'Jerry Springer: The Opera' Has Two-Day Reading in Vegas

If it is true that everyone wants to be famous - that everyone wants to be on TV - then "Jerry Springer: The Opera" is, among other things, a demonstration of this truth. (Actually, "The Jerry Springer Show" itself demonstrates it, doesn't it?) 

Written by Brit Richard Thomas because, he says, "When we got 'The Jerry Springer Show' here it was fascinating, a phenomenon, and like nothing we'd seen before. It certainly wasn't like 'Oprah,' yet it was a weirdly moral show, too. I wanted to capture that." 

This result of two years of his labor (he did the music and also, with Stewart Lee, the lyrics) was a London smash, going down in theater history as the only show ever to win all four possible awards for Best Musical in 2003. It ran for three years in London and last year began a tour. In January 2005 'Springer' incited a storm of controversy from the Christian right in the UK when it was broadcast on the BBC. 

With an opening set for Chicago in May, "Springer" premiered in the US with two sort-of-concert performances in Las Vegas benefitting Golden Rainbow, a not-for-profit that provides housing and financial assistance for people with HIV/AIDS

The Las Vegas performances were in the Hollywood Theatre at the MGM Grand Hotel, a perfect venue for a concert performance that was more than just a "stand-up-and-read" deal but less than a full-blown production. Here, the orchestra, very ably led by Jack Gaughan (musical director of "Mamma Mia!"at Mandalay Bay) was upstage and the performers sat in two sets of bleachers, one on each side, in the downstage area. In the center, were four chairs where the "Jerry Springer Show" "guests" were seated. 

While there was no scenery, the cast was appropriately costumed. 

OK, so now you've got the venue and the ambiance. But what about the show? 

For what it was - a reading with scripts - this presentation was really quite good. When you take into account that it was a cast of volunteers, all of whom have regular gigs in other shows around town, and that rehearsal was minimal, it was actually more than good. 

The cast was fine.  Stephen Carter-Hicks as show guest Dwight and, in the second act, as God, was outstanding. He was a late substitute in the cast, but his performance didn't show it. He was polished, appropriately befuddled and skeezy as Dwight, who was confessing to three-timing his wife and, then, kind of majestic as God. The Warm-Up Man and Satan was Dan O'Brien. Especially in the second act, he anchored the proceedings with wit and focus.  

Then there was Ted Keegan who was Montel (who has a thing for, um, diapers) and Jesus, in this case a very human being. They are each a far cry from his characters in Phantom: The Las Vegas Spectacular and that makes him even more wondrous. Robin Baxter, whose night job is playing Rosie in "Mamma Mia!" plumbs the depths of the local trailer park and comes up shining with Zandra. She is terrific. 

Then there is the show itself. It is vulgar to the point of inanity (in the UK they counted the occurrences of the "f-word" and the "c-word." The tally differs depending on the source), but the fact remains that this is not an event for those that actually would count such things. 

It is an event for people who find the original TV show amusing or appalling. It is not for those who might tune in to be edified. The first act is taken up with the actual show. There are three guests and their assorted secrets; secrets they will spill in front of America and, thus, get what the song calls, "Their Jerry Springer moment."  

One is revealing to his wife that he's been unfaithful. Twice. The next is a fetishist and the third just wants to be a pole dancer. The would-be dancer's husband is a member of the Ku Klux Klan and his Klan compatriots enter dancing in their sheets and hoods. You get the idea. These are not people the US Chamber of Commerce tends to boast about in their brochures about our great nation. 

In the second act - SPOILER HERE - Jerry has been shot and is on his way to hell where he becomes embroiled between the devil and Jesus.  

How you feel about it largely depends upon how you feel about Springer and his show. I couldn't help thinking that there was a bit of Brit superiority here, laughing at the Americans   for spawning such entertainment. But, then, we Americans laugh at it, so why shouldn't anyone else? 

A friend opined that watching "Jerry Springer: The Opera" is like watching two straight hours of "South Park," only without the wit. And it's certainly not an exercise in restraint, which is not necessarily a bad thing. But I prefer to withhold judgment until I can see a full production with sets and costumes. Maybe, all properly dressed, it is a show that will fill us with joy at our vicarious "Jerry Springer moments," but not quite yet. 

"Jerry Springer: The Opera" is headed to Chicago in May. It will also play Memphis, Des Moines and Minneapolis. Next summer, producers are hoping to bring it to Washington, DC. 

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