The main problem with “Tammy Faye,” currently on at the Palace Theatre is not the vapid lyrics by Jake Shears or the bland book by James Graham. Unfortunately, the “New Broadway Musical” has nothing to do with the iconic PTL Club televangelist Tammy Faye. Not even the two-time Laurence Olivier Award winning Katie Brayben’s performance as Tammy Faye, or the talented ensemble cast, or Elton John’s music, or Rupert Goold’s direction could save this overwrought and overlong musical. The presence that was Tammy Faye, an enormous presence that captivated and captured the hearts of America’s evangelical Christians is nowhere to be found in the Palace Theatre. Sadly, Tammy Faye has left the building.

Also missing was any exploration of the tragedy in Tammy Faye’s life with Jim Bakker (Christian Borle) or any clues to the decline into the delusional behavior of a person of faith who truly believed in the power of that faith which brought her ministry to an end. After the colon cancer diagnosis, and at the end of the show’s first song, the audience sees Tammy return to her younger self in the 1970s. She is deeply concerned about the afterlife, singing “Will I be forgiven/Heavy is the weight of my shame/Will you make me answer for my name.” Yet nowhere in the musical does the audience see Tammy deeply repentant. Nowhere do we see this characterization of Tammy Faye seeking forgiveness or longing for redemption and release.

Also absent is the motivation for what Tammy chooses to do throughout her life. Why does she Marry Jim Bakker? Why does she go along with the domed-to-fail Heritage USA scheme? What in Tammy’s past drives her to be unconditionally and non-judgmentally loving? Why doesn’t the musical explore Tammy’s ministry with the LGBTQ community during that community’s tragic history?

What is present in abundance is the homophobic and sexist rants from the white cisgender evangelists Jerry Falwell (Michael Cerveris), Jimmy Swaggert (Ian Lassiter), Oral Roberts (Daniel Torres), and Pat Robertson (Andy Taylor) who do everything in their earthly power to assure Tammy’s failure.

“Tammy Faye” fails to celebrate Tammy Faye. Why the creators and producers decided to open a musical that succeeds in diminishing the presence of an iconic figure in televangelism remains a mystery. One wonders if somehow Tammy’s soulful presence, which might hover in the wings of the Palace Theatre, has anything to do with curtain delays, set problems, repeated false fire alarms, backstage open mics, and tripping actors? That is probably too much magical thinking. But then again, as Hamlet professes, “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”