"THE BOOK OF MORMON"
at the Eugene O'Neill Theater
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Right now, "The Book of Mormon" is one hot ticket on Broadway. You'd like to go see it in the next few months? Forget about it! Advance sales are strong. You might have to try a scalper, if you want to get in soon!
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| This irreverent new musical comedy, from folks who've helped bring you television's "South Park" (Matt Stone and Trey Parker) and Broadway's "Avenue Q" (Bobby Lopez), has taken Broadway by storm.
It's funny (as you might expect from creators of "South Park" and "Avenue Q"), and it also uses, at times, some pretty foul language (again, as you might expect...).
And--at least as important--it also has the kind of polish, and solid sense of construction, that conjures up Broadway at its best.
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I loved, for example, Scott Pask's colorful, evocative African settings. (Check out the photos.)
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And this show has some very appealing performers, including Andrew Rannells, Josh Gad, and Rory O'Malley (playing earnest Mormon missionaries "Elder Price," "Elder Cunnigham," and "Elder McKinley," respectively), and Nikki James ("Nabulungi") as one of the downtrodden Ugandan villagers that they are seeking to convert to their faith.
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| Mormon missionaries Andrew Rannells ("Elder Price") and Josh Gad ("Elder Cunningham") discover that Africa is not quite what they had been expecting. |
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These true-believing missionaries might not have really yearned to be assigned to Uganda. (One acknowledges that, as a matter of fact, he had been hoping to serve his mission in Orlando.) But now that they are here, they are eager to share their faith with the African villagers.
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Of course, it doesn't help matters that these missionaries --like many Americans, of all different faiths--don't seem to be all that well-informed about the particulars of their own faith. They are laymen, young and naive, who've led sheltered lives. They probably know more about "Star Trek" and "Star Wars" than they do about scriptures.
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And when they try to preach to the African villagers, it's not too surprising--but it is quite funny--that details they've remembered from "Star Wars" get mixed into their testamonies.
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The missionaries are trying to persuade the villagers that if they'd just embrace the Mormon faith, everything would be all right. The villagers, dealing with poverty, disease, and a zillion other problems, aren't conviced. Their response, when assured that God is taking care of them, is a curse: "F--k you, God!" And there is more said than that, actually. The language used, at great length, is rougher than can be printed here. Much rougher than is heard on "South Park."
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At the performance I attended, most people just laughed. But you could see some who seemed uncomfortable, and endured the scene in silence. My guest, who is not a Mormon, but a pretty devout mainstream Christian, found the language bothersome, needlessly offensive.
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| Trey Parker, Matt Stone--two of the creators of the show "The Book of Mormon" |
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I realize that the show's writers are trying to push buttons, trying to be outrageous. But I wonder if their choices will limit this musical's long-term appeal.
Shows that run for years and years and years, like "Cats" and "The Lion King," tend to appeal to as broad an audience as possible, and they tend to offend no one.
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Sophisticated New Yorkers might not be bothered by curses directed at God, and the like. But I suspect such scenes won't play well with a lot of folk from the American heartland. And those folk (whether they are visiting New York and taking in Broadway shows as tourists, or catching touring shows on their own home turf) are needed, if you want your show to enjoy maximum appeal over the years.
I like this show, and I like that the authors are taking risks. I just wonder if their choices will alienate a significant chunk of the potential theater-going public. And if they might have been smarter to tone down some of the most offensive language. We will see, in time.
-- Rob Adams
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