Jerry Springer - The Opera to Close in the West End on February 19

The West End production of Jerry Springer - The Opera will close on February 19. The show had been booking at the Cambridge Theater until the fall of 2005.

Jerry Springer - The Opera is based on America's most lurid talk show and the U.S. host who brought worldwide television audiences programs entitled: "Pregnant by a Transsexual," "Here Come the Hookers," and "I Refuse to Wear Clothes." The show features music by Richard Thomas and book and lyrics by Thomas and Stewart Lee, who also directs.

The show was a hit at the 2002 Edinburgh Fringe Festival and was then chosen by National Theatre Artistic Director Nicholas Hytner to be part of his first season at the helm of the company. Headlined by Michael Brandon as Springer, the musical opened to rave reviews at the National's Lyttelton Theatre on April 29, 2003. It completed a sold-out extended run there on September 30, 2003 and then transferred to the Cambridge Theatre.

Jerry Springer - The Opera received the 2003 Olivier, Critic's Circle Award and Evening Standard Awards. It was announced for an October 20, 2005 opening on the Great White Way, but that date was delayed and a production spokesperson now says the show is aiming for a New York berth in the spring of 2006.

The BBC recently aired Jerry Springer - The Opera uncut and received almost 50,000 complaints about the broadcast because of the show's subject matter and language.