Jerry Springer: The Opera

Jerry Springer: The Opera didn’t quite make it to Broadway- which is not surprising once you’ve seen the content of this musical. This British musical opened in London in 2003 and had a short stint in New York Off-Broadway in 2018. While it didn’t quite make it to what some call the Holy Land of Theatre (Bial, 2015), it certainly has been studied extensively due to the severe backlash it has received. The first half of the musical takes the form of a typical episode of The Jerry Springer Show, however, sung entirely opera style.

Photo from JerrySpringerTV.com

If you’re not familiar with Jerry Springer, he hosted a talk show that discussed many controversial topics, like incest and adultery. It was filled with profanity, physical fights and nudity from both the guests and audience. Jerry Springer compared his talk show to Oprah Winfrey’s by saying “she does a real talk show. I don’t do a talk show. I do a circus. There are just no lions” (D’Addario, 2024). While many assumed this type of content would be present in the musical, most certainly didn’t expect Christian themes. In the show, Jerry is shot by one of the participants on his show, Jerry enters a dream sequence in which he is dragged to Hell by Satan and forced to do a show to get an apology for Satan from Jesus.

 Not surprisingly, it was the second half of this musical that caused outrage. Of course, Christian groups would stay away from anything with the title Jerry Springer, so it wasn’t until a professional recording of the show aired on BBC, that Christian groups realized the nature of the content and became outraged (Martin, 2024). One YouTube commenter recounted on his experience viewing the performance live in 2003- stating there was not a single protestor at that time. The musical was often analyzed and praised for its ability to take the everyday graphic themes and vulgar language seen in this realm of reality TV and put it into this operatic form (Soto-Morettini, 2004), even down to the “Jerry, Jerry Jerry!” chants from the audience. 

BBC Production of Jerry Springer: The Opera, 2005. Songs "Chick with a Dick" and "Talk to the Hand"

Many critics considered it a work of art and some even found it still culturally relevant. One critic writes, “In the age of Trump, certain lines jump out. ‘You could run for Senate or even president’” (Gardner, 2019). Ultimately, the show still provides a sincere message on society about how in our capitalist world, many folks will do just about anything for their 15 minutes of fame. However, despite this message and the comedic and musical intelligence it takes to create such a work of art, this musical faced significant backlash.

Christian Voice is an evangelical Christian group whose mission statement is “a ministry for those Christians who are fed up with the way things are”. In addition to the 50,000+ complaints BBC received about the show (CBC News, 2007), Christian Voice strongly opposed it and attempted to bring a private prosecution for blasphemous libel Jerry Springer: The Opera in 2005. Director Stephen Green laid out the reasons why he believed that the musical was blasphemous. He stated, “God the Father emerges as an old fool who needs therapy, and Jerry Springer becomes an alternative saviour” and comments on Jesus referring to himself as a “little bit gay”. Green, however, selectively paraphrases different passages from the musical to convey his own narrative (Martin, 2024). While certainly, the opera objectively makes a mockery of biblical figures by depicting God, Jesus, Mary, Adam and Eve as guests on an episode of The Jerry Springer show, two High Court judges ruled that "as a whole, [the broadcast] was not and could not reasonably be regarded as aimed at, or an attack on, Christianity or what Christians held sacred” (CBC News, 2007). This case has held cultural significance, where several theorists have used this reaction as an example of intensified emotions when beliefs and identity are challenged.

References:

BBC. (2005). Jerry Springer: The Opera [TV broadcast]. British Broadcasting Corporation.

Bial, H. (2015). Playing God: The Bible on the Broadway Stage. University of Michigan Press.

CBC News. (2007). BBC broadcast of Jerry Springer opera not blasphemous, judges rule. CBC. https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/bbc-broadcast-of-jerry-springer-opera-not-blasphemous-judges-rule-1.644300

D'Addario, D. (2024). The true story behind Netflix’s Jerry Springer documentary. Time. https://time.com/7205126/jerry-springer-netflix-doc-true-story/

Gardner, L. (2019, August 14). Jerry Springer: The Opera review – profane, profound and triumphant return. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2019/aug/14/jerry-springer-the-opera-review-hope-mill-theatre-manchester-stewart-lee

Martin, P. S. (2024). Humor, emotion, and interpretive communities in the controversy over Jerry Springer: The Opera. Humor (Berlin, Germany), 37(2), 259–277. https://doi.org/10.1515/humor-2023-0102

Soto-Morettini, D. (2004). “The Clowns of God”: Jerry Springer the Opera. Contemporary Theatre Review, 14(1), 75–87. https://doi.org/10.1080/1026716032000148546