Tammy Faye's Final Audition

Tammy Faye Bakker was the sweetheart of Christian TV in the 1980's, until scandal and fraud brought the empire crashing down. As Tammy Faye nears the end of her life, she attempts a comeback. In a fevered dream, she enlists the men in her life to audition for one final TV show. "Tammy Faye's Final Audition" goes beyond the makeup and the tears to the naked truth.

"'...
Tammy Faye Bakker was the sweetheart of Christian TV in the 1980's, until scandal and fraud brought the empire crashing down. As Tammy Faye nears the end of her life, she attempts a comeback. In a fevered dream, she enlists the men in her life to audition for one final TV show. "Tammy Faye's Final Audition" goes beyond the makeup and the tears to the naked truth.

"'Tammy Faye's Final Audition' is relentless, a force of energies alternatively touchingly sad and truly funny." -Eames Armstrong, DC Metro Theater Arts, 4-1/2 stars

"The result is funny, entertaining, and surprisingly moving look at the real life behind an unreal celebrity, staged as affectionate satire without condescension or scorn." -Joshua Buursma, Washington City Paper

"Solid directing by Dennis Lee Delaney. Biechler's play...is a swiftly moving and multilayered creative work. C. David Russell's costumes and Mitch Ely's wigs transform the actors into those people we know well." -Jennifer Perry, BroadwayWorld.com

"Shelley Delaney is fearless, fearsome, and thoroughly transporting. There is nary a moment when she doesn't have you in the palm of her actor's hand, and she takes us to surprising and powerful places. She turns on a dime when called upon. It's a performance that impresses an audience while honoring her subject. Wow." -Christopher Henley, DC Theatre Scene, 5 stars

“Touching, amusing and ultimately inspiring, 'Tammy Faye's Final Audition' transcends easy stereotypes about the teary-eyed televangelist. Deft writing, resonant acting and a vivid design help ensure that the 85-minute one-act packs a punch in exploring a distinctly American saga about celebrity, religion, television, suffering and redemption.” -Michael Grossberg, Columbus Dispatch
  • Recommend
  • Download
  • Save to Reading List

Tammy Faye's Final Audition

Recommended by

  • Brayden Frascone:
    28 Jan. 2020
    I had the pleasure of working on this play at Tantrum Theater in 2016 and I still find myself returning to experience the incredible craftsmanship of this script again and again. With practiced hands, Biechler expertly weaves Messner's complicated relationship with fame, love, and God into fast moving 90-minute epic that challenges the audience to ask big questions about faith, redemption, and the (heavily made-up) faces we put on for others.
  • Rachel Bykowski:
    28 Jan. 2020
    A relentless play full of grotesque beauty as we watch a character wrestle with the duality of her life. There is love and empathy tangled with lies and mistakes as a woman searches to redeem her greatest performance - her life.

Production History

  • Professional
    ,
    Tantrum Theater
    ,
    2016
  • Professional
    ,
    Brick Monkey Theater Ensemble
    ,
    2016
  • Fringe
    ,
    Cincinnati Fringe Festival
    ,
    2015
  • Fringe
    ,
    Capital Fringe - DC
    ,
    2015

Awards

Judges' Choice
,
Best of Fringe
,
Cincinnati Fringe Festival
,
2015
Judges' Choice
,
Best of Fringe
,
Capital Fringe DC
,
2015