GREG MOODY
OPPOSITE PAGE: BeBe and CeCe Winans with Whitney Houston (center); LEFT: Juan Winans and Deborah Joy Winans as BeBe and CeCe, and Kirsten Wyatt and Chaz Pofahl as Tammy Faye and Jim Bakker in the show.
The parallels are amazing, BeBe says. While working through the musical’s many evolutions, BeBe has seen Juan lift up his younger sister’s confidence as a singer, while she helped him strengthen his acting. “I say amazing because it was the same with me and my sister,” BeBe recalls. “I always had to build up her confidence. Even today she still looks at me to find that comfort zone.” Both live in Nashville and remain close. “Jim and Tammy were like parents to us,” BeBe says, noting that Jim is still very much a part of his life. (Tammy Faye died in 2007). The two have a common life mission — “a true calling to share the love of God,” BeBe says. Born for This features the Bakkers and other roles based on real people: Mom and Pop; Winans siblings Carvin and twin brother Marvin; and Whitney Houston, who was like a sister to BeBe and CeCe. Deep into the show, Houston (already an established star), shares a quiet moment with the up-and-coming Winans. “When I’m with you two,” she says, “I get to be Nippy again. And I don’t get to be her much anymore.” “We immediately became family,” BeBe recalls. “We gave her a safe haven — totally, just like family.” Houston was godmother to
BeBe’s daughter, and CeCe was godmother to Houston’s daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown. In writing the musical, BeBe says he and Randolph-Wright aimed for honesty above all. “For me, it’s been a therapeutic and sometimes terrifying experience, because, you know, it’s my life. Every emotion there is, from tears to laughter to chills.” On the page, BeBe’s characters seem to crackle with authenticity. “Those are some crazy Caucasians,” Mom says when she meets the Bakkers. “They seem nice, but I smell crazy.” A barber by trade (among other things), Pop was a “yes, sir” and “no, sir” patriarch. When he didn’t like something, he had to get right in and fix it. “Pop taught us that if one Winans wins, all Winans win, and if one Winans loses, all Winans lose.” There’s a whole mess of them now, including 10 great-grandchildren. Thanksgiving meant 80 spending a week in four large Florida beach houses. How many tickets did the Winans need for opening night? “Plenty,” is BeBe’s answer. Is Roberta Flack coming? “She has no idea! We’ve got to get her here!” A ALLIANCETHEATRE.ORG 13