Elton John is sharing what inspired him to make a Broadway musical about one of America’s most famous televangelists, Tammy Faye Bakker, who died in 2007.
In an interview with ABC’s Good Morning America, Elton, who composed the music for the new show, said he admired Bakker’s support for the gay community.
“She took a chance,” he said. “It was pretty remarkable for someone in the religious community.”
“No one else in the evangelical community was very gay-friendly at all,” he added. “They, well, totally hated us. She stood out. And I loved her for that.”
Elton specifically remembers the moment that Bakker, who was the co-founder of the televangelist program The PTL Club with her then-husband Jim Bakker, invited Rev. Steve Pieters on the show in 1985. During her groundbreaking interview with Pieters, Faye was moved to tears as Pieters opened up to her about what it was like living with HIV/AIDS.
“She won me over when she did that,” Elton said.
The new musical, which is titled Tammy Faye, will tell the story of Tammy and how she “stole the country’s heart,” according to a synopsis. Set in the ’70s, it follows her and her husband as they build their congregation.
Elton said Tammy’s son watched the show and was “thrilled” about it. “He wants his mother’s legacy to be true,” he said.
“I want people to walk out of the theater thinking, ‘God, she was OK … she was a wonderful woman. We might have misjudged her,'” he added. “I want them to leave the theater with a smile on their face.”
Elton’s other musicals include The Lion King, Billy Elliott, Aida and The Devil Wears Prada, the latter of which just opened in London’s West End.
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