1. The Book Of Mormon News and Tickets
The Book Of Mormon News
NEW YORK — In ” The Book of Mormon ,” a group of teenage American missionaries sent to
evangelize Ugandans beset by war, poverty, AIDS and drought is getting nowhere until one of
its number — the hapless Elder Cunningham — begins to mix the writings of the prophet
Joseph Smith with whoppers of pop culture phenomena, including Disney, “Star Wars”and
“The Lord of the Rings.”
The cooked-up messianic message is like the musical itself: a sweet-profane amalgam of
scatological mockery and affectionate satire which, since it opened last year, has been drawing
converts of its own along with rave reviews, record-breaking box office, and a slew of top
awards, including a best musical Tony Award.
But now as “The Book of Mormon” begins its first national tour, the question is whether it can
sustain on the road the impossible-ticket status it enjoys at the 1,065-seat Eugene O’Neill
Theatre on Broadway. What is about to be tested is not only whether it can fill larger houses —
such as Los Angeles’ 2,703-seat Pantages Theatre, where it will have a limited engagement
Sept. 5 through Nov. 25 — but also if it can be elevated from mere hot ticket to actual cultural
phenomenon, joining such rare musicals as “Oklahoma!,” “South Pacific,” “A Chorus Line”
and “The Lion King.”
1/4

2. The Book Of Mormon
‘Book of Mormon’ is satirical, crass and a bit crude but not spiteful
Practicing members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints don’t drink coffee or
alcohol, go to “R”-rated movies, use bad language or willingly expose themselves to profanity
or blasphemy.
That makes it difficult to find devout church members – better known as Mormons – who have
seen the Tony Award-winning (nine of them) musical sensation called “The Book of Mormon,”
awash as it is in elements of all of the above. It’s difficult – unless you beg a favor, stuff a ticket
in your Mormon cousin’s hand and drag her to a weekend performance in Denver.
“South Park” and “Book of Mormon” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, along with Robert
Lopez, have received rapturous reviews for their story of naive 19-year-old Mormon
missionaries sent to violence-plagued, AIDS-ravaged, starving Uganda. Critics overwhelmingly
agree that “The Book of Mormon,” although diligent in spoofing Mormon theology, is more like
good-natured hazing than mean-spirited attack. It’s a nearly miraculous combination of vile and
sweet. The satire is there, the smut and all the glee, but by the end of the evening – strangely
enough – no offense has been given and no damage done,” wrote James Fenton in The New
York Review of Books.
2/4

3. The literati’s consensus seems to be that, by the end of this high-octane explosion of a play,
audiences like Mormons better than they did before – if they’d had any opinion at all of this
American-born church with 6.2 million U.S. members.
Society observers have noted that the country is having “a Mormon moment,” what with
Mormon presidential candidate Mitt Romney, the phenomenal success of “The Book of
Mormon” and the LDS Church’s splashing its own self-selected images in a recent national
multimedia ad campaign, “I’m a Mormon.”
“The Book of Mormon” came to Denver this month after selling out its three-week stay in a few
hours of frenzied ticket buying months ago. New York and Denver critics think the musical is
rather sweet on Mormons, but how does it strike a nice middle-aged devout LDS woman from
Grand Junction, Colo., towed to the play by a reporter relation? Aside from the crude language
and some amazingly crass images, she liked it.
“Parts of it were very cute,” Chele Hawks said. “It shows how lovable the Mormon missionaries
are. I loved the way the boys both learned about themselves. They finally realized their mission
wasn’t about them.” Both boys go on missions for suspect reasons.”
One, Elder Price, is an egomaniac who wants to do something “incredible” because he himself
is so incredible. The other, Elder Cunningham, is a social outcast who is excited about having a
captive “best friend” in the person of his mission companion. Both are completely out of their
depths in Uganda.
“They’re 19. It shows how naive they are – about world cultures and everything else,” Hawks
said. “It also showed their enthusiasm, blind faith and love of their faith.”
The LDS Church’s official statement is short and sensibly understated: “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.”
Jesus, by the way, is portrayed in his cameos as kind of a loopy surfer dude. Christians and any
other God-fearing people of faith can also feel skewered here – the clear message is that all
religions can be silly yet still manage to do good if not taken too literally.
Kathryn Skaggs writes in her blog, “A Well-Behaved Mormon Woman,” that most Mormons are,
and should be, offended by “The Book of Mormon.” Yet New York Times religion writer Laurie
Goodstein wrote that liberal Mormons, jack Mormons (non-observant) and even ex-Mormons
have been making pilgrimages to see it on Broadway – “a sign their faith has finally made the
big time.”
Hawks would never have gone to it without prodding, but then she was pleasantly surprised by
its weird affection toward Mormons. In the musical and in life, she said, Mormon missionaries
are 19 years old, clueless, wholesome, sweet, courteous, immature, flawed and ultimately
irresistible. The audience seemed to agree.
3/4

4. “You just want people to love your boys,” she said. “But you shouldn’t see the play and think
you’re getting a good doctrinal lesson. I don’t think you can judge the religion based on this,
but the feeling was right,” Hawks said. “The (real) pair of missionaries sitting next to me looked
like they could jump out of their seats and join the others on stage.”
Source :
1) latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-mormon-20120826,0,5333838.story
2) pasadenastarnews.com/ci_21387258/book-mormon-is-satirical-crass-and-bit-crude
4/4
Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)