Transsexuals, Klansmen, and Tenors

LONDON'S ROYAL NATIONAL THEATRE BRACES FOR JERRY SPRINGER: THE OPERA

This spring, visitors to the Royal National Theatre on London's South Bank will make the acquaintance of a transsexual love quadrangle, a diaper fetishist, a housewife who dreams of a career in lap-dancing, and a Klansman with a secret passion for flower arranging. All these characters and more will tell lurid personal stories and squabble on the set of a TV talk show, prompted by the questions of a smarmy host and the heckling of a restless, foulmouthed studio audience. Most crucially, every word will be sung in high-classical style. The production's name? Jerry Springer: The Opera. Richard Thomas, the British composer and comedian who devised this hilarious outing, developed an addiction to Jerry Springer when it was airing on late-night cable in the U.K. "It completely changed my sleeping patterns," he recalls. "One night, there was a particularly violent and abusive episode, and I thought, Hang on a second. There's eight people screaming at each other, you can't understand a word they're saying, the audience is baying for blood. It's perfect for opera!" First presented in workshop form at London's Battersea Arts Centre in early 2001, Jerry Springer: The Opera immediately drew praise from critics and theatergoers. In its fully staged version, it was the hit of last year's Edinburgh Fringe Festival; among those packing the house was Mr. Springer himself (he loved it). Director and cowriter Stewart Lee believes the key to the show's success is that "it doesn't trivialize his guests. What makes this both funny and moving on a good day is that it dignifies their emotional struggles." Lee and Thomas are noncommittal when asked about their creation's E.T.A. on American shores. Still, given the awed reaction Jerry Springer: The Opera has received so far, its crossover to the country that invented tabloid TV seems inevitable. In the meantime, Thomas is considering a follow-up—about Judge Judy.

MAC RANDALL