Jerry Springer: The Opera

Jerry Springer: The Opera
Music	Richard Thomas and Stewart Lee
Lyrics	Richard Thomas and Stewart Lee
Book	Richard Thomas and Stewart Lee
Basis	The Jerry Springer Show

Jerry Springer: The Opera is a British musical written by Richard Thomas and Stewart Lee, based on the television show The Jerry Springer Show. The musical contains irreverent treatment of Judeo-Christian themes, extensive profanity, and surreal images, such as a troupe of tap-dancing Ku Klux Klan members. The musical is completely sung through, with only two exceptions: the title character, Jerry, who speaks throughout the production; and Steve Wilkos, who has a brief speech.

The musical ran for 609 performances in London from April 2003 to February 2005 before touring the UK in 2006. The production won four Laurence Olivier Awards, including Best New Musical. The first North American performance was at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas to benefit Golden Rainbow, featuring performers for the then-current versions of The Phantom of the Opera, Mamma Mia!, and other Las Vegas Strip theatrical shows. The musical has been performed by a number of American regional theatre companies and made its New York City debut on 29–30 January 2008 at Carnegie Hall. Harvey Keitel starred as Jerry Springer.

Jerry Springer: The Opera was the subject of controversy beginning in January 2005, when its UK television broadcast on BBC Two elicited 55,000 complaints.^[1] The organisation Christian Voice led street protests against the screening at nine BBC offices^[2] and announced their intention to bring blasphemy charges, due to the depictions of the Judeo-Christian characters in Act II. The Christian Institute attempted to bring a private prosecution against the BBC,^[3] but the Magistrates Court refused to issue a summons, a decision which was later upheld by the High Court of Justice.^[4] Protests continued at tour venues in 2006 and on the Internet.

Principal roles

(Sometimes the roles are shared by the person playing the first role; sometimes the roles are played by additional actors)

• Jerry — The talk show host.
• Jonathan Weiruss/Satan — Weiruss, the warm-up man whom Jerry fires for incompetence.
• Steve Wilkos — Head of Security at the Jerry Springer Show.
• Dwight/God — Dwight, a guest on the show who is cheating on his fiancee with two other people. God appears in Act III.
• Peaches/Baby Jane — Peaches, a guest on the show, who is Dwight's fiancee. Baby Jane is an adult baby in Act III.
• Tremont/Angel Gabriel — Tremont, a guest on the show, who is a trans woman, having an affair with Dwight. Angel Gabriel appears in Act III.
• Zandra/Irene/Mary — Zandra, a guest on the show, is the best friend of Peaches, and is having an affair with Dwight. Irene is Shawntel’s ashamed mother. Mary appears in Act III.
• Montel/Jesus — Montel, a guest on the show, enjoys dressing as a baby and fouling his own underwear. Jesus appears in Act III.
• Andrea/Archangel Michael — Andrea, a guest on the show, is Montel’s lover. Archangel Michael appears in Act III.
• Chucky/Adam — Chucky, a guest on the show, is Shawntel's redneck husband, who does not approve of her career desires. Adam appears in Act III.
• Shawntel/Eve — Shawntel, a guest on the show, dreams of becoming an exotic dancer, but her husband, Chucky, disapproves. Eve appears in Act III.

Synopsis

Act I

Jerry Springer's frenzied audience greets Jerry as he arrives at his notorious TV talk show. His first guest, Dwight, is cheating on Peaches with Zandra. The three fight, and Jerry's security men break up the battle. Jerry is briefly admonished by his inner Valkyrie. Dwight is also cheating with a transsexual, Tremont. After a commercial break, Jerry's second guest, Montel, tells his partner, Andrea, that he likes to dress as a baby and that he is cheating on her with Baby Jane, a woman who dresses as a little girl. Jerry's Warm-Up Man contributes to Andrea's humiliation and is fired. Jerry again wrestles with his inner Valkyrie. Jerry's final guests are Shawntel and her husband, Chucky. She wants to be a stripper and demonstrates a dance before her mother, Irene, arrives. Irene attacks Shawntel. Chucky pleads innocence, but Jerry's secret JerryCam camera footage shows that Chucky is a patron of strip clubs and a Ku Klux Klan member. The Klan comes up on stage, and the Warm Up Man gives Montel a gun. The Warm-Up Man jostles Montel, who accidentally shoots Jerry.

