SCANDALOUS
Aimee Semple McPherson was the world's most famous and controversial evangelist. Beloved by the masses, she had thousands of documented "miraculous" healings to her credit, a church that held 5 services a day with 5,000 attendees at each, a mission that fed 1.5 million starving Los Angeles citizens during the Great Depression, and a ministry that that welcomed people from all walks of life from Hollywood stars to prostitutes, gypsies, homosexuals and members of the Ku Klux Klan. As beloved as she was, Aimee was equally derided for a scandalous, "tabloid" life that included three husbands, a Hollywood lifestyle, "shameless" sermons with Broadway-like costumes and sets, countless love affairs, drug addiction, and ultimately an indictment on a corruption of public morals charge that became the trial of the century.
Sinner or Saint? This is a question we still ask today about many of our great religious leaders whose private lives don’t seem to live up to their public moral standards. With a book that will keep you on the edge of your seat, and music that soars and entertains, Scandalous is a powerful story that asks questions that are more relevant than ever today.
Tony nomination: Carolee Carmello, Best Actress in a Musical