Jeh-ree! Jeh-ree!

Well, last night I decided to break with my normal New Years routine of curling up at home with a good book followed by an early turn to bed neatly avoiding any hint of the festivities. Instead I toddled off to see Jerry Springer The Opera. It's a show I've wanted to see for a good while now. I first heard about it several years back when the I discovered that the writer, Richard Thomas, was holding what he called a "beer for ideas" evening, presenting the ideas he'd had so far along with music he'd written, looking to the audience for suggestions. Fortunately he also had an array of useless junk to give away so I came away with a odd looking lamp instead of the beer. It was an interesting evening. He brought along a couple of singers as well, and at one point they performed songs from earlier show, Tourettes Diva. The woman stalked through the audience before she decided I was a likely candidate, sat down next to me and proceeded to sing at me a song consisting near entirely of profanities. I can honestly say that I've never been sworn at so mellifluously. I think I turned a little red.

Anyway, it was fascinating to see how the show evolved since then. Much had changed, but most of the core concepts remained with the overall structure being vastly improved. What I did note was that the final product was far, far funnier than I remembered. It was absolutely hysterical and everything was perfectly judged. From the audiences cat calling, to the fights between the guests and even the security guards enjoying their 15 seconds of fame, it was note perfect. It also helped that the budget and cast were obviously considerable larger making possible such highlights as the tap dancing legion of klu klux klan members

The first act is pretty much along the lines you'd expect, taking place during the filming of an episode of the show with the theme being that all the guests had a secret that they wanted to reveal to their partners. Hijinks ensue. The guests cover the spectrum of Jerry Springer archetypes and half the fun to be had is from watching the stage audience react to them, and sometimes be won over (they went from a jeering "Chick with a dick" to an almost admiring "Chick with a dick with a heart" :)

The second act goes to hell quite literally as Satan intervenes, deciding quite naturally that the Jerry's show is ideal platform for him to deal with his grievances with Jesus and God. I think I can safely exercise a degree of understatement by saying that this act is moderately blasphemous. It also proves my theory that devil always gets the best lines.

So overall, the language is foul, it both parodies and plays to the dregs of society and there's not a song in the score that you'd play to your mother (well, my mother at least - your mothers may vary) - highly recommended indeed.

Happy New Year Everyone!