meant to be there tonight.
Very disappointed the show is cancelled, but grateful I was able to see it at the start of the run. I guess I’ll look forward to the inevitable transfer even more now.

[lou105]

For anyone due to go tonight, were you contacted please? A friend is due to go tomorrow and it's obviously a bit out of the way to go anywhere else, if you find out on the door ( obviously really hoping it goes ahead for all concerned). Thanks

[Mark]

Dec 2, 2022 20:30:47 GMT lou105 said:

For anyone due to go tonight, were you contacted please? A friend is due to go tomorrow and it's obviously a bit out of the way to go anywhere else, if you find out on the door ( obviously really hoping it goes ahead for all concerned). Thanks

Had email at 16:30, so three hours notice. I was in the cinema till 6:30 so no time to plan anything else unfortunately.

[ShoreditchTom]

Dec 2, 2022 20:30:47 GMT lou105 said:

For anyone due to go tonight, were you contacted please? A friend is due to go tomorrow and it's obviously a bit out of the way to go anywhere else, if you find out on the door ( obviously really hoping it goes ahead for all concerned). Thanks

I was due to be there tonight - I got an email at 16:25 and also a call at 18:30 from the Box Office staff who wanted to make sure I was aware - they were lovely (as they always are at the Almeida). I do hope the cast manage to have their final night performances tomorrow but given tonight's cancellation I suspect whatever is going around has spread to further cast (or crew?) members leaving them too short to cover everything....

[mrbarnaby]

Oh no how awful for the audience and cast. Here’s hoping tomorrow goes ahead