Jerry Springer the Opera
Winning four Best Musical Awards and transferring direct from the National Theatre to the Cambridge Theatre, the genre-breaking Jerry Springer the Opera, now starring David Soul as Jerry Springer, is still igniting the West End every night until 19 February, when it goes on a national tour. The show, which originated at the Battersea Arts Centre, is by Richard Thomas and director Stewart Lee with epic designs by Julian Crouch. It was the National Theatre's first-ever new opera (although it's a past-master at musicals) and revels in the perhaps unlikely conjunction of trailer trash and high art!
The premise is simple: the audience finds itself part of the Jerry Springer TV show experience, with the chorus as Jerry's audience, chanting the expected "Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!" and ever-lewder comments while guests come on to the show to tell their loved ones - in song - their personal secrets. Arias, recitatives, duets and choruses there are (should you wish to call them that), otherwise you are swept away with the sheer audacity of the libretto.
Yes, there's a transvestite ("chick with a dick") and a guy whose fantasy is to wear diapers while having sex (and more), while many more of life's most weird and wonderful characters also appear, so that normal opera plots seem quite restrained compared to Jerry Springer!
But there are also moments of utmost poignancy, where simple wishes for a good life, or the desire to lose oneself in dancing, are brought into clear focus. What better indication could there be of the unique power of opera?
Having said that (if it isn't already obvious), this is not a show for the faint-hearted; the swearing quotient is high (indeed whole choruses are made up of just such words), and there are those that may find the content unpalatable. Then again, Verdi and Mozart et al often faced the censors for the audacious political plotting, so we kid ourselves that opera has always been a genteel art.
Here events take a devilish turn as Jerry faces his biggest challenge ever, to mediate between heaven and hell, with argumentative characters from both below and above all clamouring for him to let them have their say. Will Jerry's long-suffering security guard, Steve, be able to keep them all apart?
Anyone interested in how opera can conquer in the 21st century should not miss this production!
In addition to its Best Musical Awards - from the Oliviers, the Evening Standard, the Critics' Circle and What's On Stage - it won three further Oliviers, for Best Actor in a Musical, Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical and Best Sound Design.
Related Information
Website: Whatsonwhen's London Theatre Guide
Website: Jerry Springer the Opera Website
| Venue Information: | Cambridge Theatre |
|---|---|
| Full Name: | |
| Designed by Wimperis, Simpson and Guthrie and restored in 1987 to its gold and silver art-deco splendour, the Cambridge Theatre close to Cambridge Circus but actually off Seven Dials has hosted a variety of musicals from Tommy Steele in Half a Sixpence (1963) and Cabaret (late 1970s) to Olivier Award winner Return to the Forbidden Planet (1989 - beating Miss Saigon), Lloyd Webber's The Beautiful Game and, most controversially, Jerry Springer - The Opera. | |
| Address: | Earlham St, Seven Dials WC2 9HH |
| Directions: | East one block from Cambridge Circus along Earlham Street. The nearest tube stations are Covent Garden (Piccadilly line), Leicester Square (Northern and Piccadilly lines) and Tottenham Court Road (Central and Northern lines). |
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