Elton John is working on a musical based on the life of Tammy Faye Bakker with playwright and screenwriter James Graham, and they’re doing it over Zoom.
Graham appeared on the BBC show HARDtalk and essentially confirmed the news, “I’m writing a musical with Elton John in the moment. It’s a story that he found, actually…it’s about 1980s televangelism and how these television ministries became the largest ministries in the world, with millions of worshipers.”
He continued, “It’s set in sort of Reaganite America and the tensions between faith and religion…I’m trying to make it a little bit political.”
He also added that isn’t easy for the two to create a musical in lockdown, “None of the great 20th century musicals were written over Skype and Zoom.” He also compared the writing sessions to a “back-and-forth tennis match,” where one has an idea and the writes it down.
As for a release, Graham says, “I guess, hopefully next year, when theaters reopen.”