Elton John believes his musical Tammy Faye flopped on Broadway as a result of it was “too political for America.”
The legendary singer-songwriter lately shared his ideas with The Sunday Instances on the present’s short-lived run on Broadway. Tammy Faye, which featured John’s music, chronicled the well-known televangelist.
“We put out two musicals lately, one an enormous flop in America and the opposite an enormous hit in England,” he stated concerning Tammy Faye and The Satan Wears Prada, the latter of which is presently at London’s West Finish.
“Tammy Faye got here out in the course of the U.S. election, and it’s all about how the combination of church and state ruined America, which Ronald Reagan did,” John defined. “It was too political for America. They don’t actually get irony.” The manufacturing was beforehand on the West Finish within the fall of 2022, the place it earned 4 Olivier Awards nominations.
The musical, which the “Rocket Man” singer additionally produced, closed on Dec. 8 final yr, only a few weeks after opening on the Palace Theatre in New York Metropolis. The manufacturing was met with blended to detrimental opinions and finally didn’t seize an viewers.
Forward of its Broadway debut, John advised The Hollywood Reporter final yr that he was “all the time extremely fascinated” by Faye, “so after we bought the possibility to write down the musical, I jumped at it, as a result of I really like fascinating folks like that who’ve had nice success after which been banished and misplaced the whole lot, after which come again due to their religion and due to their perception, and switch the tables.”