Act II

Jerry is found injured in a wheelchair, accompanied by his security man, Steve. The scene is Purgatory, a fog enshrouded wilderness. Jerry meets ghostly versions of his talk show guests, who have all suffered unpleasant fates. Jerry tries to justify his actions to the ghosts. The Warm-Up Man arrives and is revealed to be Satan. Baby Jane asks Satan to spare Jerry's soul. Satan forces Jerry to return to Hell with him to do a special show.

Act III

Jerry arrives in Hell at a charred version of his Earthly TV studio. The audience is locked into cracks in its walls. Jerry reads cue cards produced by Baby Jane that introduce Satan, who is in charge of the proceedings. Satan seeks an apology for his expulsion from Heaven and wants to reunite Heaven and Hell. Jerry must faithfully read the cue cards, which introduce Jesus, the next guest, who resembles Montel. Jesus and Satan trade accusations. Adam and Eve are next; they are reminiscent of Chucky and Shawntel. They argue with Jesus, and Eve eventually attacks him. Mary, mother of Jesus, who resembles Irene, condemns Jesus. Everyone turns against Jerry, who hopes for a miracle.

God and the angels arrive and ask Jerry to come to Heaven and help God judge Humanity. He accepts the offer, but the angels and devils fight over Jerry; and the talk-show host finds himself suspended over a pit of flame. Jerry launches into a series of glib homilies asking for his life, but finally gives up and makes an honest statement that resounds with his audience. Devils, angels, and everyone sing a hymn of praise to life.

Back on solid ground, Baby Jane tells Jerry that he must go back to Earth. Jerry wakes up in his television studio, having been shot, his life ebbing away as he is cradled in Steve's arms. Jerry gives a final speech, and everyone is joined in sorrow.

Musical numbers

History

Battersea Arts Centre and the Edinburgh Festival

Richard Thomas's one-act opera, Tourette's Diva, was performed at London's Battersea Arts Centre in May 2000 and featured two members of a dysfunctional family singing obscenities to each other. This led Thomas to create his one-man show How to Write an Opera About Jerry Springer, which was performed at the Centre in February 2001.

In May 2001, Thomas returned to the Battersea Arts Centre with his show How to Write an Opera About Jerry Springer, accompanied by four singers in a tiny studio theatre. It attracted positive press and investment. Stewart Lee teamed up with Thomas, and the two began to write Jerry Springer: The Opera. The show received its first performance, while still under development, at the Centre in August 2001, with a cast of twelve. It ran for a week, selling out. When the show returned to the Centre in February 2002, the three-week run sold out in advance.

The show was then performed in concert at the Edinburgh Festival in August 2002, selling out. Jerry Springer came to see the show and endorsed it, stating, "I wish I'd thought of it myself."^[5] The Edinburgh run included the introduction of character of Tremont – an amalgamation of two previous characters. Australian-born actor, Andrew Bevis, created the new role.

Following the Festival run, Nicholas Hytner offered to include the show in his opening season as director of the National Theatre in London.

National Theatre and Cambridge Theatre

The first fully staged production of the musical was performed at the National Theatre on 29 April 2003, with a cast of 33, including Bevis as Tremont and Michael Brandon as Jerry. It played to packed audiences and received favourable reviews. The show had its final performance at the National Theatre on 30 September 2003, before moving to the West End.

On 10 November 2003, the show opened at the Cambridge Theatre, with the same cast as the National Theatre production, and ran there until 19 February 2005, before starting a tour of the United Kingdom. The West End run was sponsored by British Sky Broadcasting. On 12 July 2004, David Soul took over the role of Jerry from Michael Brandon.

