We finally got to realize our lifelong dream of hearing "inbreed three-nipple cousin-fucker" reverberate off the hallowed walls of Carnegie Hall last night at the two-nights-only Jerry Springer: The Opera In Concert. Too bad no one told headliner Harvey Keitel he was welcome to join us.
Fumbling--when he wasn't downright forgetting--his lines, accidentally knocking over a trumpet, and never seeming present on stage, Keitel was mercifully the only low point in an otherwise glorious production of the raunchy but intellectually stimulating British hit. Well, that and the fact that they skipped the final song, apparently accidentally; just as the conductor looked to the orchestra to being the last number, an encore of sorts, the houselights came on and everyone left.
Despite the missteps, it's pretty tough to keep JS:TO down. The first act is essentially just an operatic rendition of a pretty basic (pretty ridiculous) episode of Jerry Springer: Dwight's been cheating on his fiance with her crackhead best friend...and with Tremont, a "chick with a dick with a heart." Montel wants his girlfriend to indulge his diaper fetish, and he's been seeing Baby Jane on the side to help him get off. And Shawntel wants to be a pole dancer, much to the chagrin of her Klansman husband Chuckie.
But at the end of the act, Jerry gets shot in the chest, sending us into the fiery pits of hell, where Satan demands that Jerry host a show between him, God and Jesus--with complaints from Mary ("raped by an angel, raped by God" sings the chorus), and Adam and Eve. Where some will surely see blasphemy, we see outré satire hilariously skewering the godfather of America’s tabloid TV freak show.
The star-studded audience (Robert De Niro among them) seemed more excited to see Keitel than the real star of the show, David Bedella, who plays Jonathan the warm up guy in Act I and Satan himself in Act II. Bedella originated the role in London, and was still the stand-out performer last night, but Linda Balgord (as Zandra the crackhead, the would-be stripper's mother and Mary) gave him a real run for his money with her warm, effortless soprano. Similarly strong are Luke Grooms (as the cheater and God), Katrina Rose Dideriksen (Shawntel, Eve) and Lawrence Clayton (Montel, Jesus; pictured). Anyone who can sing about the "shit coming out of [his] ass" one minute and "talk to the stigmata" next gets an A+ in our book.
Tickets are still Craigslistable, and JS:TO is without a doubt worth seeing. It's provocative and satirical, but not nasty or judgmental. If only Keitel could generate half the energy and enthusiasm of the rest of the cast.
Carnegie Hall, Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage, 8PM tonight
