Author's product rating: 
| Advantages: |
A fantastic night out |
| Disadvantages: |
Not for the easily offended . |
| Recommend to potential buyers: |
yes |
“This is my Jerry Springer Moment,
I don't want this moment to die
so dip me in chocolate
and throw me to the lesbians
I don't want this moment to die”
An anthem for our times, this verse sums up for me what Jerry Springer the Opera is all about.
I went to see this show a few weeks ago, on a wet Monday night, on some half-price tickets from TKTS and I am so glad that I did. This is probably one of the cleverest original pieces of Musical Theatre / Operetta / Opera of all time.
JSTO has a rich score which cleverly contrasts musical theatre with Opera and which challenges the audience to think about the world of Springer, the world of television and why these programmes are successful. It challenges our values, our morals and asks where we will end up.
Alternatively, it’s also a demonstration that it’s really funny to have opera singers swearing and being rude.
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Synopsis & Analysis
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The show has a very clear framework. In Act 1, we watch an entire Jerry Springer show, as a member of the audience would see it at the studio.
The show actually starts while the audience take their seats, as the Security team take their places at the head of the aisles in the Stalls. The overture is the arrival of the guests – typical redneck Americans out for blood. We are then introduced to the warm-up man. Of course, he isn’t very good and the audience isn’t very happy with him. They want “Jerry”. We are almost encouraged to join in with the main “Jerry Jerry” theme!!
Eventually, Jerry appears from a walkway that descends from the box, and in true Jerry style shakes hands with members of the audience before introducing today’s show – “Guilty Secrets”.
This is where the true genius of the show starts to manifest. All of the music until this point has been pretty much musical theatre based. However nearly all of the guests will sing operatic arias.
In the words of Richard Thompson who conceived the idea (paraphrased), “watching Jerry Springer, I thought to myself this is just fat people shouting at each other – this is Opera!”
Our first guest is Dwight, who is about to marry his fiancée but who has a guilty secret (as does she!). He’s been seeing someone else. This prompts one of the motifs for the night – the “What the F***!” outburst. This is used to hilarious effect by almost all the guests. Rather than shout – they ascent to operatic heights in a mock tourettic display of vocal gymnastics.
Of course, soon we are introduced to the best friend, Zandra, a crackhead junkie. A fight ensues, and in a frozen moment of time, we meet Steve, head of security whose job is to break up the fights.
Anyway, the show continues until we find out that Dwight has more than one guilty secret – he’s also seeing a transvestite called Tremont – the “chick with a d***”! The first segment then roars to a conclusion through the “Talk to the Hand” song.
In probably the first example of it’s kind, we are treated to a commercial break in a musical. A bank of TVs descend and we are shown outtakes from various adverts, whilst the stage audience tell us what they really see. This is very very funny, and I’m not going to spoil the gags for you.
In segment two, we meet Montel, and his guilty secret is that he secretly likes wearing and pooping a giant diaper with his new best friend Baby Jane who likes to be spanked.
Following another advertising break, we see a short backstage segment where Jerry argues with his warm-up man who has some ideas above his station.
Finally, we see Shawntel, who’s guilty secret is a desire to be a pole-dancer. Unfortunately she’s quite plump and her hillbilly hubby and her mother don’t like her secret or her husband. She has a beautiful song, “I jut wanna dance”, which really moves the audience through its simplicity and candour. There are no swearwords, and we start to question the motives of Springer Guests - why do they want to appear and abase themselves for our entertainment? He also has a guilty secret – he’s a Klansman. Of course, the Klan are a special guest, and they perform a tap-dancing, kicklining routine that brings down the house. Finally, Jerry is shot thanks to the warm-up man who gives his gun to the nappy guy who is trying to shoot a Klansman.
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At this point the audience is either entertained or appalled.
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Act 2, follows a similar pattern, but Jerry has been taken down to Hell. His warm-up man becomes Satan – and Satan needs the Jerry Springer show to resolve some issues with God and Jesus. The set cleverly transforms to a decrepit pit of hell, and the audience are now watching from holes in the walls.
We meet some of the previous guests who have all met grisly ends, but the main show is between Satan (the warm up man) and Jesus (Montel – the nappy guy who’s nappy has converted to a loincoth). Of course there are guests – Adam and eve for starters.
There is the most fantastic fugal aria “tal:fu” which consists solely of two first syllables, with both singers continuing these for the length of the song, their voices intermingling and rising through some glorious passages.
