JERRY SPRINGER the OPERA Tuesday Night.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 1/30/08 at 12:16am

WOW!
If you are gonna turn the trash that is The Jerry Springer Show into the Art that is Opera, you better be damn good.
And They are.
I was totally enthralled.
The Music and vocal arrangements are thrilling.
It was funny that while I was watching it, I thought, of course this is the stuff of Opera with more F-Bombs than Mamet's NOVEMBER.
Every cast member was spot on and sang the score beautifully.
Keitel was so much fun and deep when he needed to be, Bravo.
David Bedella was a wonder, his voice and acting as the warm up guy and Satan were a true highlight of the show.
Linda Balgord in three different roles was stunning and very amusing.
Lawrence Clayton as Montel and Jesus has one of the lovliest voices you can imagine, and also very funny in a diaper or a shroud.
Katrina Rose Dideriksen made my blood curl with I JUST WANNA DANCE!
Luke Grooms stopped the show with God's number:
IT AIN'T EASY BEING ME
All the other principals were wonderful,
especially Emily Skinner, an unrecognisable Max Von Essen in full drag and full voice,
and a pitch perfect but hard to understand the lyrics Laura Shoop as Baby Jane.
Stephen Oremus made the vocals of an incredibls ensemble and a small but totally effective orchestra fill the Hall.
It's an unusual mix but I felt it really worked.
The point is that it is an Opera and needs Operatic chops to pull it off.
I feel it would not do well on Broadway but a few performances at CITY OPERA might be it's future.
With some great Hell sets for Act II, I can see this as a cult favorite.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 1/30/08 at 12:25am

And there was also Great Theatre outside Carnegie Hall, a rather large group of protesters, looking a lot like Gay Cowboys and Germans with signs saying STOP BLASPEHMING OUR LORD.
And there were a few carrying their Lord on a board, it was really weird, but a nice prelude.

[Popular]

Posted: 1/30/08 at 12:35am

Thanks for sharing, Curtain.
It's nice to hear that it came off well... that's such a fine line they are treading!

[Heybeenfood]

Posted: 1/30/08 at 1:43am

I concur with Curtain on many things. The opera was absolutely brilliant. Harvey Keitel was my only issue with the production, but otherwise all of the company was perfect. Katrina Rose Dideriksen and Max Von Essen were particular highlights for me. Despite the raunchy material, it seemed as if the senior audience members seemed to appreciate it as well. One thing that did catch me of guard was the emptiness of the balcony. There is no way that this show could survive commercially if they can't sell out for 2 nights.

Also, one major disappointment was that they cut the huge Act II finale. I don't know why, because it was listed in the program. It must have been the lack of rehearsal time.

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 1/30/08 at 1:56am

I was really impressed too, and your review is spot on, CurtainPullDowner.

I thought Emily Skinner sounded GORGEOUS and was in great voice.

The casting peeps + Jason Moore + Stephen Oremus = MONSTROUSLY talented. I have never seen a better selected, better directed, or better musically directed concert production. Wow.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 1/30/08 at 1:58am

Did any of you guys have the $59 seats?

If so, how were they?

[BroadwayAbridged]

Posted: 1/30/08 at 9:21am

I had $59 seats.

Bring binoculars. Seriously.

I thought it was good, but didn't compare to the London production when I'd seen it. Harvey Keitel was very good, but sometimes his voice wasn't strong enough for me to understand what he was saying (he doesn't sing; this may be a sound problem). I was also very disappointed by the removal of the ending... I didn't expect them to learn the dance to the finale, but I would have liked to have heard them sing it since it was actually on the program's song listing.

It was great to see... David Badella is his name?... return as Satan. He's great.

[whatever2]

Posted: 1/30/08 at 9:51am

overall i agree with everything that's been said: GREAT performance ... bummer about the finale ... bedella was fantastic. acoustics were a challenge not just for harvey, but overall, imho.

i saw JSTO @ bailiwick last summer, and it's interesting to compare the experience of an intimate space vs a large hall. overall, the lyrics were much easier to understand @ bailiwick. more importantly, though, the intimacy @ bailiwick really gave the audience the opportunity to feel just how pathetic jerry's guests are ... almost (but not quite!) evoked sympathy at points. last night, of course, they were just caricatures -- delicious, but two-dimensional.

it would be interesting to know whether they resurrect the finale tonight ... hope someone has the opportunity to let us all know!

[robbiej]

Posted: 1/30/08 at 10:23am

Although I have some misgivings about some of the piece (the second act, particularly), the performers were all spectacular. Not sure how it would play on Broadway...but I would be interested in seeing a proudction with full production values.

As a concert staging, it was a thrilling night with really well-developed performances. Bravo-a to everyone involved!

[Unknown User]

Posted: 1/30/08 at 12:31pm

What would be really fun is if a Broadway run were to somehow include an on-stage audience section, like Xanadu or Spring Awakening. It could sort of play into the idea of everyone wanting to be on TV -- to be famous for 15 minutes...

And I'd put those protesters outside on retainer. Fastest way to guarantee a sellout!

Funnier than YF? Did Brantley really write that?

[Gloryday225]

Posted: 1/30/08 at 7:54pm

Hey guys (and for everyone who goes tonight as well)... can I be annoying and ask you to elaborate on Emily's performance? I wanted to go solely to see her, but it didn't work out, and I'm really curious. I'd love details :) Thanks

[Heybeenfood]

Posted: 1/30/08 at 9:10pm

Well her part is not the largest, and in the first act she plays the least trashy of the "guests" on the show. Her husband has a certain fetish which I will not go into, but it involves "Baby Jane" and diapers.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 1/31/08 at 12:37am

But she gets a great song.

[Act0r721]

Posted: 1/31/08 at 12:51am

Does it break anyone else's heart that to get the CD in America off of Amazon, it's $45.49, but the British equivalent in dollars for the DVD there is $7.89?

[snl89]

Posted: 1/31/08 at 6:20am

Sorry, I just found this on youtube and had to post:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0dBy8lIq8Y

Michael Arden (and Jeffery Self) FTW

Updated On: 1/31/08 at 06:20 AM

[BroadwayAbridged]

Posted: 1/31/08 at 9:06am

If I remember correctly, I paid as much for the DVD off of Amazon.co.uk as I did for shipping.

I always thought some of the merchandise was funny too, particularly the "mamma give me smack on the a***ole" shirt:
http://www.jerryspringertheoperashop.com/html/shop/clothing5.htm
or the "what the f***" shirt:
http://www.jerryspringertheoperashop.com/html/shop/clothing4.htm
but if the pounds-to-dollars conversion wasn't high enough, the shipping sure was...

[Eastwickian]

Posted: 1/31/08 at 10:30am

Have to admit that I do love my Jerry Springer Magnetic poetry kit. It just means that I can't let my grandmother anywhere near the fridge...

[turquoisefish]

Posted: 1/31/08 at 3:48pm

Wow, i knew this show was happening out there, but I didn't know you were getting David Badella. I didn't see Jerry Springer the opera live (but have the DVD and CD) but he was AMAZING in the UK tour of Rocky Horror Show as Frank.

[whatever2]

Posted: 1/31/08 at 8:58pm

stupid technology question: i get to london once a month on business; if i buy the DVD there, will it play on a DVD player here in the states?

[Calvin]

Posted: 1/31/08 at 10:39pm

Depends on the player. The U.K. DVDs are coded differently, but you can find region-free DVD players that play pretty much anything (and a lot of computers are region-free for DVDs, too, although not mine, unfortunately).