The Book of Mormon: A Pilgrimage -- by Ali Lowden

Image from blog.mormonletters.org

One time back in April I made the journey to NYC with my friend, Liz, to see the Book of Mormon— the musical written by the Emmy winning creators of South Park, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, and the writer of the Tony Avenue Q. In addition to being theater nerds Liz and I are also big South Park fans, so we knew the Book of Mormon was something we wanted to see. Lucky for us, we were able to get our hands on some reasonably priced tickets—Although, still really pricey for a couple of students… it is a Broadway show, after all— back in January long before the Tony nominations and extensive media coverage made Book of Mormon tickets a hot commodity. Even on April 17^th, when we went to see the show, people were outside the show hoping to buy tickets last minute for a lot more than what we paid for them. Good thing we didn’t decide to sell our tickets! The Book of Mormon is probably one of the best musicals I have ever seen, and easily the funniest.

I won’t spend too much time summarize the show, because you’ll find that all over the net by now. The Book of Mormon is a satirical, yet strangely sweet story about a young Mormon missionary who learns what it really means to have faith when he gets sent to Uganda instead of his dream location, Orlando. The show is extremely funny, but not at the expense of the Mormon faith or of good musical theater

The Book of Mormon parodies some of the most beloved musicals. Wicked, Lion King, and Little Shop of Horrors were parodied, just to name a few, but I wouldn’t say that the show didn’t possess it’s own originality. The musical numbers, even those that recall other familiar tunes, are a lot more than just parodies and— I might even dare to argue—in some cases end up being catchier than the old favorites they pay homage to. The show, singing Mormons missionaries and profane language aside, is a pretty traditional. The set was very simple, and the shows budget was a fraction of some other shows premiering this season. I would say that’s a plus, and especially since none of the actors were seriously injured during the rehearsal… If you’re not familiar, I’m referring to the number of unfortunate technical difficulties suffered by the cast of “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.”

I was shocked by the size of the Eugene O’Neil Theater. I guess I expected a show produced by the creators of a hugely popular TV series and an already successful Broadway producer to have their show on a huge stage. Eugene O’Neill is tiny by comparison to the Durham DPAC and most of the theaters where I’ve seen shows. Although I kept bumping knees with the guy next too me, once I got over that awkwardness I could see why such a small space was a really good choice. I’m not sure if it was a completely conscious decision or simply because the producers simply had no idea how immensely popular the show would be, but for me feeling so close to the actors was part of the show’s charm.

Another interesting feature of the Eugene O’Neill Theater was that they served the drinks during intermission in these little… sippy cups. I don’t know if that is typical now for Broadway Theaters or something, but if you can imagine a crowd of grown adults, many of them rich and famous, sipping wine from what can only be described as sippy cups, like what you would give a two-year old apple juice in, it was pretty hilarious. I digress….

Every joke was spot on, and I don’t think a single punch line fell flat. Yes, at moments you will find yourself laughing at the expense of some the stranger Mormon beliefs (like that the after life involves ruling your own planet!) but in the end the Book of Mormon ends up being a sort of celebration of faith, In a weird kind of way, going to NYC to see the show was almost like a holy pilgrimage for two lovers of musical theater and all things Matt Stone and Trey Parker. Even for those non-believers among us, the Book of Mormon shows that faith has value in society. It dares to ask the question: Does it really matter who might think their beliefs seem strange… or even made-up, if those beliefs give people hope and morals to live by?  I think that’s a pretty positive message in what lately feels like a more and more cynical world. 

Follow Ali on Twitter! @Alaina919