Musicals based on the lives of Tammy Faye Bakker and Louis Armstrong reveal the difficulty of capturing a famous legacy onstage.

Brutally, will people pay to come to see the story of this person?All of these questions are thrown into sharp focus with two Broadway musicals opening this week—Tammy Faye, Elton John and Jake Shears’ musical about televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker which opens on Thursday,

The great jazz trumpeter and sandpaper vocalist gets the old jukebox treatment in a new Broadway musical starring James Monroe Iglehart.

The Louis Armstrong Musical” is a musically rich if wordy and info-heavy Broadway show that serves as a reminder of just how challenging the jukebox biographical genre can be,

Like any other industry, there are titans in music. These once-in-a-lifetime artists help shift the musical landscape across the globe. The revered trumpet player and singer Louis Armstrong defined jazz for generations.

Well, hello, Louis! Add another talent to the already prodigious roster of Louis Armstrong: Jazz giant, trumpeter par excellence, great American vocal stylist and, now, the rare musical historical figure powerful and charismatic enough to drape a jukebox musical around and come out a victor.