Tammy Faye’s Son Jay Bakker Says New Elton John Show About Her Is ‘Like Having All Your Trauma in a Musical’ (Exclusive)

After seeing Tammy Faye, the biographical musical about the late American evangelist Tammy Faye Messner, her son, Jay Bakker, hopped on a video call with Elton John, who wrote the music for it. 

Jay, 48, recalled in an exclusive interview with PEOPLE what the “Candle in the Wind” singer, 77, asked him on that call, and he revealed what he thinks of the stage production about his famous mother’s life as a traveling preacher’s wife to his dad, Jim Bakker. 

“[Elton] was like, ‘Have I caught your mom’s spirit?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, yeah, you did,’ ” Jay, a pastor and author, told PEOPLE at an Oct. 2 dress rehearsal in New York City before Tammy Faye’s Oct. 19 Broadway debut. 

Jay likened seeing the Broadway musical to “getting hit by a freight train.” 

“It’s like having all your trauma in a musical,” he explained. “Almost like, ‘Here’s some mushrooms. Let’s relive the trauma.’ … It’s surreal. There’s times I almost wanted to raise my hand … and then I was like, ‘I can’t. This is not an interactive play.’ ”

All in all, Jay said music writer John, lyric writer Jake Shears, book writer James Graham and the cast did well telling the story about his mom, who died in 2007 at age 65 after a long stint with cancer.

“They did a great job, and it really seems to celebrate my mother’s life,” Jay said. “They had to use broad strokes. You’re talking 20-some odd years of ministry and 15, 20 years after that. They really captured my mom’s spirit.” 

“It’s more like Elton John saying, ‘I want to tell the world that this is a good woman.’ And you get to see the humanity of my father more in it,” Jay added. “My dad was a workaholic, and they really capture that.”

Tammy Faye originally premiered in London’s West End in 2022. For the Oct. 19 Broadway debut, Nov. 14 opening night and subsequent shows at the Palace Theatre, Katie Brayben will reprise her West End role of Tammy, for which she won best actress at the Olivier Awards in 2023.

Joining Brayben will be two-time Tony Award winner Christian Borle as Jim, whom Tammy divorced in 1992, and two-time Tony Award winner Michael Cerveris as Reverend Jerry Falwell in the Rupert Gould-directed musical. 

Asked what his mom would think of Tammy Faye and her resurgence in pop culture in general, Jay guessed she would be grateful.

“I think she would be excited about it,” he said, noting that she likely have notes on the tone of certain scenes. “But for the most part, I think she would be grateful. We don’t get to choose what happens to our legacy. And for me, for her, it’s total redemption.”

Tickets to see Tammy Faye can be purchased here.