Jerry Springer brings stage version of 'America's Got Talent' to MGM

A cat has nine lives? Big deal. Jerry Springer has had dozens.

Springer, 66, has been recast in vastly different personas throughout his life - as an attorney, a politican, a newsman, the host of an outrageous talk show, the host of a family-friendly talent show, a celebrity dancer and a Broadway star.

It was Springer's turn on "Dancing with the Stars" in 2006 that gave the public a new perception of him. He agreed to do the show so he could learn the waltz and dance with his daughter at her wedding.

"I've always played kind of a role," he says now. "The crazy talk show host, the politician. In this case (of 'Dancing with the Stars'), it was just me being a dad. I think I was surprising to people because it went against their expectation of what I was like."

And, he says in typically self-deprecating fashion, "Now, all of a sudden, I'm basically your everyday schlub trying not to trip on my feet."

Springer's latest gig is a return to hosting "America's Got Talent," but this time, it's a live show spun off from the TV series.

Some of the most popular contestants from the televised version - including Recycled Percussion, Texas Tenors, Acrodunk and Grandma Lee - all perform in this production, which starts a three-week run Sunday at MGM Grand at Foxwoods.

The TV show, Springer says, "is a reflection, in entertainment terms, of the American dream ... You don't have to be rich, you don't have to be famous, you don't have to have a dad in the business."

This year, you could be a chicken farmer from Kentucky who sings country music and ends up winning the show and a million dollars. That guy, Kevin Skinner, won season four and will be part of the Foxwoods performances.

They staged the live "America's Got Talent" in Las Vegas last fall, and its popularity led to the Mashantucket gig.

Springer decribes the show as "totally good, clean fun," which, granted, is a big leap from his famously wild-and-crazy daytime talk show.

Being at MGM Grand at Foxwoods is particularly convenient for Springer, since he tapes his talk show in Stamford. It was much tougher when the live "America's Got Talent" show was in Vegas. He'd shoot five episodes of his talk show over the course of Monday and Tuesday and then fly to Vegas to host "America's Got Talent" Wednesday through Sunday.

"Not that anyone should feel sorry for me, but it was physically tiring," he says.

When he's at Foxwoods, you aren't likely to see him gambling. He did some unsuccessful gambling when he was in Vegas with "America's Got Talent." His family had come out for Thanksgiving, and he gave all six people a little bit of money and they headed to the blackjack table. By 12 minutes and 47 seconds later, he says, they had all lost their money.

"I mean, I lost every hand," Springer says. "They should hire me as a cooler."

During the show's Vegas run, Springer did his expected hosting duties but on one occasion had to kill some time - and so, he says, "I sang 'Blue Christmas,' and, trust me, when I was done, it was a blue Christmas. Actually, when I sing, people get involved. They have to guess where the notes were supposed to have been."

Actually, he can sing well enough to have been hired last year to star as Billy Flynn in the Broadway and London versions of the musical "Chicago."

"It was the most intense experience I've had in show business because you have to be focused. There's no winging it. ... Every line, every step, every note. You've got to be so alert, and that's what's so physically exhausting and mentally exhausting," he says.

k.dorsey@theday.com