Just in case you weren’t offended, Jesus admits to being a bit Gay and we meet Mary who says she was raped by God.
Then God puts in an appearance and in a break from the norm, dips into musical theatre for a jazzy “It ain’t easy being me”. Finally, as Jerry tries to sum up and find closure for the guests he succeeds and has his own Jerry Springer moment.
A brief Jerrie Eleison follows, and the audience exhort Jerry to return to life. It’s either that or they’re going to have to watch Rikki Lake.
The only thing that remains is a tumultuous finale – which is delivered by a stage full of Springers.
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The Set
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The set is basically Jerry’s studio. It has lots of tricks up its sleeve though. Baby jane has a trapeze, the Klan have a fiery cross, and all of the walls decompose to make windows in Hell. It is surprisingly versatile and changes in many subtle ways.
The Television array is also used well, and really breaks up the show, so that the audience never become bored or restless.
Although not spectacular, the set is perfect for the production. It doesn’t need massive hydraulics or vast scene changes – the show is the people. The set has some clever adjustments, from the pit of hell down which Jerry descends, to the way that the walls change, and the whole studio converts at the end of the show.
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The Score
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I discussed the score above in the synopsis as it’s difficult to separate the score from the story in some ways. The music is well written and the lyrics are incredibly offensive but beautifully written. The choral work is stupendous with flowing use of 4-6 part harmony from the chorus.
The music is balanced well, to please both the opera lovers and the musical theatre lovers. It never becomes persistently heavy, and there are many musical gags for the scholars in the audience – my favourite was the Jerr-i-e eleison. In a clever class reversal, the dumb redneck guests sing in Opera whilst the trailer trash guests and audience sing in Musical theatre. Jerry never sings.
The songs are very singable – although you probably wouldn’t want to go around singing some of them in public!! In an interesting nod to the musical nature of the show, two of the songs are scored in the Programme so you can play them at home.
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The Cast
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The cast on the whole are very strong. David Soul puts in a great performance as Jerry Springer, and has captured the mannerisms very very well. David Bedella almost steals the show as warm-up man / Satan. He commands the stage and really delivers some pace to the show. All of the guests put in strong performances although I wasn’t overkeen on Carrie Ellis (Baby Jane) as a singer, and Benjamin Lake (Dwight and God) was often incomprehensible, relying on his sheer body mass to produce his voice rather than vocal technique. Ryan Molloy is really spectacular as the transvestite Tremont and has a great vocal range which is used to good effect.
The studio audience are well trained and really have some difficult choral work to sing. They make this look effortless.
Finally, Steve and his bodyguards (both huge, bald muscle-bound guys) blend in perfectly and have their own 5 minutes of fame by dancing balletically across the stage.
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The Theatre
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Jerry Springer transferred from the National Theatre and is currently playing at the Cambridge Theatre. The theatre is quite spacious and the views from all seats are pretty good. As ever I’d advise against getting really cheap tickets and sitting in the Gods – especially as you can pick up tickets at TKTS for half-price at the moment. Prices range from £15 to £50.
For seating advice check out
http://www.theatremonkey.com/CAMBRIDGEbooking.htm
You can also pick up tickets for row A of the stalls for £10 on the day of performance. But – queue up early! You may also get your eyebrows singed as the heat from the burning Cross at the end of Act one is quite spectacular!
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Summary
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Jerry Springer the Opera is a fantastic show, which entertains and educates at the same time. There is a strong undercurrent in the show which – whilst being totally entertaining – does encourage you to think about the people who go on these shows, and why they do it. It also challenges your own perspectives – why do you watch it? Why is it so successful everywhere in the world (except Germany)?
Of course, it’s also the only show in the world where you will see Tapdancing Klansmen, people singing about spanking and pooping diapers, and re-evaulate what morality is!
It’s well worth a visit – but a word of warning. The show is almost universally offensive. If you have strong Christian beliefs and are not happy for them to be mocked or challenged, this is not the show for you. If you are offended by swearing – give the show a miss. If you have an open mind, and want to be entertained – then this is the show for you. There are strong warnings that the show is not suitable for under 16s.
Anyone with an interest in Musical theatre, music in general or even opera should see this show. It’s a breath of fresh air in a West End full of film conversions and revivals.
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Links
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Website: http://www.jerryspringertheopera.com
Tickets: http://www.seetickets.com
Seating / reviews : http://www.theatremonkey.com
Fansite: http://uk.geocities.com/jspringerworldshow/
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