The Book of Mormon: A Cringe-Worthy Yet Uplifting Musical Comedy

In order to attend a performance of The Book of Mormon, it pays if you’re a South Park fan, or at least very familiar with the outrageous animated comedy. I shudder to think of the reactions to the play for those not so initiated. My wife and I just enjoyed the 26th season of South Park and I think it’s one of the funniest shows in the history of television. So, we knew what we were in for last Friday at the Performing Arts Center on campus at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. But one can never be fully prepared for the mind of Trey Parker and Matt Stone (the South Park creators were joined by Robert Lopez in writing The Book of Mormon). Just as in the TV show, there were hilarious moments, followed by “did they just really go there?” And again, if you know who you’re dealing with, the answer is, “of course they did!”

The Book of Mormon premiered on Broadway in 2011 to record sales, critical raves, and nine Tony nominations, winning the award for Best Musical. Josh Gad (Frozen) and Andrew Rannels (Girls) starred as the two earnest LDS missionaries who embark to Uganda and quickly discover that the villagers are quite apathetic, if not downright hostile, toward being saved by Jesus Christ. The young men envision Africa along the lines of The Lion King, while the locals are worried about AIDS, famine, child molestation, female genital mutilation, and the local warlord (named General Butt F*ing Naked…no, really). On the 2023 tour, Sam McClellan plays Elder Price, the cocky, born-to-succeed, Mormon golden boy. Sam Nackman is his partner Elder Cunnigham, the bumbling, needy dork who is a perpetual liar, although his heart is in the right place. Their antipodal personalities lead to very different mission experiences in Uganda.

The song and dance numbers were superb ranging from the repression of “Turn It Off,” to the creepy sexuality of “Baptize Me,” and the pious “I Believe.” These men can even tap dance. The young Ugandan woman, Nabulungi, played by Berlande, stops the show with her innocence and energy. The set designs were creative, unique, and mobile from the Salt Lake City airport to the Ugandan village with a stop along the way in the “Spooky Mormon Hell Dream,” including the devil himself and dancing Starbucks coffee cups.

The Mormon religion is mocked, and the Africans are stereotyped often to the extreme. The satire is severe, but in true South Park fashion, it would be the same treatment for any other religion or people. Michael Jackson, Hillary Clinton, Jennifer Lopez, Paris Hilton, Donald Trump, Tom Cruise, Kanye, Mel Gibson, Sarah Jessica Parker, Christians, Muslims, Scientology, and even Canada, have been royally skewered by Stone and Parker. Obviously, they are not for everyone. In The Book of Mormon, be prepared for chants of “F*#k God,” sex with frogs, big prancing penises, projectile shitting (oh, did I forget to mention their scatological bent?), and the word “clitoris” more times than you’ve ever heard in your life. One phrase, “I have maggots in my scrotum,” becomes a mantra.

The demonstrative woman sitting next to me said it all, from her “Aah…” at the sweet moments, to roaringly laughing at the witty sarcasm, and a dreadful “Oh no, oh no…” at the unapologetically offensive bits. It was an evening of conflicting emotions, laughing one moment, feeling uncomfortable the next. And what do you know, after all the mockery, the Ugandans become believers in the Book of Mormon (well, sort of). All religions are absurd on some level, aren’t they?

(The Book of Mormon has toured extensively since its opening in 2011 becoming one of the longest-running and highest-grossing musicals ever. The current version, slightly smaller in scale, is on the road until May 2024. The tour will go across the country and back, next stop San Francisco, May 23- June 18, followed by Denver, June 21-July 2. This could be the last tour.)

D² Rating ◼◼◼◩☐

Trivia: What is the name of the film Matt Stone and Trey Parker made in 2004 that used puppets in roasting action films, Kim Jong-Il, among others?

Answer: Team America: World Police