Now 'Jerry Springer - The Opera' is forced to stay off Broadway

A Broadway run of the musical Jerry Springer - The Opera has been scrapped in the fallout from a Christian fundamentalist group's campaign against the award-winning show.

A Broadway run of the musical Jerry Springer - The Opera has been scrapped in the fallout from a Christian fundamentalist group's campaign against the award-winning show.

It is the latest twist in an extraordinary few days, which has seen Christian Voice - believed to be little more than a "one-man band" led by Stephen Green - pressure a cancer charity into rejecting proceeds from a gala performance of the show in London. A question mark now hangs over a UK tour of Jerry Springerdue to take place in the autumn, with one theatre having withdrawn and at least one other considering its position.

Jon Thoday, the show's producer, said the financial backer of the New York run had pulled out as a result of developments in the UK. "At the moment it's off ... because of the furore."

The developments have raised concerns that a fringe group can have such a devastating effect on a legitimate stage show, lauded by critics and audiences.

Mainstream Christian groups have distanced themselves from Christian Voice, whose past tactics have included circulating contact details for senior BBC staff - who then received threatening calls.