Click above for tickets to the show on 6/7/09 at 3:00 PM.

• To buy tickets for the 6/2/09, 7:30 PM show, click here.
• To buy tickets for the 6/3/09, 7:30 PM show, click here.
• To buy tickets for the 6/4/09, 7:30 PM show, click here.
• To buy tickets for the 6/5/09, 8:00 PM show, click here.
• To buy tickets for the 6/6/09, 8:00 PM show, click here.

What’s not to love about the opera? From Puccini to Philip Glass, Verdi to Randy Newman’s Faust, opera has a rich, unparalleled tradition of elegance and refinement. As the 21st century lumbers forward, those mindful of high-culture are ever vigilant, searching for the next great thing—something sublime, something masterful, something where a grown man in a diaper sings a tortured song of lust alongside dancing Klansmen and the angel Gabriel. Rejoice, art lovers: today you need look no further.

Details

Whether you’re an Opera connoisseur, a musical theatre buff, or prefer your art low-brow, this deal is right for you. Today’s Groupon gets you a ticket at less than half-price for Jerry Springer: The Opera, currently staged by the SpeakEasy Stage Company at the Boston Center for the Arts’ Calderwood Pavilion, 527 Tremont St. in the South End. If you’ve ever wanted to see Jerry Springer hilariously suffer through the worst day of his career, this is your opportunity. There are six shows to choose from; click on the links above for tickets to each performance.

The show is intended for mature audiences only and has already been widely picketed by religious groups during its original run in the United Kingdom (where it won four Lawrence Olivier Awards) and right here in Boston. Controversy seems to follow this show like a lost puppy. Isn’t it time to see what the fuss is all about?

Reviews

Now this one really depends on whom you ask, doesn’t it? The buzz from the theater crowd has been relentlessly rapturous. During its original UK run, Jerry Springer: The Opera became the first work in history to win “Best Musical” honors from each of the four major British award groups, besting the previous record of three held by Phil Donahugh: The Noh Drama. Here are a few choice accolades: > * “It’s filthy, it’s funny, it’s brilliantly original… A THRILLING, TRULY GROUNDBREAKING SMASH.” – The Daily Telegraph > * “…It is, in fact, not only an opera but a clever—and sometimes more than clever—piece of art. By turns hilarious and thought-provoking, obscene and moral, it both amuses and instructs. But mostly amuses.” – The Boston Globe

But in the interest of giving both sides a voice, there is also this review:

• “This blasphemy play is part of an agenda to insult God and to drag as many souls to Hell as possible.” - Robert E. Ritchie, The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property

So caveat emptor.