In 2004, a Broadway production was announced, and then cancelled.^[6][7]

2006 UK Tour

In September 2005, seven months after the show closed in London's West End, it was announced that the show would tour 21 regional theatres around the United Kingdom. Nine theatres that were originally scheduled to host the show pulled out after Christian Voice threatened to picket them. In addition, Arts Council England turned down a bid for funding, stating that the decision was based on the show's commercial pedigree rather than "pressure from extremist groups".^[8]

The tour ran for 22 weeks, starting at the Theatre Royal in Plymouth on 27 January 2006. Immediately prior to the show's opening in Plymouth, it was reported that members of the far-right British National Party were part in a local campaign against the performances,^[9] although Christian Voice claimed to disapprove of their involvement. According to Ticketmaster UK, ticket sales were good throughout the tour, and reviews were positive.

The cast for the tour included several cast members from the London cast, and American actor, Rolf Saxon, replaced David Soul as Jerry Springer. The tour had a scaled-down set and scaled-down effects as well as a smaller on-stage "audience".

Jerry Springer's reply

Well, I saw it. When it opened, they invited me to see it on the West End in London. I thought they did a really good job. I mean, I'd prefer it were about someone else. It was awkward for me to watch it. For one, it's about yourself, so there's no common experience. There's no one I can ask, "Gee, how did you feel?" I can't call Figaro or Carmen and say, "Hey, how did you feel about your opera?" It's just a very personal moment that I can't express to anybody. And then I felt a little bit awkward because, as I was watching it, everyone was looking at me to see what my reaction was. It was uncomfortable.^[10]

Protests and controversy

In addition to the Christian protests at the BBC facilities, several venues throughout the 2006 tour saw protests. The Manchester Evening News reviewer saw the protests as misplaced, writing "an audacious and scandalous, yet ultimately moral and challenging show that's recommended to anyone who can accept the odd dose of outrage in their lives."^[11] Another reviewer recommended, "don’t get your knickers in such a twist, drop ‘em and enjoy yourself."^[12]

• In Plymouth, at the preview night at the Theatre Royal, a group of about 40 Christian Voice supporters turned out to sing hymns and hand out leaflets to the audience as they entered the theatre.
• In Birmingham, performances attracted a few protesters, and more commotion was made by audience members arguing when being presented with leaflets.^[13]
• In York, leaflets were handed out by small numbers of Salvation Army and Christian Voice protesters.^[14]
• In Manchester, 10 protestors appeared on the opening night, but these were outnumbered by an anti-protest of people holding up signs for freedom of speech. Subsequent nights saw a single regular protestor, or none.
• In Oxford, several elderly Christian protesters turned out.
• In Cambridge, a handful of protesters handed out leaflets on opening night. Protestors were particularly present on Good Friday, the events of which are referenced in Act III of the show.
• In Edinburgh, one man from Christian Voice handed out leaflets on a few of the nights.^[15]
• In Glasgow, a group of Christian protestors stood outside the theatre waving placards, singing hymns, handing out leaflets and taking photographs of patrons.
• In Bristol, about 100 protesters appeared on opening night, particularly mothers with young children. Many came from the Carmel Evangelical Church in Brislington. Their leaflets stated that the Bristol Hippodrome had edited a "classic production" to avoid offending Muslims but did not specify which production. All the protesters had left by the interval.
• In Newcastle upon Tyne, over 300 protestors appeared on opening night.
• In Brighton, two protestors arrived at several of the performances. After the Saturday matinee, Christian Voice protestors appeared.
• In Liverpool, a group of protestors gathered across the road from the theatre singing hymns, whilst small children handed out leaflets about Christianity.
• In St Andrews, a large group of protestors gathered across the street from the student union of the University of St Andrews, where a student production of the Jerry Springer opera was being performed. The performance was one of the largest and most elaborate ever put on by the University, and extra security was brought on board to ensure the safety of students as they entered and left the union. On the opening night, the cast received a standing ovation, despite the leaflets being distributed outside by members of the Christian Voice.
• 100 church leaders in Cardiff and throughout south Wales signed a letter expressing their wishes for the show to be cancelled. The Archbishop of Wales, Barry Morgan, expressed his concern, stating that the show was 'gratuitously offensive'. In further comments he stated, 'The producer of this opera says that if he manages to incite religious hatred then the opera has done its job: I think that is a terrible intention for an opera to have.' Hundreds of Christians protested outside the Wales Millennium Centre, brandishing placards and singing hymns to theatregoers.^[16]
• Stewart Lee said that one of the most vitriolic reactions to the show was during its run at His Majesty's Theatre in Aberdeen. (The Christian Institute pushed for supporters to lobby local council members, directors on the board of Aberdeen Performing Arts and the Press and Journal. Only a few protesters picketed the theatre, handing out leaflets.^[17])

