The Book of Mormon is a satirical musical by Trey Parker, Robert Lopez and Matt Stone. Parker and Stone are best known as the co-creators of
South Park and Lopez for
Avenue Q. The show lampoons organized religion and traditional musical theatre.
The Book of Mormon tells the story of two young Mormon missionaries Elders Price and Cunningham as they are sent to a remote village in Uganda, where a brutal warlord is threatening the local population. They try to share the Book of Mormon with the locals, however they are more worried about war, famine, poverty and AIDS.
The show was in development for almost seven years and opened on Broadway in March 2011.
The Book of Mormon has received nine Tony Awards and the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album.
The first National Tour started in August 2012 in Colorado before moving on to the Pantages in Los Angeles in September. Jared Gertner who played Cunningham on Broadway for a short time is playing Cunningham for the National Tour. When the tour ends in December 2012 they will take a break and them move on to the Prince of Wales Theatre in the West End of London in February 2013.
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| LDS Playbill Ad |
LDS Church Response
The church released an official response to inquiries regarding the musical, stating, "The production may attempt to entertain audiences for an evening, but the
Book of Mormon as a volume of scripture will change people's lives forever by bringing them closer to Christ."
In fact the LDS Church took out advertising in the playbill at the LA showing of the musical to encourage attendees to learn more about the
Book of Mormon.
My Thoughts
Saturday Matinee showing at the Pantages in Los Angeles 11/24/12
Production quality - Started off really shaky with major sound problems during the first number of the show "Hello". Microphones popping and cutting off and on for part of the song was a problem for a little more the half of the opening number. However once they got the sound under control other than a couple times when the orchestra was to loud and covered the vocal parts the sound was very good.
Not a family approved show! The pop culture references such as Star Trek, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings had me laughing so hard I was crying. However the language at times had me cringing in my seat.
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| Elder Price (Gavin Creel) in the Lobby after the show |
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