The Book of Mormon follows our hero, Elder Price, a young Mormon about to go on his mission. Elder Price is the kind of guy other people envy (and maybe hate a little): he is handsome, confident and always gets what he wants. He also lives in a bubble. For his mission, he hopes to go to his favorite place in the world: ORLANDO (home of Disney, Seaworld, and putt-putt golfing)! As the missionaries are placed with their mission companions, Elder Price is paired with the awkward, chubby, and nerdy Elder Cunningham; together, they set off to Uganda (home of...) to begin their mission. Elder Price knows that he and his mission partner are going to convert many villagers to Mormonism (well, Elder Price knows he will be doing most of the converting as he reveals in the hilarious "You and Me (But Mostly Me)"). They are shocked to find out that the villagers are worried about more pressing issues than finding a new religion, like, I don't know, AIDS, poverty, and a warlord with an unprintable name for this family friendly blog who is planning to genitally mutilate all the women in the village. Plus, a guy who can't stop proclaiming that he has maggots in his scrotum. What happens next is both glorious and profane.
The Book of Mormon does everything right when it comes to staging a musical. The songs are catchy (in fact, I have been listening to the soundtrack for weeks), the harmonies are perfect, the dance numbers are great and the sets are fun. I think the genius of this play is that, while Parker and Stone are definitely making fun of, well everything (Broadway included), they are also paying tribute to it. You can see the affection that they have for Broadway musicals in everything from the tribute to the bizarre "Uncle Tom's Cabin" number in the King and I to the delightfully hilarious (and extremely dirty) "Hasa Diga Eebowai", which starts out as a "Hakuna Matata" / Lion King spoof and goes somewhere entirely different. But the quality and commitment of the cast and wonderful musicality of the songs keep you completely engaged (and there is something wonderfully subversive about hearing angelic singers singing the f-word (among others)). The dancing was some of the tightest I have ever seen on stage, and, frankly some of the gayest. Parker and Stone embrace the flamboyance of a stage musical to great effect. There are a lot of jazz hands (and sparkly pink vests) in The Book of Mormon, and I couldn't get enough of it. 
I couldn't finish this piece without mentioning religion and Mormonism. Obviously, the entire musical makes fun of Mormonism as a religion and uses that as a basis to make fun of all religions, especially those that try to impose their worldview on others (and end up repressing their own parishioners at the same time). But instead of being a takedown of Mormonism, The Book of Mormon tries and succeeds in showing the good things religion does (don't get me wrong, it shows the bad parts too, particularly homophobia and repression in my favorite number of the musical, "Turn it Off"). In fact, Mormons generally come off as charitable, full of hope and really f*#$king nice. But in the end, the message I took away from The Book of Mormon is if your belief system gives you joy and comfort, whether it be Christianity, Mormonism or Star Wars, what's so wrong with that? When it comes to religion, I am not sure what I believe in... but I know that I believe in The Book of Mormon. Julie
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