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Sir Elton John’s Broadway musical has been axed less than one week after its launch.
The show, based on televangelist Tammy Faye Messner’s life story, launched on 14 November but struggled to sell tickets after poor early reviews.
Sir Elton, 77, wrote the music for the show – and attended the opening night in New York – while Scissor Sisters’ Jake Shears, 46, penned the lyrics.
Despite a hotly anticipated move from London’s West End, where it had performed solidly, Tammy Faye: A New Musical did not fare as well across the pond, and producers announced it will have its final curtain call on 8 December.
The Hollywood Reporter reports the show was capitalised for up to $25,000,000 (£19,790,000)
A source reportedly told the Mail the show had failed to connect with New York audiences.
‘It was always going to be difficult, even the writers feared the storyline didn’t translate for the audience,’ the source said.
‘The 1700-capacity venue was only selling 300 tickets a night. This is not exactly great for Elton.’
The source explained unsupportive early reviews of the show had ‘killed it’ leaving those in the industry anticipating it was always ‘at risk of not working’.
‘The first-night reviews were not exactly positive,’ the insider reportedly added. ‘They thought they’d be cancelled before the year is out.’
The New York Times called the production ‘strangely bland’, while Variety declared it a ‘misguided West End import’.
Sir Elton previously found great success on stage through his composing for The Lion King and Billy Elliot the musical.
He worked with Scissor Sisters star Jake and playwright James Graham on the show, which premiered at London’s Almeida Theatre in 2022.
Graham’s last show for the Almeida, Ink in 2017 – which covered his take on Rupert Murdoch’s purchasing of The Sun newspaper in 1969 – transferred to the West End and then on to Broadway.
It was nominated for and won multiple Olivier and Tony Awards, with Graham also the brains behind popular BBC crime thriller Sherwood.
On its London premiere, the show was received well with largely four-star reviews.
The Guardian described the show as ‘infectious in its music, exuberant in its performances and gloriously kitsch in its aesthetic’ and gave it four stars.
TimeOut rated it the same, describing it as a ‘terrific piece of entertainment’, while The Independent dubbed it ‘gloriously OTT’.
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