Anne Garefino et al. present The Book of Mormon. Book, music and lyrics by Trey Parker, Robert Lopez, and Matt Stone. With Stephen Mark Lukas, Ben Platt, Camille Eanga-Selenge, Pierce Cassedy, James Vincent Meredith, Christopher Shyer, and David Aron Damane. Two hours 30 minutes (with one 15-minute intermission).
One of the biggest Tony Award winning musicals of recent memory, The Book of Mormon has its Chicago production booked until early September. Although the show has moments of humorous sketch comedy and is peppered with brilliant songs, more sensitive viewers, religious or nonreligious, may want to avoid paying stiff ticket prices in order to be insulted. As for Avenue Q and especially South Park fans, this will probably be as good as a night at the theater can get.
A young Elder Price (understudy Stephen Mark Lukas (normally Nic Rouleau)) seems to be a rising Mormon superstar, and when it is time for his two-year mission, he is ready for the cushy field assignment of his dreams. Instead, he is assigned to civil-war ravaged Uganda, even more burdened with partner Elder Cunningham (Ben Platt), an oafish reject looking more for a friend of any kind than a religious epiphany. Once in Africa, the pair meet a burdened and tired mission leader, Elder McKinley (Pierce Cassedy), who has not converted one soul, and a discouraged bunch of villagers who feel more like cursing God than being saved by the Mormons. At least one villager, Mafala (James Vincent Meredith), is "hospitable" enough to introduce the green missionaries to the deplorable situation, including the persecution of a vicious General (David Aron Damane), who thinks one source of power is to cut off women's clitorises. But at least one person seems willing to listen to the Mormon message or a facsimile thereof--Mafala's beautiful daughter Nabulungi (understudy Camille Eanga-Selenge (normally Syesha Mercado)), who thinks Elder Cunningham will save her and whisk her off to Salt Lake City.
This could have been the foundation of a thought-provoking drama, or at least a satirical study of clashing cultures, but with the authors being Parker, Lopez, and Stone, the emphasis is on broad and base slob comedy. A big cheery production number features the missionaries being taught a song by the natives, in which we and the Mormon visitors ("Hasa Diga Eebowai") find it translates to "F--k you, God." The voice-overs for accounts of Mormon history, Jesus, Joseph Smith, and the voice of the angel Moroni suspiciously sound like South Park characters (with good reason, since it's a prerecorded Matt Stone). A "Spooky Mormon Hell Dream" musical number features a devil cut from the South Park mold and a Jeffrey Dahmer who wants to violate everything in sight. And just the implication of those poor violated frogs . . . in short, these are the authors' scatter-shot comedic sensibilities at their best and worst.
The best and funniest moments of the play spring from its music. The brilliant opener "Hello" features the missionary male chorus practicing their door-to-door presentations in a round that is a cross of A Chorus Line and the chattering gossip hens from The Music Man. Elder Price dismissively puts Elder Cunningham in his place with "You and Me (But Mostly Me)." Questionable mentoring is given by veteran missionary Elder McKinley, who advices his men to sublimate all their problems and worries, "Turn It Off," complete with a song-and-dance which describes his not-so-latent gay desires. The most familiar song of the production, "I Believe," a satire of basic Mormon tenets that is also a touching faith proclamation, was delivered with full-voiced power by Lukas. Yet what is the direct plot aftermath of the song dives back into scatological and sophomoric humor.
Performances for the Chicago production I saw were uniformly good, with the standouts being Cassedy, Eanga-Selenge, and Platt. Cassedy is an accomplished song-and-dance man, and he plays his frazzled Elder McKinley character like Steve Buscemi in a comic role (and there is some physical resemblance). Eanga-Selenge skillfully mixes comic timing and naive sincerity in her character Nabulungi. But Platt may be the breakout star of the production, with a klutzy and lovable version of Elder Cunningham. Musical numbers help his comedic star turn, such as "Making Things Up Again," in which Cunningham, not exactly a religious scholar, witnesses to the village in his own form of Mormonism, complete with Joseph Smith, Hobbits, Star Trek and Star Wars characters.
Unlike the rapturous reviews plastered on The Book of Mormon's print and television advertisements, the musical comedy will probably not be the play of the century, but for those with a tolerance for profane and raunchy humor, they will find a lot to enjoy. As for the less sensitive who are there for the music, the high production values and quality of the Chicago company's performances will ring their bell.
Rating: *** out of ****
Now playing at Bank of America Theatre, Chicago, through Sunday, September 8. Tickets available at broadwayinchicago.com.
Unlike the rapturous reviews plastered on The Book of Mormon's print and television advertisements, the musical comedy will probably not be the play of the century, but for those with a tolerance for profane and raunchy humor, they will find a lot to enjoy. As for the less sensitive who are there for the music, the high production values and quality of the Chicago company's performances will ring their bell.
Rating: *** out of ****
Now playing at Bank of America Theatre, Chicago, through Sunday, September 8. Tickets available at broadwayinchicago.com.
