The world is nuts. Sometimes, in order to stay sane, you have sit back and laugh at the absurdity of it all. Jerry Springer: The Opera makes this easy to do.
This hilarious show @ the Beck Center featured Jerry Springer’s TV show, opera-style, showcasing a motley group of people looking for their “Jerry Springer moment.”
In Act 1, the play featured a menagerie of troubled characters — an aspiring stripper, a junkie “crack whore,” a man who wants to be his girlfriend’s baby (literally), a hillbilly Ku Klux Klan member, a sassy cross-dresser named Tremont — airing their grievances for all to hear in a mock episode of Jerry Springer. The guests were backed by a raucous blood-thirsty “audience” hungry for drama, losers and more fights (hey, just like in the real show!).
The audience — made up of hillbillies and trashy type people — was completely hilarious. I got a kick just in watching their reactions to the guests’ outrageous drama. The audience taunted the guests, called them names and reveled in their drama.
Actor Matthew Wright did a spot-on job as the unapologetic and somewhat squirrely host, Jerry Springer, the only character who didn’t sing. He appeared sane among a sea of madness.
Act 2 featured Jerry Springer in Hell. Here, we (the real audience) were treated to a Jerry Springer Show featuring two very special guests… Satan and Jesus! Act 2 was extremely clever but didn’t contain all the energy found in Act 1. Some of the songs dragged on a little too long.
All in all, Jerry Springer: The Opera is loads of fun. I couldn’t stop smiling during Intermission… the show was just that amusing. There’s something to be said for watching a dude in a mullet sing opera…
If you’re easily offended, you’ll find yourself offended. But, if you can laugh at life, you’ll love this show. Kudos to the Beck Center for not sticking to middle-of-the-road productions and, instead, for taking a risk to perform a show that’s not squeaky-clean politically-correct.
Catch a performance of Jerry Springer: The Opera @ Beck Center for the Arts – 17801 Detroit Ave., Lakewood. Shows run now through Sun 4/17. http://BeckCenter.org/theater.
Cool Cleveland editor Sarah Valek graduated from Ithaca College with a double-major in arts and writing. After graduation, she came back to her beloved city and served as an AmeriCorps*VISTA with the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless. She currently spends her days chasing after her toddler-age son, drinking soy lattes and digging up the coolest events around town. Contact her at CoolEditorATCoolCleveland.com.