The opposition by Christian Voice caused the cancer charity Maggie's Centres to reject a £3,000 donation from Jerry Springer: The Opera. Christian Voice threatened to picket their centres, which provide palliative care to cancer sufferers and their families. It claimed it had warned the charity that accepting cash from a show full of "filth and blasphemy" would be a public relations disaster.^[18]

In January 2007 Christian Voice, represented by Stephen Green, attempted to prosecute BBC director-general Mark Thompson for blasphemy over the show. A summons was refused due to lack of prima facie evidence that a crime had been committed, and a provision of the 1968 Theatres Act which enshrines the right of free expression in theatrical works.^[19] An appeal to the High Court was dismissed on 5 December 2007, with the decision of the lower court upheld on all counts and ruling that it was reasonable to conclude that the play "in context" could not be considered as blasphemous.^[20][21]

Asked about the controversy during an interview with The Observer in 2009, Lee stated:

"If you have been on the verge of becoming a millionaire and that has not happened because of far-right pressure groups, and your work has been banned and taken apart, and you've been threatened with prosecution, and the police have advised people involved with your production to go into hiding, and bed and breakfasts won't have the cast to stay because they're blasphemers, and you have to cross a BNP picket line to go to work in Plymouth, you do start to think, well, what can be worse than that?"^[22]

Asked if the experience had an impact on his stand-up comedy, Lee replied: "It did make me feel there was not much point ever trying to reach a mass audience with anything interesting and provocative. You just run the risk of being misunderstood on a large scale".^[22]

American regional productions

Hollywood Theater, MGM Grand in Las Vegas

The musical premiered on 17 March 2007.. It was performed in semi concert-style with costumes and a minimal set at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas as a benefit for Las Vegas-based HIV/AIDS charity, Golden Rainbow.

The show had its official American premiere in a non-equity production in Chicago at the Bailiwick Repertory Theatre that began on 3 May 2007, with a 14 May opening.^[23]

Several regional productions of the show have since been performed, and popularity for the show amongst amateur groups continues to grow.

• 

  Michael Detroit as Satan, and Jim Hopkins as Jerry Springer in the Playhouse on the Square production in Memphis, TN.

• 

  The Minneapolis Musical Theatre production.

• 

  Emily Grundstad as Baby Jane, Mike Cornelison as Jerry, and Mark Maddy as Tremont in StageWest's production.

• 

  Philip King as Satan, Ron Cornelison as Jerry in the Des Moines StageWest production

Australian productions

The play was staged at the Sydney Opera House from 21 to 26 April 2009, starring David Wenham as Jerry, David Bedella as Jonathan Weiruss/Satan, Ursula Yovich as Andrea/Archangel Michel, Kate Miller-Heidke as Baby Jane, Alison Jiear as Shawntel/Eve, and Marcus Graham as special guest star; also appearing are Andrew Bevis and James Millar.^[24][25]

Canadian productions

The first Canadian production opened in Toronto, Ontario on 16 January 2009 at Hart House Theatre. It was directed by theatre critic and Director Richard Ouzounian. Music Direction by Lily Ling and choreography by Shannon Cote. The best-selling show in Toronto for the 08 – 09 season. It featured Byron Rouse in the title Role and Jean-Paul Bevilacqua as "Jonathan/Satan". Other original Canadian Cast members include Linda Gallant (Shawntel/Eve), Scott Gorman (Montel/Adam), Jocelyn Howard (Peaches/Baby Jane), Brandi Hewitt (Zandra/Irene/Mary), Ian Bender (Tremont/Gabriel), Benjamin Mehl (Chucky/Jesus), Hayley Toane (Andrea/Angel Michael), Gregory Finney (Dwight/God), and James Schedlich (Steve Wilkos)

Irish Production

NYMT (National Youth Musical Theatre) Ireland staged the first Irish Production of Jerry Springer: The Opera in the Grand Canal Theatre, Dublin. Starring Simon Delaney as Jerry and Eoin Cannon as Johnathan Weiruss/Satan, the show took place from 31 Oct – 5 Nov 2011.^[26]

