Opera to open on Broadway

Jerry Springer: The Opera is to transfer to Broadway next year.

The hit West End hit will open in New York in October, following a six-month run in San Francisco's Orpheum Theatre in the spring.

Announcing the news, producer Jon Thoday, joint head of the Avalon comedy empire, said: ""I've been overwhelmed by the unprecedented interest from America in Jerry Springer - The Opera.

"We are not compromising the production one iota - the content and lyrics will remain the same. Either it will be the most enormous hit or audiences will walk out in horror "

"TV shows like South Park have been a hit in the States and that gives us heart because we occupy the same kind of territory."

However, he admits that the show might need tweaking for US audiences, telling Hollywood trade magazine Variety: "It's one reason we're going to San Francisco first, to see what might have to be changed.

"We know we'll have to make some comedic changes.

The show, co-written by comic Stewart Lee and composer Richard Thomas, started life at London's Battersea Arts Centre before transferring to the Edinburgh Fringe and then the National Theatre.

Casting and further information about the American incarnation will be announced soon.

Dempsey and Makepeace star Michael Brandon takes the title role in the London production, and stars rumoured to be in talks for the US version include Harvey Keitel, Kevin Kline - and even Springer himself.

Journey to the West End
West End review

Published: 27 Apr 2004