Jerry Springer: The Opera

[jagfkb]

Posted: 7/11/12 at 9:45pm

It's a show that I always find myself coming back to: it's a fantastic score, a pretty flawless structure, and with the right performances it can be fantastic night in the theatre.

I understand why the show never made it to Broadway back in 2004: it bashes American culture pretty harshly, not to mention the protests over the sacrilegious Act 3. However, with the recent success of "Mormon", could "Jerry Springer The Opera" come out of musical theatre obscurity (the cast album and DVD are LONG out of print) and actually succeed on Broadway?



Any thoughts?

[Play Esq.]

Posted: 7/11/12 at 10:18pm

I so wish this would be produced on Broadway! I absolutely LOVED the West End production and very much enjoyed the Carnegie concert...even from the last row of the balcony.

That said, I don't know how much of a popular cultural reference Jerry is anymore. I don't think the sacralig would be as much of an issue, but a lack of interest in "Jerry Springer" (mixed with "Opera" in the title) would probably doom any chance for commercial success.

[vegas2]

Posted: 7/12/12 at 2:28pm

I saw it a few years ago at the Edinburgh Fringe, and thought it was a lot of fun. But I agree that the pop culture reference has become dated.

[hotjohn]

Posted: 7/12/12 at 2:46pm

It's a shame that it never made it to Broadway before Book of Mormon as Mormon has kind of stolen its thunder.

[Rainbowhigh23]

Posted: 7/12/12 at 3:30pm

The pride remix of "I Just Wanna Dance" is wonderful. I was looking forward to it coming to Broadway.

I haven't seen Book of Mormon - does it have more than 3,168 uses of the F word too?
BBC Complaints about Jerry Springer

[BwayGeek2]

Posted: 7/12/12 at 3:33pm

Thanks for posting a link to that, Rainbowhigh23. That whole thing is so interesting.

[Playbilly]

Posted: 7/12/12 at 3:46pm

I love Jerry Springer The Opera as well, (saw the production in DC) but it's not B'way. Critics would kill it, and there will still be protests if the show was given Broadway "legitimacy".

[Scripps2]

Posted: 7/14/12 at 3:51am

"I love Jerry Springer The Opera as well, but it's not B'way."

Agreed. I think the whole show might have fared better if they had got a different director (rather than letting the author direct his own work) and stopped trying to pretend it was an opera rather than a musical.

[Hongus]

Posted: 9/4/13 at 5:00pm

Please come to Broadway, I loved the clips its a remarkable piece of theatre. I would love to see David Bedella on Broadway

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 9/4/13 at 5:03pm

There was a DVD?

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 9/4/13 at 5:13pm

Still one of my all-time favorite videos on YouTube using "I Just Wanna Dance" from JERRY SPRINGER: THE OPERA

[winston89]

Posted: 9/4/13 at 5:40pm

Millie,

The London production was filmed for broadcast for television for the BBC. The same broadcast was then sold on DVD in the UK.

[frapperia]

Posted: 9/4/13 at 5:57pm

Oh yeah, there's a DVD: http://youtu.be/uVQVLgSlFZ4

(The guy playing the transsexual character has, you'll be unsurprised to hear, been playing Frankie Valli in Jersey Boys in the West End for the last three years or so: http://youtu.be/fqgi_jUM1is)

Awesome bit (very spoilery though): http://youtu.be/S7V2Zmbx5Y0

Updated On: 9/4/13 at 05:57 PM

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 9/4/13 at 6:29pm

Thanks for that link, Headband. I hadn't seen that edit before with the actual clips of Alison Jiear worked into it.

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 9/4/13 at 7:52pm

AEA, Alison was smart to do the re-edit herself and add the clips in. She capitalized on a very fun and successful video!