Book of Mormon

Trey Parker and Matt Stone, famous as the creators of “South Park” for TV, along with Robert Lopez of AVENUE Q fame, have created a hilarious new musical that is so wrong that it’s right. Full of crude humor that gets laughs simply by being shocking and covering topics not usually discussed on the Broadway musical theatre stage, this show is as smart as it is base. The howls of laughter that greeted THE PRODUCERS were in response to the audacity of Mel Brooks to “go there” with jokes that lacked all sense of the politically correct. The jokes in THE BOOK OF MORMON spring from a similar place, which illicit screams of “I can’t believe they said that” laughter throughout the evening.

The story concerns a pair of Mormon missionaries, Elder Price and Elder Cunningham (Andrew Rannells and Josh Gad) who are assigned to Uganda, Africa. They join a group of boys already established there, but who have had little success in converting the local population. Elder Cunningham, the least likely to succeed of the leading pair, finds a way to get the locals to listen to his message by basically making up his own version of the religion, interpolating elements of STAR WARS, LORD OF THE RINGS and other mythologies into the Joseph Smith story. The locals take his wacky new version of the Mormon religion to heart and view Elder Cunningham as their new prophet. To explain any more of the story is to give away the abundance of surprises collected in this show, but the premise is a mere springboard for more hilarity than you can imagine.

Andrew Rannells displays a well-scrubbed golden-boy Mormon convinced of his dynamic ability to follow his mission with great success. As with all of the characters, Rannells’ cheery cartoon of a person is likeable and he sings with clean tones and a direct delivery. Josh Gad is rather reminiscent of his character, “Barfee,” from SPELLING BEE, but his particular shtick is just as perfect for this show. There is something of “Abbot and Costello” about this pair and they make a solid comedy team. The rest of the ensemble, lead by the familiar Lewis Cleale as older adult characters, play multiple roles in whimsical costumes by the legendary Ann Roth who does more work than even the cast in defining characters. Nikki M. James is the main character, Nabulungi, of the African population, displaying a comical innocence within the lunacy of the story and a terrific singing voice. The African ensemble is equally funny in individual ways as well as a group when they put on their own version of Cunningham’s revised religion in the style of “Small House of Uncle Thomas” from THE KING AND I­­—one of the most inspired scenes of comedy ever to be conceived for the Broadway stage.

Casey Nicholaw has choreographed and shared the directing duties with Trey Parker. Together they have sharpened this entertainment into a fast paced frolic. If there is any serious criticism of the Mormon religion, it is handled by simply pointing out the facts, which are difficult to dispute. However, in the same breath there is a criticism of all religions, for they all have their illogical and fantastic stories that must be taken in faith without any proof. This musical doesn’t instruct the audience to believe or not to believe, but by having the locals take so easily to Elder Cunningham’s imaginative twist on the “Book of Mormon,” the creators of this musical are pointing out how equally fanciful the stories of the established religions can be.

Underneath the delight of Ann Roth’s costumes sits the clever and detailed sets by Scott Pask. He has added numerous sight gags, from his view of Salt Lake City showing the cathedral surrounded by fast food chains, a drop depicting the amusement parks of Orlando, the fire pits of Hell, to a rather elaborately detailed village in Uganda. All departments have done their part to add comedy at every turn and the result is the most outlandish and hysterical show on Broadway.