Sunday Best
Terrence Mann, left, and fellow cast members in the New Group production of "Jerry Springer The Opera," now in previews at the Pershing Square Signature Center on West 42nd Street.
BACK IN THE SPRING of 2003 (W was in his first term; Bob Hope and Johnny Cash were still alive; Brad and Angelina hadn't even met), an unusual show took London by storm. A ridiculously profane, relentlessly irreverent new musical based on American daytime television at its most egregious, “Jerry Springer: The Opera” seemed to have everything:
See Ya in Hell
Mann, foreground, as Jerry Springer, and Will Swenson as Satan in the long-awaited New York production.
Transsexuals, adulterers, fetishists and fighters. White-trash fashions. A lively musical number with tap-dancing Ku Klux Klansmen. Characters named Peaches, Dwight and Montel, not to mention Satan, Jesus and a couple of boldface-name angels. Arias that could stretch out the word “asshole” over 10 notes.
”Jerry Springer: The Opera” ran on the West End for almost two years and won four Olivier Awards, including best new musical. Finally, finally, finally, it opens in New York -- Off Broadway -- this month (February), thanks to the New Group, Scott Elliott's proudly artist-driven, Tony- and Drama Desk Award-winning theater company.
Naturally, you have questions.
WHAT WAS "THE JERRY SPRINGER SHOW"?
Don't say "was." The series, a syndicated tabloid talkfest, went on the air in 1991, turned sensational over the first few seasons and hit its rating peak in the late ’90s. It was best known for the amount of physical violence among its guests and the ancient-Romans-in-the-Colosseum-vicious audience. NBC-Universal downsized the show in 2009, moving it out of Chicago, but it’s still filmed, now in Stamford, Conn., and has its loyal viewers.
AND SPRINGER HIMSELF? A REAL PERSON?
Born in a Tube
The real Jerry Springer.
That was the weird part; he was a kind of dignified guy. Springer was a former mayor of Cincinnati, had a law degree from Northwestern and had reportedly once been a campaign aide to Bobby Kennedy. And then he, as we say, went in another direction. The United Kingdom can even claim Springer, if it wants: He was born in London in 1944 in an underground station that was being used as a wartime bomb shelter. His parents, German-Polish refugees, moved the family to New York when Jerry was 5.
IS THIS A TRUE OPERA?
Pretty much. In London, the two-hour show was sung through, with two exceptions. Steve Wilkos, the show’s longtime bodyguard, made a short speech. And Jerry, the host, asked his questions nonmusically.
WHO WROTE IT? SHAIMAN AND WITTMAN? AHRENS AND FLAHERTY? RODGERS AND HART?
Richard Thomas and Stewart Lee. Not Richard Thomas, the American actor. This Richard Thomas is a British-born composer and lyricist with a comedy background. Here's his secret method for writing a musical, as told to the London newspaper The Independent in 2014:
"I start with a song about love. The musical needs to deal with this at some point. All musicals deal with love at some point. May as well jump in."
Lee, who wrote the book and additional lyrics, is also a comedy type. When asked why he loved working with the National Theater in London, he praised the group's interdepartmental communications and added, "It also has a really good bar."
Time's Up?
Swenson and Mann in Act II.
SO WHAT'S THE PLOT? JUST A TYPICAL EPISODE OF THE TALK SHOW?
Act I is, but it ends with an act of on-air violence that's shocking even by Springer standards. And that sets up Act II, which takes place in or somewhere near hell.
WHAT TOOK THE SHOW SO LONG TO GET TO NYC?
It was supposed to arrive more than a decade ago. The working theory is that investors got nervous after all the right-wing-Christian protests to the show when it was broadcast on the BBC in 2005. Technically, the show has played New York – two performances at Carnegie Hall in 2008, in which Harvey Keitel played Jerry Springer. There was also a benefit performance at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas in 2007.
HOW IS THE NEW YORK PRODUCTION DIFFERENT?
Jerry has a song. He didn't before. At the top of Act II, he bursts into "I Just Wanna Make You Happy." (And you may hear him in a reprise of "This Is My Jerry Springer Moment.")
JERRY SPRINGER: THE MUSICAL, Pershing Square Signature Center, 480 West 42nd Street; ticketcentral.com. Opening night is Feb. 22.
THE CAST: Jennifer Allen, Florrie Bagel, Brandon Contreras, Sean Patrick Doyle , Brad Greer, Luke Grooms, Nathaniel Hackmann, Billy Hepfinger, Justin Keyes, Beth Kirkpatrick, Elizabeth Loyacano, Terrence Mann, Tiffany Mann, Jill Paice, Kim Steele, Will Swenson, Nichole Turner
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An earlier version of this post did not include the title of the Jerry Springer character's song in the New York production.