"The power of music lies in the fact it has its own language," says Richard Thomas, co-director of Jerry Springer - The Opera.

"So the words may be saying, 'you b****,' but the music is saying, 'I love you'.

There's this great, inherent tension when these two languages are opposing each other at all times.

"So if a character sings, 'I'm feeling very sad' to an upbeat tune, then it's immediately interesting and engaging.

In the same way, when a character sings, 'stuff you', at the same time the music is saying, 'please stay, my whole being would collapse if you left'".

This tragi-comic split is the genius behind this controversial musical, which is arriving at Brighton Dome for the last date on a national tour.

The stars of the show - which provoked a Christian backlash for its perceived "filthy blasphemy" - might well be "chicks with dicks", overweight pole dancers and nappy-clad fetishists, but their problems and the studio audience's profanities are accompanied by music that in fact has echoes of the sublime.

"It is comedic," says Richard, "but there is a beauty and dignity in the characters which makes the Opera more meaningful than if it was about just having a cheap laugh at their expense.

"When Jerry Springer (the television show) first came out in the UK, I think it was a real shock. It seemed to short-circuit the typical US mindset.

"We were used to channels such as Fox or CNN, filled with words and images that constantly fuel the myth of this great democracy and superpower, but Jerry Springer seemed to be giving a voice to the underbelly. I found this fascinating."

The idea for the Opera came from a particularly violent episode of the chat show. Richard saw fame-crazed individuals of every shape, size, creed and colour swear, protest and bleep.

"I thought, 'it's perfect for opera,' he says.

"All the elements are there: Drama, passion, raw emotion. There are people screaming at each other and you can't understand what they are saying.

"Opera is no stranger to extreme subjects. At the end of Verdi's Strida La Vampa, a woman throws a baby onto a fire, while one Mussorgsky opera closes with 150 believers setting themselves ablaze."

Since it began in 2001, Jerry Springer - The Opera has enjoyed hit runs at the Battersea Arts Centre, the Edinburgh Fringe and the National Theatre as well as playing to more than 425,000 people at 609 performances in London's West End.

The Opera tells the wickedly funny tale of Jerry Springer's death in a studio brawl and his subsequent descent into hell. Here he is confronted by the wrecked lives of his guests and forced to arbitrate between Satan and God.

It seems particularly relevant in today's cultural climate of reality TV and raises the question: Does television have a moral responsibility?

"More than ever, ordinary people are desperate to be famous," says Richard. "But Jerry Springer is even darker than Big Brother. The contestants on Big Brother are playing for a prize. They go through all that humiliation and manipulation for the possibility of money and celebrity status at the end.

"Jerry Springer is different. It's completely gratuitous and, I think, amoral."

Starts 7.00pm, (Sat mat 2.30pm), tickets cost £18-£32.50. Call 01273 709709.