Sir Elton John has joined forces with one of the UK’s top directors to create a musical about televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker.
The 72-year-old icon has teamed up with Rupert Goold – who runs London’s Almeida Theatre – and they are currently casting the main roles for a workshop to be held in London in late April.
Rupert told the Daily Mail newspaper’s Baz Bamigboye: "It’s a big singing role and a great comic part, so we’ll need a comedienne for the workshop to look at the songs already written, and the new songs."
It’s hoped the production will premiere at the Almeida Theatre in 2021.
Rupert explained: "The show might grow, so we’ll see, but we’re interested in the Almeida for it initially."
Elton is eager to create a show about Tammy because he had "a willingness to preach acceptance amid a world that was so quick to pass judgement".
The award-winning musician is poised to work on new tracks for the production with top recording engineer Matt Still.
Meanwhile, Niall Horan recently claimed he appreciates Elton’s "criticism" of his songwriting.
The 26-year-old pop star – who has just released his second solo album, ‘Heartbreak Weather’ – admitted he leans on some of his musical heroes for advice about writing hit songs.
Niall shared: "Elton John’s really supportive of my songwriting. He’s great [for] constructive criticism or just straight up criticism. You get actual feedback.
"And Don Henley [of The Eagles], I send him bits and pieces and he’ll absolutely, no problem, tell me if there’s something wrong with them.
"But that’s what you need. I mean, there’s a reason I’m asking for help – because I’m expecting a bad answer. And if Don Henley has an idea to make the song better I’m like, ‘Well, you wrote ‘Hotel California’ so I believe you.’"
Sir Elton John plans to create musical about televangelist