Awards and nominations

The show won four awards at the 2004 Laurence Olivier Awards; Best New Musical, Best Sound Design, Best Actor in a Musical (David Bedella) and Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical (the Chorus).^[27][28] It also won Best Musical at the 2004 Critics' Circle Theatre Awards,^[29] Best Musical at the 2003 Evening Standard Awards^[30] and the 2004 WhatsOnStage.com Theatregoers' Choice Awards Best New Musical and London Newcomer of the Year (Benjamin Lake).^[31] The show won four awards at the 2003 Nowt2Do.Com Awards, Best Actor in a Musical (David Bedella) Best Actress in a Musical (Alison Jiear) Best London Show and Most Entertaining Show.^[32] In 2006, the show won Best Touring Production at the TMA Awards.^[33]

It is the only show ever to win all four "Best Musical" awards.

Original London production

Original UK tour

Television

Jerry Springer: The Opera was the subject of controversy when the BBC televised the musical on 8 January 2005 as part of an evening of Jerry Springer-themed programming on BBC Two. News of the screening had prompted TV standards campaigners Mediawatch to write a letter to the BBC Chairman of the BBC Governors, Michael Grade, asking him to reconsider the decision to show the musical.^[34]

On 7 January, the day before the broadcast, the BBC announced that it had received over 47,000 complaints about its plans to screen the musical – the most complaints ever received about a British television broadcast.^[35] Many commentators, including the BBC, attributed such a high volume of complaints to an orchestrated campaign by various Christian groups. Supporters of the BBC's broadcasting of the show pointed out that the supposedly blasphemous content was clearly presented as a fantasy in the mind of the dying central character and was not intended to be a serious comment on Christ or Christian theology. John Beyer, chairman of Mediawatch-UK, argued that the BBC should shoulder much of the blame for the campaign against the musical since they had promoted the musical as "pushing back the boundaries of taste" and "controversial" when it had never been intended to offend the groups who campaigned against it.

In November 2005, a DVD of the show was made available in the UK. However, because of complaints by customers, Sainsbury's and Woolworths decided to stop selling the DVD. Many blogs and Liberal Democrat MP, Lynne Featherstone^[36] condemned the action from the stores as being corporate censorship, something which both retailers deny. Most other retailers continued to stock the DVD.^[37]

On the DVD's commentary, it was stated that it would not be possible to tour the show in the UK due to pressure from religious groups, but since the release of the DVD, the UK Tour 2006 went forward. The DVD commentary also stated that Stewart Lee was unhappy with an unscripted action by Alison Jiear. In the "Adam and Eve and Mary" scene in Act II, Jiear runs her hand under Jesus's loincloth, prompting a surprised look from Leon Craig, the actor playing Jesus. Lee said, on the commentary, "I wish she hadn't done that".

Profanity

The musical contains extensive profanity. It has been accused of including "8,000 obscenities"^[35]—it is not known where this count originated, but the 8,000 figure is popularly quoted.^[38][39] 8,000 obscenities over the show's 120 minute runtime would imply that there were 66 obscenities a minute, and thus more than 1 per second. Several publications, including the Daily Mail and The Sun, claimed a figure of "3,168 mentions of the word fuck and 297 of the word cunt". According to the BBC investigation, however, there were 96 uses of "fuck" and nine uses of "cunt". The BBC report said "While a substantial number, this was not necessarily unacceptable in terms of late night terrestrial television."^[40] The numbers reported by the Mail and the Sun were found by multiplying the number of cast members singing a profanity at the same time, i.e. the reported 297 uses of the word cunt is the result of multiplying the 33 cast members by the nine occurrences of the word.

According to writer Stewart Lee, there are 174 swear words in all.^[41]

References

Sources

• Information about the show from StageAgent.com
• The Observer report on the BBC broadcast and the protests
• FAQs on the show
• 2006 review of the show in Manchester
• 2007 review from Reviews Gate.com

External links

• Balliwick Repertory Theatre
• Christian Voice website about the show
• Jerry Springer – The Opera website
• Links to reviews of the show
• IMDb FAQ regarding the filmed version