Jerry Springer – The Opera

Area Premiere
Named Best Comedy by City Pages “Best of the Twin Cities”!

Intended for mature audiences!
(contains very strong language and strong sexual references)

October 5 – 28, 2007 – Hennepin Stages

Music – Richard Thomas
Book and Lyrics – Richard Thomas and Stewart Lee

The only work in British history to win Best Musical in all of their major awards, “Jerry Springer – The Opera” asks an ironic universal question: Is television a mirror or a moral agent for our society?  In turns hilarious and heartbreaking, “Jerry Springer – The Opera” presents a series of unusual characters each desperate for their “Jerry Springer moment.”  Act I reveals Jerry in very familiar territory, with guests confessing to an assortment of infidelities and guilty secrets.  In Act II, Jerry finds himself in a hell of his own making and is called upon to effect reconciliation between the two ultimate adversaries – Jesus and Satan.  Jerry and his guests take the level of debate between good and evil to operatic heights!

Director / Choreographer – Steven Meerdink
Musical Director – Suzanne Reyburn

Scenic Designer – Andrea Heilman
Costume Designer – Joshua Stevens
Light Designer – Craig Gottschalk
Sound Designer – Collin Sherraden
Video Design – Christian Unser & Laurie Etchen
Rehearsal Accompanist – Emily Hanson
Set Construction – Jay Schueller
Prop Designer – Robbie Droddy
Stage Manager – Joyce Norman

Cast
Jerry Springer – Carl M. Schoenborn
Steve Wilcose – Paul Whittemore
Jonathan Weiruss / Satan – Derek Blechinger
Dwight / God – Shaun Nathan Baer
Peaches / Baby Jane – Kim Kivens
Tremont / Angel Gabriel – Bart Ruf
Montel / Jesus – Thomas Karki
Andrea / Archangel Michael – Emily Brooke Hansen
Shawntel / Eve – Christine Karki
Chucky / Adam – Tim Kuehl
Zandra / Irene / Mary – Susan Brodin
Valkyrie / Ensemble – Catherine Battocletti
Ensemble – Andrea Alioto
Ensemble – Joseph Bombard
Ensemble – Joseph Botten
Ensemble – Kim Engeltjes
Ensemble – Reginald Haney
Ensemble – Meg Krekeler
Ensemble – Eva Nelson
Ensemble – Christian Unser
Ensemble – Angela Walberg
Ensemble – David B. Young

Reviews and Quotes

“The fun in the show lies chiefly in its willingness to travel well beyond the bounds of good taste, and to do so by aping the conventions of opera. There are screaming sopranos, heartfelt arias and a highly ornamented coloratura sing-off between Jesus and Satan. All are liberally peppered with profanity and vulgarity; many are punctuated by bump-and-grind choreography.  The most unflinching performances come from Bart Ruf, as the transvestite lover of a two-timing redneck bisexual, Emily Brooke Hansen as the goodie-goodie girlfriend of a diaper fetishist and Tim Kuehl, a he-man who might have strolled in off the set of ‘Deliverance’.” – The St. Paul Pioneer Press

“Minneapolis Musical Theatre has stuck out its chin in this area premiere — one of only a few productions nationwide. Director Steven Meerdink, who has a nicely jaundiced eye for camp and farce, gets his actors to play it straight, figuring correctly that you don’t need to thump a drum when choruses are singing, ‘Dip us in chocolate and throw us to the lesbians.’ The cozy confines of Hennepin Stages fits the dramatic aspirations of Thomas and Lee. Their first act consists of satirical skits, ratcheting the trashmeister’s TV show to a new level of absurdity. Carl Schoenborn’s ‘Jerry’ is a quizzical presence, really banal among the weirdos. A chorus — heresy to call it Greek — comments, cheers and carries on, so we don’t have to.” – Minneapolis Star Tribune

“It seems like work that is designed mainly to offend, but the MMT cast finds plenty of humanity in these characters, which helps to keep the action interesting. And the show is funny, even if the Springer aspect is a bit dated these days. And any show that uses all of George Carlin’s seven words in a full-blown opera is worth, at the very least, a look.”  –  talkinbroadway.com

“While Schoenborn will never be hired as Springer’s body double, he ably morphs into the sultan of sleaze with a dead-on arsenal of tics and mannerisms: the flustered head shake, the hand half-covering his incredulous stare, the screw-it shrug and hasty retreat from the revelation of yet another layer of depravity.  If it wasn’t as funny as it is, the spectacle would be ghastly. And fortunately, the mock talk show ends after an hour, with a KKK rally-slash-musical number.  Milton it ain’t, but it’s nonetheless entertaining. Most of the cast members are solid singers and capably pull off some of the genuinely operatic aspects of the score. And the twists keep coming, from the arrival of a bitter Virgin Mary (Susan Brodin) to a whiny, clingy God (Shaun Nathan Baer). By the rollicking, self-mocking finale, I had a sense that I couldn’t take much more. But then I walked into the night, singing to myself a catchy five-word refrain about a semi-exotic sexual practice, and I realized that I had been hooked. Implicated, you might even say.”  –  City Pages

“Meerdink has treated the material in an operatic fashion which results in an exceptional production that is, first and foremost, musically superb. It’s also an opportunity for MMT’s resident company to blow off some steam and have some fun onstage. The staging is inventive, and extremely unconventional, from the tap-dancing KKK (an evident tribute to Mel Brooks) to rousing show-biz finale, but MMT just keeps improving with every show.  Both Derek Blechinger as Jonathan and Carl M. Schoenborn as Jerry Springer lead a fine ensemble, and there’s not a bad performance. The standouts include Kim Kivens as Peaches and Baby June, Bart Ruf as Tremont, Thomas Karki as Montel, Christine Karki as Shawntel, Tim Kuehl as Chucky, and Susan Brodin as Zandra and Irene.”  –  On The Purple Circuit