Jerry Springer The Musical <------anyone else want it here?- Page 2

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 1/18/04 at 7:10pm

gotcha--yes, very good point. =)

[Roscoe]

Posted: 1/18/04 at 7:19pm

I think it will do okay, here. I don't have a problem with it coming here. I think they should hedge their bets a bit, though, and look into not spending exhorbitant amounts of money on it. I have the CD, and have listened to it several times. It's very amusing and occasionally very touching. I've read a couple of negative reviews, and can't entirely disagree with what I've read.

My main feeling is that the whole Jerry Springer phenomenon feels already dated, like something "very 1990s." Does anyone still watch that Godforsaken show? And if I'm honest about it, I can't say that the score at least as represented on the CD is really all that memorable. And since the CD is supposedly the entire show, recitatives and all, that's a pretty damning feeling to have. After some careful consideration, I'd have to say that I think there is more genuine shock and genuine hilarity, as well as more serious comic/satiric content, in an average episode of South Park than in Jerry Springer The Opera.

[jesseeinstein]

Posted: 1/18/04 at 7:21pm

I saw it and LOVED it! I don't think that I've ever laughed that hard before!
-Jesse

p.s. It makes ABSOLUTELY no sense that you'd like the recording and not like "the book" of the show!

1) It's an opera! There technically IS no book! It's all music except for Jerry's occasional line!

2) The cast recording is a live recording! how could you not like the show's music and such but like the recording? It actually makes 0 sense!

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 1/18/04 at 7:26pm

Jesse--there is a book in every opera and musical--that was what my prior post was about. Dialogue is just one part of a book, if it even occurs in a musical or opera.

Updated On: 1/18/04 at 07:26 PM

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 1/18/04 at 7:36pm

Keep in mind, I haven't seen it, but I've listened to it many many many times.

actorboy - "Some of the humor also seemed just plain old ("Talk to the hand cause the face ain't listening" is a tired expression that's never used anymore, for instance)."

But a phrase like that you would not be aurprised to hear from one of Jerry's guests. It's not just the pharse but the context in which it is used.

"...the show as a whole seemed to have a very pedestrian view of what "outrageous" is."

I think the outrageousness builds throughout. It starts pedestrian, but grows into the first act finale. Act II is a hypothesis using the model of the first act (which is why some of the jokes seem repetitive) but using Christian figures as guests. There are supposed to be parallels in the lyrics. That is what makes it funny (to me, anyway). Most of the outrageousness is in what the chorus sings. I found it to be quite shocking and unexpected, but I wasn't as offended as I am with the actual show.

musicalthespis - "Sure when you listen to the CD it sounds hilarious. I went all excited to see it, ready to laugh my ass off and I was ready to go to bed by intermission. The book of the show was so poorly written."
"The songs just sang the same thing over again, it was like beating a dead horse. "
"But Jerry doesn't sing!"

It sounds like you heard the CD before you saw the show, so I don't really understand why you were surprised about the book, the repetitive songs, and the fact that Jerry doesn't sing. But I can understand that if a show is poorly staged and directed, then the CD would be better (that's how I felt about Ragtime).

Most sung-through shows have repetitive themes. Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, Miss Saigon, Aspects of Love, Evita and many others are much more repetitive than this show. That doesn't bother me in the least simply because the repeated themes are not overused and they are very well-thought in their placement and use. The brilliance of the show (in my opinion) is the use of "opera". Most dramatic operas are based on larger-than-life characters that participate in all sorts of atrocious acts including infidelity, murder, psychotic fits with motives of jealousy, rage, hate, love, etc. Everything that exists in the world of Jerry Springer and his guests. The lyrics aren't nearly as repetitive as traditional opera in which two sentences can last 15-20 minutes. While displaying these guests as operatic characters, he heightens them to theatrical absurdity. The fact that they sing enhances the ridiculousness of these people. And Act II is merely a hypothesis that will probably anger a lot of the Christian groups (not that they would see the show), but I found it to be quite thought-provoking. It's not really anti-Christian, but simply a contemporary spin on Christian figures. I think it's rather well-written.

People complain so much that there isn't enough "originality" in new Broadway musicals, but I think this one is quite original and amazing. And I think it will do pretty well with the critics and pull in a lot of curious audiences.

Updated On: 1/18/04 at 07:36 PM

[JoizeyActor]

Posted: 1/18/04 at 7:39pm

I would see it!

[jesseeinstein]

Posted: 1/18/04 at 7:47pm

My apology jrb_actor, I missed that message. That's one of the dangers of multi-tasking!

[actorboy]

Posted: 1/18/04 at 7:53pm

Matt: I wish I had found something shocking and unexpected in the show. The premise wore thin very quickly, I felt that they were working very to be outrageous (rather witlessly), and the second act did not work for me at all.

And, no, I don't believe that anyone still uses the phrase "Talk to the hand cause the face ain't listening." A small point, I know, but when the phrase was built into a song and repeated over and over, it was just too much for me.

Maybe I also just question the whole idea of putting Jerry Springer guests on stage and making fun of them. They're easy targets, and I've always have had a problem with maligning what people consider the "white trash" population. Just seems like snobbery too me.

Perhaps if it had been done with more intelligence, I wouldn't have felt that way.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 1/18/04 at 8:02pm

"Maybe I also just question the whole idea of putting Jerry Springer guests on stage and making fun of them. They're easy targets, and I've always have had a problem with maligning what people consider the "white trash" population. Just seems like snobbery too me."

It would be snobbery if they guests weren't "performing" for the show. Very much like the audience. They go on the show fully intending to fight, curse, and strip. They air they're (most likely fictional) dirty laundry for the entire international viewing audience. There are no misconceptions about how they will be treated. They just want their "fifteen minutes of fame" (or a Jerry Springer moment). I think the show has run its course, which is probably why the musical is popping up at a good time. Now the show is about female audience members proudly flashing their boobs to the camera for no apparent reason (except that they probably weren't chosen to be guests).