Jerry Springer: The Opera

I'm not here to tell you the plot, but this show (which I have also seen Live in London) is absolutely wonderful! Of course it's obscene and distasteful in parts, but that is because it's subject matter is the Jerry Springer Show.

As a musical this show has a wonderful storyline, some great characters, some outstanding actors (such as David Bedella as Satan, and Alison Jiear as Shawntel are both amazing actors with stunning voices and vocal ranges), the music and songs themselves are sublime, with some very inventive lyrics and stylings. Also the set is simple yet wonderfully equipped and working.

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!

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.

To begin with I hate, with a passion, the Jerry Springer show. As soon as it comes on; off goes the TV. But Jerry Springer the Opera is different. Act one deals with typical Jerry show characters with secrets and desires. Act two, well without mentioning too many spoilers, lets just say that act two is a roller-coaster ride of Jerry-isms and religious theory. This is an opera, and some of the operatic moments, with the high sopranos hitting the notes that makes the dog wonder "what the hell was that?" On the other hand, some of the tunes are rather hummable. It is a well produced show with lots of technical magic. Where Jerry Springer the Opera steps into a whole new level in is its use of language. If the HBO series "Deadwood" made you blush, Jerry Springer will take you to a who new level of conceivable swearwords and blue actions. But I don't think you could do the show without it, and without the F**ks, the show would just seem out of place. If that kind of thing bugs you, watch something else and they you will not have anything to complain about. If you are okay with foul language for the sake of art, enjoy the show.

One more thing, this show deals with religious themes in a very non-standard way. If you don't like seeing or hearing bad things about Mary, Jesus, or the big guy himself, then you are going to have some issues.

Jerry Springer's chat show is the place to come to air your problems if you are a deviant, freak or just plain trash. Jerry will try and solve your issues while his bouncers break up any fights. On just another day in his series, Jerry's guests include a man who wants to be a baby, a man having an affair with a woman and a man, a fat woman who wants to be a lapdancer and so on. However, an argument with his ambitious warm-up man sees Jerry shot dead and finding himself in Hell. With a choice of helping Satan or facing a future of being "f****d up the *ss with barbed wire", Jerry chooses to help and finds himself presenting a show in which Satan, Mary, Adam and Eve all seek an apology from a slightly gay Jesus.

Recently in Birmingham several thousand members of the Sheik community protested outside the Rep Theatre about the play Behzti where a rape occurs within a meeting room within a Sheik temple – they claimed this was offensive to their faith. Protest turned into violence and the Rep made a hasty decision to withdraw the play long before the end of its run. I mention this because I believe it was this event that made the Christian groups realise that they should try and get on this PC-wave of appeasement as well. However, being "hideously white" and middle class, their protests were ignored (despite breaking all records) and the BBC screened Jerry Springer: The Opera claiming its artistic merit made it worth the "slight offence". Conveniently the Director for BBC2, when asked if he would screen the opera if it was Mohammad dressed in a nappy saying he was gay, he replied that that opera would have no artistic merit (Radio 5 – 7th January 2005). Just for the record, I believe the BBC was right to show it – but the problem is that society seems to be frightened to say boo to an ethnic minority group while white people are fair game.

Anyway, with loads of warnings beforehand, the BBC showed the project on the grounds that it was an important piece of work with artistic merit. Of course, this is nonsense that they need to say to justify upsetting people and getting free publicity. I could agree with them on the basis of what the show could have done – it had the potential to really look at the ethics of the trash culture and the media's role in revelling in it. Sadly the majority of the show revels in the same thing; drawing easy laughs from the juxtaposition of the music with the language & subject matter – the only real applause from the audience (apart from the start and end) came from the chorus singing the C word about 15 times in succession. This is a major problem with the show because it is very much an one-joke affair and after the first 20 minutes of Springer excess, language and characters all singing swear words it just stops being amusing – I say amusing because, aside from the odd titter, neither I nor the audience really found it that good. After the novelty wears off, and the thoughtful side fails to materialise then all that is really left is the show revelling in attempts to shock – the end result pleasing those looking for "something different" and offending those who will be offended. Not really fitting into either camp in that regard I just found myself bored.

The lyrics are not that funny and it shows that Lee & Herring cannot move past their student humour even when trying to do opera. Not that the whole thing is an opera because it does wander into other types of music at times. The cast are mixed as well. The chorus line may mostly be to blame to The Sun's estimate of 8000 swear words but mainly they are responsible for overacting and just playing to the easy laugh achieved by singing the F and C words in falsetto. Soul is a pretty good Jerry Springer and his performance is the only one that really hints that the material could have been much more thoughtful and interesting. Craig plays on his appearance in nappies more than he does on anything else while the rest of the cast revel in the trash they play and the chance to swear in opera! They are all upstaged by Delacey's Satan; he seems to have gotten the tone just right and he never takes the material seriously once, playing his characters with a real wit that I felt worked.

Overall, after all the fighting and hype and so on the show still must be judged on its own merits and it is all pretty much an average affair that relies more on being "different" to please than it does on the material or ideas that could have been brought out. It is worth seeing just because it is "different" but it has very little to say (other than lots of swear words) and is nowhere near as clever, important or even entertaining as the BBC would have us believe. Watch if you want – that is the beauty of a free society, but just don't expect it to be worth the bother.