Jerry Springer: The Opera

Jerry Springer: The Opera
MusicRichard Thomas
LyricsRichard Thomas
Stewart Lee
BookRichard Thomas
Stewart Lee
BasisJerry Springer
Productions2001 Battersea
2002 Edinburgh
2003 London
2005 BBC Two broadcast
2006 UK tour
2009 Sydney
2018 Off-Broadway
2019 Manchester

Jerry Springer: The Opera is a British musical written by Richard Thomas and Stewart Lee, based on the talk show Jerry Springer. It contains irreverent treatment of Christian themes, extensive profanity, and surreal images, such as a troupe of tap-dancing Ku Klux Klan members.

The musical ran for 609 performances in London from April 2003 to February 2005 before touring the UK in 2006. It won four Laurence Olivier Awards, including Best New Musical. The first North American performance was at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The musical has been performed by a number of American regional theatre companies and made its New York City debut on 29–30 January 2008 at Carnegie Hall. Harvey Keitel starred as Jerry.

In January 2005, its British television broadcast on BBC Two elicited 55,000 complaints.[1] The organisation Christian Voice led street protests against the screening at nine BBC offices[2] and announced their intention to bring blasphemy charges, due to the depictions of the Christian characters in Act II. The Christian Institute attempted to bring a private prosecution against the BBC,[3] but the magistrates' court refused to issue a summons, a decision which was later upheld by the High Court of Justice.[4] Protests continued at tour venues in 2006 and on the Internet.

  1. ^ Simon Freeman (30 March 2005). "BBC 'right' to screen Jerry Springer musical". The Times. London. Archived from the original on 12 October 2008. Retrieved 22 May 2006.
  2. ^ "Protest held over Springer show". BBC News. 9 January 2005. Retrieved 22 May 2006.
  3. ^ "Legal threat over Springer opera". BBC News. 3 June 2005. Retrieved 22 May 2006.
  4. ^ "Springer Opera legal bid rejected". BBC News. 16 June 2005. Retrieved 22 May 2006.