Elton John and Jake Shears’ ‘Tammy Faye’ musical to close just weeks after opening

Elton John and Jake Shears’ new musical Tammy Faye has announced it will close just weeks after opening in New York City.

• READ MORE: Scissor Sisters on being labelled a “gay band”: “It was rooted in homophobia”

The curtain will fall on the Broadway show for the last time on December 8 after receiving a number of poor reviews. It opened on November 14 at the Palace Theatre, while previews began on October 19.

With music from John, lyrics by Scissor Sisters’ Shears and a book by James Graham, the show tells the story of the American televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker, who was imprisoned for fraud and conspiracy in 1989.

By the time of its closure, the show will have run for 24 previews and 29 regular shows. It had previously run in London’s Almeida Theatre in late 2022.

In other Elton news, he recently spoke about his children’s relationship with his fame, saying he does not want them to “have any fear” and stressing that “they are not interested in being in the limelight”.

Never Too Late, a documentary that followed Elton as he prepared for his final North American stadium show at the Dodgers Stadium in November 2022, is arriving on Disney+ on December 13, after recently receiving a limited theatrical run.

The doc “pulls back the curtain” on Elton’s life, featuring “never-before-seen concert footage of him over the past 50 years, as well as hand-written journals and present-day footage of him and his family.” It received its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.

Last week, a song of the same name that was written specifically for the film was released, a duet between John and Brandi Carlile.

While that is likely to be a standalone song, it appears that John is not done releasing new music just yet. In May, his friend and co-writer Bernie Taupin revealed that John’s 32nd studio album is “all done and recorded”.

Scissor Sisters, meanwhile, recently announced their return as a trio of Shears, Babydaddy and Del Marquis. They will play a 2025 UK arena tour to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their self-titled debut album. Find the full list of shows here and find remaining tickets here.

Ana Matronic will not be joining the tour due to her podcasting commitments.

NME recently spoke to the band about being labelled a “gay band”, about which Marquis said, “I don’t think it was meant as a compliment. At that time I think it was rooted in homophobia.”

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