Jerry Springer: The Opera

This is a show that is pornographic, vulgar, profane and blasphemous. And therein lies its charm. It is a thoughtful polemic against fallen media and social standards and against organized religion. It is infuriating but it is as though the infuriation factor is designed as a filter to keep out anyone unable to appreciate the thoughtful arguments beneath the shock and the schlock. The music (if not the raunchy lyrics) has an echo of Andrew Lloyd Weber. The voices, the choreography, the staging and the orchestra are all first rate. Think of it as a modern day Don Giovanni. Indeed the premise and the conclusion are much the same as those in Mozart's masterpiece. There are some great lines as when Springer, brilliantly played by Davd Soul, protests "You can't put me in hell.I'm Jewish." It's doubtful this will make it to US television. Certainly the evangelical truth squads will do everything they can to block it. It was on Bravo here in Canada Saturday night and I applaud them for their chuptzah in showing it. It might turn up in some fringe theatres or video shops in the US. Once you get past the provocative format, you'll find it a worthwhile exercise.

dear god, i know i'm not a fan of opera or the theater in general but this was one of the biggest, most insulting and regrettable wastes of me and my partners time.

this is clearly an opera aimed at prim and proper upper class theater goers as it thinks its hilariously daring and provocative with all its swearing but it just isn't, its deliberate and unfunny and it congratulates itself at every turn with sycophantic audience laughter.

at 15 mins i could see it wasn't going anywhere yet i sat through the whole sorry 2 hours of this drivel, 2 hours man.

jerry went to hell in the show, i wish he'd go to hell for real.

I watched it on BBC2 at the time and was so disgusted with it that I cancelled my television licence and never renewed it. It is vulgar and boring; it made me sick to my stomach. It was co-written by Stewart Lee, who once said, "One would like to think that comedy could incite religious hatred. That would be great." (The Independent on Sunday, 5th December 2004.)

I'm at a loss to explain how a degenerate load of sick rubbish like this has positive reviews. How the people have been dumbed down, dehumanised and brainwashed into accepting mockery as entertainment. God will not be mocked.

As another reviewer discovered, once the faux shock of the vulgarity wears off after 15 minutes, the 'opera' is exposed as being not worth watching, even, I suspect, if for Dawkins-worshipping 'atheists'.

I thought that this was a brilliantly entertaining critique which was far from being the blasphemous obscenity which many organisations would have us believe. The performances were electric, especially Alison Jiear and David Bedella who were simply stunning in the way they twisted the audience from one emotion to the other. Their characters were a heady mix of comedy and pathos.

I am glad the BBC did not cave and showed this as I think this is a clear example of where people pre-judge an issue and make decisions for the masses on an uninformed premise. I'm an adult and I am happy to to make up my own mind!

Since watching this when it first aired on the BBC, I have been awaiting the DVD release. Bought it as soon as I saw it for sale which must mean I like it, right?! Well, I do like it. I like it a lot. There is a lot to like about it. But it also occurs to me that this 'Opera' has polarized opinion to such an extent into the twin extremes of love it or hate it that it's difficult to view it objectively.

It would take too, too long to go through a full critique but a couple of plus and a negative points to get a discussion going. Plus point, was the irreverence of the piece - as a biting satire it is intelligent and astute and very amusing. The first half, especially, really does "hold a mirror up to society" with far greater validity than The Jerry Springer Show itself ever has. On the other hand, the second half doesn't fully work for me - too much reliance on foul language for comedic effect and not enough substance to the resolution.

Another plus would be the score and choreography which are excellent. But conversely, I think two or three of the singers let the production down. The diaper-wearing Jesus turns in the kind of crude, obvious performance more often seen in amateur dramatics and the big guy/God singer seemed frequently out of tune to me and his diction was awful.

So there you have it... or at least a start to it. Not a flawless production but pretty damn good. Refreshing, I'd say. And I would defend anybody's right to view it. Make up your own mind, that's what I'd say I understand that Sainsburys and Woolworths have pulled it off their shelves to appease a noisy minority. Must remember not to shop there then!