Katie Brayben on Transforming into Tammy Faye for Broadway: ‘She Was More Than Just Makeup and Hair’ (Exclusive)

Katie Brayben believes there is more to Tammy Faye Messner than what meets the eye. 

The award-winning actress is portraying the late evangelist in Tammy Faye, the new Broadway musical based on her life now in previews at New York City’s Palace Theatre. Set in the 1970s, the show follows Messner’s rise to fame alongside her then-husband, preacher Jim Bakker, and the rivalries behind the scenes that ultimately destroyed their empire.

It’s a story that fans may think they know, but one the stage musical — featuring music by Elton John, lyrics by Jake Shears and a book by James Graham — offers a new perspective on.

“Tammy was a complicated woman, and we’re really exposing her layers here,” Brayben tells PEOPLE. “Our show is about letting the audience into the woman behind the personality. And I think you’ll leave understanding a different side of her than you have before.”

But becoming Messner isn’t just about embodying the spirit the late star, who died in July 2007 at the age of 65 after an 11-year journey with colon cancer. Brayben also transforms into Messner’s signature look, down to the bright blush and dark eyeliner.

Well… a version of it, that is.

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“She obviously has this iconic style, but we’re meeting her when she’s younger, so it’s not all there yet,” Brayben says.

In fact, Brayben was cautious at first about embracing Messner’s more extreme glamour. “Personally, I didn’t want to shut the audience out, because she was more than just makeup and hair,” Brayben says. “So it was really important to have that balance. And I think we got to the right place — our designers, makeup artists and wig artists — where it really lets people in, not blocks them out.”

Ultimately, the stage star wants audiences to leave the show with a greater understanding of who Messner is, not what she looks like. “I hope people will see her private moments and understand her as a human being,” she says. “That’s what matters most to me.”

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Tammy Faye comes to the Great White Way after premiering in London’s West End in 2022 where it earned two Olivier Awards out of four nominations, including a best actress trophy for Brayben. This will be her Broadway debut.

Brayben’s previous acting credits include playing Princess Diana in the 2014 play King Charles III — which she played, too, in the 2017 BBC television movie adaptation — and the portraying singer-songwriter Carole King in the biomusical Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.

Those two roles, Brayben says, helped her shape her current one.

“Weirdly, I’ve played a lot of real-life people,” Brayben says. “And what I tend to do is find the facets of their character that chime with mine and where we’re similar, and I start from that standpoint.”

As for research, the actress studied the way the PTL Club founder “moves and the way she speaks.” She also read her books and watched her television programs, but a lot of her preparation boiled down to the trust she has in the show’s creative team and the work itself. 

“What’s really interesting is that when you step into the room and you are doing James Graham’s play [and] you’re doing Elton John’s and James Shears songs, you really have to do the piece that is in front of you,” she explains. “There is a moment where you just have to let it all go and trust that you’ve got the essence of this person.”

The one thing theatergoers won’t see? An impression of Messner.

“I don’t believe in doing impressions,” Brayben says, noting it does a disservice to the viewers. “You can end up blocking out the audience if you do that. And the most important thing for me, doing this show, is the connection with the audience; the connection with people. Because that is what Tammy, to me, was. She was connected to her audiences and loved people.”

Messner was known for her eccentric personality and glamorous persona, which differentiated her from many of the mainstream evangelists at the time. She was also more liberal than her contemporaries, advocating for members of the LGBTQ+ community, especially during the height of the AIDS epidemic.

She and Bakker married in 1961 and began their ministry the following year. They’d go on to become founding members of The 700 Club and host of number of popular shows themselves, including The PTL Club (Praise The Lord), which eventually blossomed into its own network.

The pair divorced in 1992, three years after Bakker was sentenced to prison for numerous counts of fraud and conspiracy. She went on to marry property developer Roe Messner in 1993, who himself had his own run-ins with the law and would serve 27 months in prison for bankruptcy fraud.

Both Bakker and Roe are still alive.

Broadway audiences won’t meet Roe, but will get into the conflict involving Bakker and fellow preacher Jerry Falwell, who became he and Tammy’s fierce rival. Broadway veterans and Tony Award winners Christian Borle and Michael Cerveris play both parts, respectively.

The cast of the musical also includes Nick Bailey, Charl Brown, Mark Evans, Allison Guinn, Ian Lassiter, Raymond J. Lee, Max Gordon Moore, Alana Pollard and Andy Taylor, Amanda Clement, Michael Di Liberto, Jonathan Duvelson, Lily Kaufmann, Denis Lambert, Elliott Mattox, Brittany Nicholas, Kevin Quillon, Aveena Sawyer, Allysa Shorte, TJ Tapp, Daniel Torres and Dana Wilton with Autumn Hurlbert as the Tammy Faye alternate.

And while Tammy Faye’s story certainly makes for good drama, Brayben tells PEOPLE that it’s the heart she hopes audiences focus on, noting how the late star held onto her love for people to the end.

“She was still kind and did everything with love and was non-judgmental even when she was criticized in the public eye through her scandals,” Brayben notes. “We don’t shy away from that in the musical. So hopefully people will walk away and think, ‘Yeah, love… actually.’ ”

Tickets for Tammy Faye: A New Musical are now on sale.