Tammy Faye Sings Again in First Listen of Elton John and Jake Shears' Upcoming Broadway Musical (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Tammy Faye,Elton JohnandJake Shears' musical about the life of the late American evangelistTammy 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.”

“Show me mercy, open your hand,” Brayben belts.

Katie Brayben singing “Empty Hands” fromTammy Faye.Courtesy of Tammy Faye: The Musical

Courtesy of Tammy Faye: The Musical

“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, aTonywinner and five-timeGrammywinner, worked for over a decade on the show, collaborating withScissor Sistersfrontman 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.”

Elton John and Jake Shears.Kevin Mazur/Getty Images; Walter McBride/Corbis via Getty Images

Kevin Mazur/Getty Images; Walter McBride/Corbis via Getty Images

Tammy Fayeis 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 withAidaand 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.”

Michael Cerveris, Katie Brayben and Christian Borle pose during a photo call for the new Elton John/Jake Shears Broadway musical ‘Tammy Faye’.Bruce Glikas/Getty

Bruce Glikas/Getty

In addition to Brayben, the musical stars two-time Tony winnerChristian Borleas 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.

Jim Bakker and Tammy Faye Messner.

Messner was known for her eccentric personality and glamorous persona, which differentiated her from many of the mainstream evangelists at the time. She was also more liberal than her contemporaries, advocating for members of the LGBTQ+ community, especially during the height of the AIDS epidemic.

She and Bakker married in 1961 and began their ministry the following year. They’d go on to become founding members ofThe 700 Cluband host of number of popular shows themselves, includingThe PTL Club(Praise The Lord), which eventually blossomed into its own network.

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The pair divorced in 1992, three years afterBakker was sentenced to prisonfor numerous counts of fraud and conspiracy. She went on to marry property developer Roe Messner in 1993, who himself had his own run-ins with the law and would serve 27 months in prison for bankruptcy fraud.

After an 11-year journey with colon cancer,Messner died on July 20, 2007, at the age of 65. Both Bakker and Roe are still alive.

Tickets forTammy Fayeare now on sale attammyfayebway.com.

source: people.com