Elton John and former Scissor Sisters frontman and Jake Shears—both Broadway alums as composer and performer, respectively—are collaborating with Tony–nominated Ink playwright James Graham on a new musical based on the life of late televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker.
A workshop is expected to take place later this year, with a targeted West End premiere in 2020, according to The Daily Mail's Baz Bamigboye, reporting from the Cannes Film Festival premiere of the John biopic Rocketman.
Tony Award winner Kristin Chenoweth is also attached to play Bakker (later Messner) in a separate musical adaptation featuring a score by Dreamgirls composer Henry Krieger and book by Australian playwright Anthony Crowley.
READ: Kristin Chenoweth on Why She's Bringing the Story of Tammy Faye Bakker to the Stage
Additionally, a film adaptation based on the 2000 documentary The Eyes of Tammy Faye, starring Andrew Garfield as Jim Bakker and Jessica Chastain as Tammy Faye is also in pre-production.
