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The musical is notable for its profanity, its irreverent treatment of Judeo-Christian themes, and surreal images such as a troupe of tap-dancing Ku Klux Klan members.
The show had a successful West End run and was televised by the BBC in 2005. (That broadcast was enormously controversial.) Here is the opening chorus (and yes, some of the language is rather, er, vivid, so consider yourself warned; but the music, by Richard Thomas, is pretty wonderful):
I watched Springer again recently and was knocked out by the resemblance of that chorus to the following one, which begins Bach's Mass in B-minor. Both pieces have a similar sound (Mr. Thomas even appears to have lifted bits of his orchestral accompaniment directly from Bach's masterpiece) and evoke a similar mood, designed to introduce the works that follow. You need only listen for a few seconds to hear what I mean:
The text here, Kyrie eleison - a plea for mercy - is actually (IMO) one of the underlying themes of Jerry Springer: The Opera, which numbers among its characters Adam and Eve, Satan, God, Jesus and the Virgin Mary. (Jerry himself, by the way, dies and goes to Hell - but does find, before the final curtain, a sort of redemption.)
Irreverent? Yes. Profane? Undoubtedly. And while Bach's intention was devotional where Mr. Thomas's was more, shall we say, ironic, both the B-minor Mass and Jerry Springer: The Opera transcend their source material and make of it something that is both thought-provoking and beautiful. And that's one of the hallmarks of good art, whether sacred or profane.
Welcome to Friday Open Thoughts, and have a great weekend.
