Tammy Faye Bakker died four years ago, but she now may be headed for Broadway. Veteran composer Henry Krieger, whose biggest hit is "Dreamgirls," has written a new musical about Tammy Faye, titled "Rise."
With "The Book of Mormon" doing so well on Broadway, religion may be the new theme for musicals.
"Rise" received a reading in New York recently, with Kristin Chenoweth, a devout Christian herself, playing and singing Tammy Faye. The show is set in the afterlife, and Pat Robertson and Jimmy Swaggert are also in it.
Here is New York Post theater columnist Michael Riedel's report on it.
Damien has been around so long, he was at Summerfest the night George Carlin was arrested for speaking the seven dirty words you can't say on TV. He was also at the Uptown Theatre the night Bruce Springsteen's first Milwaukee concert was interrupted for three hours by a bomb scare. Damien was reviewing the concert for the Milwaukee Journal. He wrote for the Journal and Journal Sentinel for 37 years, the last 29 as theater critic.
During those years, Damien served two terms on the board of the American Theatre Critics Association, a term on the board of the association's foundation, and he studied the Latinization of American culture in a University of Southern California fellowship program. Damien also hosted his own arts radio program, "Milwaukee Presents with Damien Jaques," on WHAD for eight years.
Travel, books and, not surprisingly, theater top the list of Damien's interests. A news junkie, he is particularly plugged into politics and international affairs, but he also closely follows the Brewers, Packers and Marquette baskeball. Damien lives downtown, within easy walking distance of most of the theaters he attends.
