Musical Review: The Book of Mormon Musical
Picture a man wearing a white shirt and black tie doing the splits. This is the image that was used to advertise the musical comedy The Book of Mormon. These A1 posters were plastered all over Liverpool, I had heard of the show before and the image was very intriguing, but overall I knew very little about this musical including the plot, cast or soundtrack.
My first port of call was Spotify. Upbeat, catchy and delightful opening numbers such as ‘Hello’ and ‘Two by Two’ were the perfect songs to acquaint me with the musical. These were show tunes I was happy to play on repeat as I worked.
Hasa diga eabowai
Then something happened. Three words. ‘Hasa diga eabowai’. This song blared through my AirPods and stopped me in my tracks. Shock value to a catchy song, what was I listening to? References to aids, FGM and the C word, I didn’t know whether this musical was repulsive or the most genius thing I’d come across.
South Park & Olaf
After this reaction, I took to Google to find out what the hell this show was really about. I found out The Book of Mormon was written by South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker along with songs from Robert Lopez. The trio’s work has been hailed as the best musical of a generation, it has won multiple awards, received widespread recognition and has a decade-long legacy with audiences worldwide.
The original cast included Frozen voice actor Josh Gad as goofy Elder Cunningham and Andrew Rannells starred as uptight Elder Price. With the latter being nominated for a Tony award for his performance.
The premise
The storyline follows two main characters Elder Price and Elder Cunningham who are 19-year-old missionaries with the Church of the Latter-Day Saints. They’re an unlikely duo who are sent to Uganda to spread the word of the Heavenly Father. In stark contrast, the only place Elder Price wanted to be sent was Orlando for its tourist attractions Disney, Seaworld and “putt-putt golfing”. Needless to say, their arrival to a remote village in Uganda is less than celebratory and so our show really begins.
I had to see it for myself
I bought the nosebleed seats at the Empire Theatre in Liverpool and after a round of overpriced drinks the curtain went up. All I could hope was that the show was as spectacular as the soundtrack I’d listened to on repeat for 2 weeks.
Dance routines, sequins waistcoats, and costumes ranging from Hitler, Genghis Khan and Jeffrey Dahmer. Nothing could have prepared me for the sights I witnessed. And it was absolutely exceptional.
My favourite song from the show is ‘Turn it Off’ sung in Act One. It’s an ensemble song with the Latter Day Saint missionaries already in Uganda who have to repress a lot of feelings from their past. It’s tragically brilliant, and hilarious. Elder McKinley steals the entire show with his homosexual love declaration for Steve Blade which is followed by the lyrics, ‘Being gay is bad but lying is worse’. Things such as abuse, death and homophobia aren’t usually sung and tap danced to but for The Book of Mormon, it works. ‘Turn it Off’ (and the entire show) is an absolute satire and if you can’t see past that the show will be very uneasy for you to watch.
Audience reaction
Some online reports stated audience members walked out of shows due to their content. But as South Park fans will know the creators do not shy away from controversial topics. Ironically, having an open mind to this musical will make viewing it more pleasurable.
Whether you can stomach the content or not the one thing you can’t deny is the sheer brilliance of the writing, performances and music that makes the show. Every beat and nuance is down to a T to emphasise the action, thought or line from a character.
Closing number
Leaving the theatre with such a buzz was the best feeling. Having West End and Broadway shows like this come to the North of England is an incredible thing especially for the reasonable prices tickets were being sold at. Theatre is such an immersive experience especially when the show is as immense as The Book of Mormon.
The show gets 5 stars from me ⭐️