Just Watched : Book Of Mormon Musical in Altria Theatre

Few things I did know about Book of Mormon (musical) before watching it - Mormons are offshoot of Christianity, the Broadway show is made by creators of South Park in 2011, has won many awards, is controversial and some people may find it offensive. In my limited tryst with Broadway musicals before this one - Chicago and The Lion King, I loved them. Both of these were spectacular in their own ways - while Chicago was lyrical noir, Lion King was visually stunning. So I knew The Book of Mormon must be good, but in which way I had no idea. 

So the successful shows after their high on Broadway start their journey all across United States as part of touring theatres. The local theatre venues (like Altria Theatre in Richmond) have their schedule published more than a year in advance for upcoming Broadway shows. This gives people like me to see acclaimed shows without visiting the actual Broadway street in New York city next to crowded Times Square. And then you get a good price on tickets too, while on Broadway budget tickets cost you 100$+, here in Richmond you can snag the same one for almost half the price. 

My wife and I booked a week day evening show, and the show was almost houseful. We had balcony tickets as we had been to Altria theatre before, and knew balcony has good view of stage for a decent price, but is definitely not a place for tall people. 

 

Scene from Broadway version. In Richmond version, the leads were played by Gabe Gibbs and Conner Peirson

The musical is about two Mormon missionary teenagers - Elder Price, devout, hard working, smart, and Elder Cunningham, compulsive liar, star trek fan and lonely, selected for their first mission to Uganda after being trained on door-to-door Mormonism conversion method. The people in Northern Uganda, which was anything but like their vision of Africa from Lion King and other fantasy books, were suffering from appalling conditions like poverty and AIDS, and on top of that local warlord Butt-Fucking Naked (Yes, that was his name) ,who is obsessed with female circumcision, is making their lives miserable. The two teenagers along with other missionaries, found themselves stuck in an impossible situation to promote Mormonism among these people, who repeat single phrase Hasadega Ebowai, in response to their various misfortunes. 

The play is hilarious. From the first scene where teenagers are being trained to be Mormon missionaries, to the last scene where newly minted missionaries in Uganda going through the same routine, each scene will make you laugh really till you cry. All the songs are fantastically executed and interwoven with the story. Some of the songs which I enjoyed more than others during the performance -  Hello! the door to door cold calling routine, Hasadega Ebowai, local's response to their misfortunes,  Baptise Me, the double meaning one on Baptism and Turn it Off! the missionaries way of responding to their sorrows. I find myself humming the songs even though I don't remember all the lyrics.

 I loved how elder Cunningham made the Mormon origin story into a fantasy mix of Jesus, Joseph Smith (Mormon founder), Star Wars, Lord of the rings, Star Trek and any other fantasy his mind could think of. And I remember how hard everyone laughed whenever 'I've maggots in scrotum' was repeated or whenever General Butt Fucking Naked mentioned his name.

The show is a laugh riot, however a note of caution -  the show is not for everyone though, it is a satire on a religious book so there is a lot to offend some people, and then it is created by South Park people, so be ready for lewd jokes, sexual references among other things. And did I mention that Hasadega Ebowai is Ugandan phrase, translated in English as "F*ck you, God!"