Caliente

Fund-raiser features 'Springer'

The award-winning London production of "Jerry Springer - The Opera" has struggled crossing the pond to this country. It was going to open in New York last year, then next year. San Francisco in October, then not. Seems too many are scared off by the outrageousness of the musical. But not Arizona Onstage Productions, which has gained the rights to show the BBC video of the deliciously outrageous musical. This will be the first time it's been seen in this country. Arizona Onstage will incorporate the showing into "Trash and Treasure - Jerry Springer Goes to Hell," a fund-raiser that will include a short recital of songs from the musical, improv comedy centered around a Springer show format from the Not Burned Out Just Unscrewed troupe and a screening of the BBC video on a large screen with a big-time sound system. Beware: Tender ears will burn severely. "Jerry Springer - The Opera" is a fall-over funny spoof of Jerry Springer and his television talk show. With Wagnerian-like music. In English, so you understand every offensive word. The first act is a Springer show, complete with cheating spouses and tap-dancing Klu Klux Klansmen. It climaxes with the assassination of Springer. The second act has the host in hell, where he presides over a confrontation between God and Satan. "Jerry Springer - The Opera" has racked up some of London's most impressive theater awards, including the Olivier for Best New Musical and a Best Supporting Role in a Musical for the chorus. The BBC production has all the original cast members. This is not theater for the easily offended. But it's theater that Arizona Onstage embraces. "One of our goals is to try to let people know of the many different kinds of musical theater out there," said Kevin Johnson, founder of the musical theater company that has produced "Assassins," "A New Brain," and "Ruthless" on Tucson stages. "To me, 'Jerry Springer' shows the audience a whole different facet of what musical theater is." The evening includes an intermission with finger foods that are in keeping with the theme of the evening - pigs in a blanket, for example. We're not even sure Jerry Springer would go that far.