London's National Theatre to stage opera on life of Jerry Springer

<br>LONDON (AP) _ A humorous opera based on the life of talk show host Jerry Springer will be staged at the Royal National Theatre next year, the first new opera to make its London debut at the prestigious

Wednesday, December 4th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

LONDON (AP) _ A humorous opera based on the life of talk show host Jerry Springer will be staged at the Royal National Theatre next year, the first new opera to make its London debut at the prestigious venue, the theater's incoming director said Wednesday.

``Jerry Springer: The Opera,'' which features louts spitting expletives, a chorus line of dancing Ku Klux Klansmen and a man clad only in a diaper, debuted at this year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe. It opens in April at the National's Lyttelton auditorium.

``It's exactly the kind of work the National should be doing _ bold, scabrous, funny and beautiful,'' said director Nicholas Hytner, who recently replaced Trevor Nunn.

Written by comedian Stewart Lee and composer Richard Thomas, the opera developed out of a series of public workshops at London's Battersea Arts Center in 2001. It was refined further during performances in Edinburgh, where Springer himself saw the show.

Co-producer John Thoday of comedy production firm Avalon said the National is known for the quality of its musical revivals, ``and I am very excited that they have chosen to stage a new British-written opera, albeit one that has its roots in American culture.''

Lee and Thomas admit to being fans of Springer's Chicago-based show that has explored topics such as ``I married a horse'' and ``I refuse to wear clothes,'' and pits trash-talking guests against catcalling audiences.

``One night I was watching the show, and I realized there were eight people screaming at each other, a chorus baying for blood, and I thought _ that's opera,'' Thomas told The Associated Press earlier this year.

``I like the moral dilemmas the Jerry Springer show poses for the people who watch it and the people who are on it,'' said Thomas, whose other work includes the opera ``Tourette's Diva.''

After seeing the show in Edinburgh, Britain's Observer newspaper called it ``very funny, very foul-mouthed, superbly sung''; the Sunday Times deemed it ``splendidly disrespectful.''