And now – Jerry Springer, The Opera

LONDON – A foul-mouthed opera which pans a lurid US television talk show will either be loved or hated when it opens on Broadway in October next year, the show’s producer says.

‘Jerry Springer – The Opera’, which has received rave reviews in Britain, will first have its US premiere in San Francisco’s Orpheum Theatre in early spring, 2005. Producer Jon Thoday told Reuters he thought the profanity laden show, which features the confessions of a diaper fetishist and a dance routine by Ku Klux Klan characters, will either get a brilliant or terrible reception in the United States, against the backdrop of a government crackdown on indecency.”All we can really go on is what’s happened here.Americans who have seen it here have absolutely loved it,” Thoday said, adding that some Stateside theatregoers had flown over to London especially to catch the show.”They got standing ovations, they screamed and shouted, so if what people say when they see it here is anything to go by, it’ll be received very well.”The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has led a crackdown on indecency in the media following singer Janet Jackson’s breast-baring Super Bowl performance in February on prime-time television.”It’s a risky thing to do something which pushes the boundaries of musical treater, but you know Life of Brian was a huge hit,” Thoday said, referring to Monty Python’s controversial 1979 biblical satire about a Jew from Nazareth who is worshipped as the Messiah and crucified by the Romans.Thoday said the firm also hoped to take the opera – which fictionalises the Jerry Springer talk show that has been screened on 100 US television stations and in more than 20 countries – to Australia in the not-too-distant future.”We’d hoped it would go quicker than this, but we’ve found it takes a really long time to cast the show,” he said.Thoday declined to comment on a report that Hollywood stars Harvey Keitel and Kevin Kline were possible contenders to play the lead role in the US version.”All I can say is that a lot of stars have seen it here and it’s a very attractive role.””Michael Brandon has played the part here and has done a great job, but it’s a great role.I’ve been astonished by the people coming forward who would like to play it, but you have to make the right decision.”Brandon made his name as a brash cop in the hit 1980s TV series “Dempsey and Makepeace.”The show, winner of four of Britain’s top treater awards, including Best New Musical at the Laurence Olivier Awards, opened at London’s National Theatre in April 2003 and transferred to the Cambridge Theatre in London’s West End last November, where it will continue its open-ended run.- Nampa-ReutersProducer Jon Thoday told Reuters he thought the profanity laden show, which features the confessions of a diaper fetishist and a dance routine by Ku Klux Klan characters, will either get a brilliant or terrible reception in the United States, against the backdrop of a government crackdown on indecency.”All we can really go on is what’s happened here.Americans who have seen it here have absolutely loved it,” Thoday said, adding that some Stateside theatregoers had flown over to London especially to catch the show.”They got standing ovations, they screamed and shouted, so if what people say when they see it here is anything to go by, it’ll be received very well.”The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has led a crackdown on indecency in the media following singer Janet Jackson’s breast-baring Super Bowl performance in February on prime-time television.”It’s a risky thing to do something which pushes the boundaries of musical treater, but you know Life of Brian was a huge hit,” Thoday said, referring to Monty Python’s controversial 1979 biblical satire about a Jew from Nazareth who is worshipped as the Messiah and crucified by the Romans.Thoday said the firm also hoped to take the opera – which fictionalises the Jerry Springer talk show that has been screened on 100 US television stations and in more than 20 countries – to Australia in the not-too-distant future.”We’d hoped it would go quicker than this, but we’ve found it takes a really long time to cast the show,” he said.Thoday declined to comment on a report that Hollywood stars Harvey Keitel and Kevin Kline were possible contenders to play the lead role in the US version.”All I can say is that a lot of stars have seen it here and it’s a very attractive role.””Michael Brandon has played the part here and has done a great job, but it’s a great role.I’ve been astonished by the people coming forward who would like to play it, but you have to make the right decision.”Brandon made his name as a brash cop in the hit 1980s TV series “Dempsey and Makepeace.”The show, winner of four of Britain’s top treater awards, including Best New Musical at the Laurence Olivier Awards, opened at London’s National Theatre in April 2003 and transferred to the Cambridge Theatre in London’s West End last November, where it will continue its open-ended run.- Nampa-Reuters