"The show features "a semi-naked 'gay' Jesus" who is "being fondled by a dishevelled Eve, as the Devil looks gleefully on with an inebriated Adam." Also, "the Virgin Mary turns up to talk about her trials as the mother of a wayward saviour, amid a blitz of four-letter words." The show ends with Springer telling Jesus to "grow up for Christ's sake and put some f---ing clothes on." (Sunday Telegraph, 1-9-05)
Context, as always, is all. There was a reivew of the opera in the Daily Telegraph that sums up my opinions almost perfectly- I'd suggest you read it. It was posted as a thread several weeks ago, at http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1318269/posts
To quote a post of my own in that thread;
"it is important not to confuse biting satire with glorification of what it's critiquing.
Yes, Jerry Springer is appalling, unpleasant television that puts very disturbed, often ill people on show for viewers to laugh at and mock- But that's exactly the point that the opera's making. The one person who comes out of the whole thing very badly is Springer himself, which is why I was suprised that the production didn't have a libel writ slapped on it by the show's producers. You're not invited to laugh at the 'guests' but instead empathise with them and see them as what they are- sick people exploited in the name of entertainment who nontheless yearn to be on the show to be laughed at.
That's not where the humour is in it, at least for me- personally I found the juxtaposition of proper, well written opera with the imagery of Jerry Springer very amusing; a grown man dressed as a baby singing an aria is entertaining in a surreal way. It's all the more satisfying when you realise that it's not just a cheap gimmick- Opera and Jerry Springer share a lot of similarities, both being after all fat people in considerable emotional distress shouting at each other!
As for the swearing, some of it is done for cheap laughs and shock value- and certainly having a chorus line singing swear-words plays into the intention of juxtaposing opera with Jerry Springer, especially when the line they're singing is often rather lyrical. Having said that, in this production it does work in context as well- any accurate portrayal of Jerry Springer in all it's unsightliness needs to have swearing, and bleeping out words doesn't really work with Opera"
YMMV, of course.