Elton turns to Tammy, queen of TV God squad
THE second coming of televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker — she of the outlandish fluttery eyelashes — will soon be upon us, thanks to Elton John.
Tammy shone in a telereligious world dominated by men.
The rock superstar told me yesterday how he and the Scissor Sisters’ Jake Shears spent the past eight years studying the life and times of Tammy Faye and first husband, preacher Jim Bakker.
(He had a spectacular fall from grace after becoming embroiled in some oldtime chicanery... a scandal that included fleecing his flock and cheating on Tammy with Jessica Hahn, a young church secretary, whom he paid more than a quarter of a million dollars in hush money.)
Elton and Jake have been joined by playwright James Graham, who delivered the book for the show, tentatively titled Tammy Faye — A New Musical, six weeks ago. In writing it, Elton said he and his collaborators have taken influence from gospel, country and rock ’n’ roll.
The key for Elton was that while most Christian preachers lashed out at gays, Tammy had a ‘willingness to preach acceptance, amid a world that was so quick to pass judgment...we were struck by her huge generosity of spirit’.
He added he felt she had been treated unkindly. ‘We realised that theirs was a real life, rags-to-riches story, played out against the backdrop of evangelism in 80’s America,’ Elton told me of the woman who became Tammy Faye Bakker Messner after remarrying.
He said he’d always been fascinated by ‘the point where TV evangelism and entertainment meet’.
‘The charisma, the persuasion, the unabashed entertainment; the ability of television in America to successfully deliver religion right into the homes of the nation,’ he marvelled. ‘The explosion of this culture with the ascension of Ronald Reagan to the White House is the perfect backdrop to tell the story of Tammy Faye.’
DuRING
the early years of their relationship, Tammy Faye sang gospels and played the accordion while Rev Jim preached.
She electrified congregations with her elaborately coiffed hair, those signature eyelashes, lashings of eyeliner and extravagant couture clothes. The Bakkers’ Praise the Lord (PTL) ministry raked in tens of millions of dollars.
And the Lord told the couple to spend it lavishly, on themselves.
The Bakkers revelled in the trappings of tasteless opulence. They had a gold-plated bathroom, a 50ft walk- in clothes closet; a private jet; his-and-hers Rolls-Royces, and an air-conditioned kennel (the pair even threw a wedding ceremony for Tammy’s Yorkshire terrier and poodle).
For Jim’s birthday in 1987, Tammy Faye announced, on their show, that she was buying him a pair of giraffes.
David Furnish, Elton’s husband, worked with Joseph Smith, who runs the couple’s Rocket Stage division of their Rocket Entertainment empire, to put on a reading in London of the Tammy Faye musical.
Smith noted that a full workshop will be staged later in the year, and that they’re working towards a production opening in London in the second part of 2020.
He stressed that the show is ‘not a lampoon of religion’. Martin Koch, the celebrated orchestrator and music supervisor, oversaw the reading.
He worked with Elton and Stephen Daldry on Working Title’s musical Billy Elliot. A director will be contracted soon. Elton was at the Cannes Film Festival for last night’s world premiere ( out of competition) of Rocketman, director Dexter Fletcher’s terrific big screen musical that explores Elton’s demons and the dark side of showbiz.
The film, from producer Matthew Vaughn, stars Taron Egerton ( sublime) as the singer; with Richard Madden as John Reid, Jamie Bell as Bernie Taupin and Bryce Dallas Howard as Elton’s mum Sheila.
There’s a lot of faith in Tammy Faye, who died in 2007, at the moment.
Jessica Chastain and Andrew Garfield will portray the Bakkers in a film that will shoot this year.