[NEohioPAL]The Gospel According to Tammy Faye (plugmobile)

Sat May 6 20:50:34 PDT 2006

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<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=5><STRONG><FONT face=Tahoma>Musical based on life of Tammy Faye Bakker</FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<P><STRONG><FONT face=Tahoma>to make its world premiere in Cincinnati</FONT></STRONG></P>
<P><FONT face="times new roman,times,serif" size=4>     "The Gospel According to Tammy Faye," a two-act, two-hour musical based on the life of Tammy Faye Messner, will make its world premiere Saturday, June 3, as part of the Cincinnati Fringe Festival.</FONT></P>
<DIV><FONT face="times new roman,times,serif" size=4>     The musical features a rich mix of original music that ranges from gospel to disco to 70s pop to tango to soft country rock, and it tells the rags to riches to rags to redemption story of the most famous female televangelist in U.S. history.</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face="times new roman,times,serif" size=4>     The composer/lyricist JT Buck, who came up with the idea for the show, and bookwriter Fernando Dovalina have teamed with Houston-based director John Garrett. They have cast 14 Cincinnati area performers to fill the 33 roles in the show.  Dovalina is a retired associate editor for the Houston Chronicle.  JT Buck, a native of Akron, Ohio, is a working freelance director and musician with credits on both coasts and in several states. Director John Garrett's credits include being the principal dancer in the movie "Grease." Buck and Dovalina also brought on board Aaron Callies, a choreographer who formarlyworked with Tejano star Selena.  All met while participating in famed Broadway producer Suart Ostrow's (1776, Pippin, M. Butterfly) Musical Theatre Collaboration Lab at the University of Houston.  </FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4>     "These are religiously divisive times," said Buck, "so any work of art that can reach across idealogical boundaries in a positive way is worth the effort.  Tammy Faye is a complex character.  Some choose to see her as a charlatan, others as an inspiration.  Who's right? We can find reasons to applaud or condemn anyone.  Tammy has survived colossal blows she did not deserve, AND swallowed consequences of her own massively poor choices, yet still finds the heart to get up each day and do her best.  That kind of spirit is (or at least once was) the bread and butter of the American musical.  It's a great story. And not often fairly- told."</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face="times new roman,times,serif"><FONT size=4>    <FONT face="times new roman,times,serif"> The key to the musical is based on a long conversation that Messner, who is probably better known as Tammy Faye Bakker, granted Buck and Dovalina in February 2005 in Charlotte, N.C. In that meeting, she discussed her childhood, and "the power, the joy and the peace" that she experienced when she became born-again, Dovalina said. She told Buck and Dovalina that she had rediscovered the child in her. "That stuck with us," Dovalina said.</FONT> </FONT> </FONT><FONT face="times new roman,times,serif"></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face="times new roman,times,serif" size=4>     In the musical, Buck and Dovalina tell Messner's story as a fantasy, a sort of life-flashing-through-your eyes sequence as Messner, who is ill with cancer, is about to go through radiation therapy.</FONT></DIV></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face="times new roman,times,serif" size=4>     "Tammy Faye is very ill," Dovalina said, "but when we interviewed her, she was upfront about her medical condition. I think she shows tremendous courage in the face of what may be a terminal illness. I think we dramatize that well."</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT face="Times New Roman">     "</FONT><FONT face="times new roman,times,serif">Much of the rest of the play has that dream-like quality," Dovalina said, "and we play with time and with the facts, fictionalizing some of her life, and imagining what some of the scenes might have been like, but knowing that it's coming from our imaginations. We touch on painful moments, but also uplifting and inspirational times, and the lasting taste is one of joy and redemption."</FONT> </FONT></DIV>
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<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt"><FONT size=4>     One of the elements of the piece that was received well was the decision to have three Tammy Fayes on stage, often at the same time, the 10-year-old Tammy Faye, who represents innocence; the 1990s Tammy Faye, who represents the loss of innocence; and the present-day Tammy Faye, who represents scarred wisdom and the recovery of that innocence.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt"></SPAN><FONT size=4></FONT> </P><FONT size=4>     The writers have kept in touch with Messner and her agent, Joe Spotts, bringing them up to date on the musical's progress, but Dovalina said the writers don't know what she thinks of their work. "I have a feeling she wouldn't like the title because she is not at all pretentious, but it's an apt title because the show is built around her beliefs and her gospel of compassion." </FONT></FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face="times new roman,times,serif" size=4>     One of those present at the October reading, Marshall Mason, a respected Broadway director, told the writers that the show was about "heart." The writers said they zeroed in on that word as they rewrote the musical.</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4>     Both of the writers are excited about the upcoming bow in Cincy. "We know we're at a crucial stage of this show's development." said Buck. "We have a way to go before it finds its final form, but it's been an excellent birth so far.  We've had top-notch professional guidance, and readings have been very well-recieved. We've got a strong show for Cincinnati.  We're really excited about where "The Gospel..." goes from here."</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face="times new roman,times,serif" size=3><FONT size=4>     The Gospel According to Tammy Faye will premiere at the Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati (ETC), <SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black">1127 Vine Street</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black"> between </SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black">Central Parkway</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black"> and </SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black">12th Street</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black"></SPAN>.</FONT> </FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT size=3><FONT face="times new roman,times,serif">     <FONT size=4>There will be five performances:</FONT></FONT></FONT><FONT face="times new roman,times,serif" size=4> </FONT><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><FONT face="times new roman,times,serif" size=4> </FONT></SPAN></DIV>
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<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="times new roman,times,serif"><FONT size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 13.5pt">8 p.m.</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 13.5pt">, Saturday, June 3</SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="times new roman,times,serif"><FONT size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 13.5pt">9 p.m.</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 13.5pt">, Wednesday, June 7</SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="times new roman,times,serif"><FONT size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 13.5pt">6:30 p.m.</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 13.5pt">, Thursday, June 8</SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="times new roman,times,serif"><FONT size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 13.5pt">9:15 p.m.</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 13.5pt">, Friday, June 9</SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="times new roman,times,serif"><FONT size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 13.5pt">8:30 p.m.</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 13.5pt">, Saturday, June 10</SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="times new roman,times,serif"><FONT size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 13.5pt">For more info, Contact <A href="mailto:jtbuck at hotmail.com">jtbuck at hotmail.com</A></SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="times new roman,times,serif"><FONT size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 13.5pt">or <A href="http://www.fdovalina.com">www.fdovalina.com</A></SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="times new roman,times,serif"><FONT size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 13.5pt">or <A href="http://www.cincyfringe.com">www.cincyfringe.com</A></SPAN></FONT></FONT></P></DIV></SPAN></FONT></FONT></DIV></div></html>