One of the world’s best known television personalities is taking to the stage, as Jerry Springer makes his West End debut in Chicago in June. Following the West End’s current trend in unusual casting that has seen fellow TV presenter Graham Norton dragging up as Zaza in La Cage Aux Folles at the Playhouse and pop star Gareth Gates take on the lead in Joseph at the Adelphi after only one previous stage role, Jerry will be playing Billy Flynn, a role previously played by such stage stars as Clarke Peters, Sach Distel and Henry Goodman.
Despite being best known for his outrageous eponymous chat show and perhaps also for his political career, Jerry may be better qualified to tread the boards than one might first think. After appearing in a number of amateur stage productions while at university, Jerry has gone onto play small roles in a number of US television shows, as well as playing himself in Roseanne, The X Files and The Simpsons as well as the movie Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. In 1995 he released Dr Talk, an album of country covers and in 2006, he waltzed his way to a respectable fifth place in Dancing with the Stars.
So, already a seasoned performer, Jerry Springer makes his professional stage debut in Chicago at the Cambridge Theatre on 1 June 2009.
