Tickets are now on sale for The Book of Mormon musical at the at the Prince of Wales Theatre in London’s West End from 4th March to 1st June 2013. Tickets will be released for the show in short booking periods, rather than longer 6 – 8 month blocks like other shows.
Is the show controversial?
Well the show in London is brought to the West End by the creators of South Park, so expect some cutting edge satire.
At Shows in London we have collated various reviews from the US to give a broader view:
The New York Times said:
“The best musical of this century. So impeccably produced on every level. Heaven on Broadway. The Book of Mormon achieves something like a miracle. All the folks involved in Mormon prove themselves worthy, dues-paying members of the church of Broadway. A celebration of the privilege, for just a couple of hours, of living inside that improbable paradise called a musical comedy.”
Entertainment said:
“The perfect Broadway musical. Behold The Book of Mormon. An exhilarating Broadway musical at once revolutionary and classic, hilarious and humane, funny and obscene, uncompromising in production standards and unafraid of just about anything. This is what 21st century Broadway can be. If Broadway has the balls. Lord knows, The Book of Mormon does. I’m sold; I believe in The Book of Mormon.”
Rolling Stone magazine said:
“History is made. The new gold standard for Broadway. The Book of Mormon is on its march into legend. Come on Mormons, go into your dance.”
Associated Press said:
“The Book of Mormon manages to offend, provoke laughter, trigger eye-rolling, satirize conventions and warm hearts, all at the same time. Inventive and subversive. A tight, visually popping, roof-raising show. Amen to that. Consider us converted.”
The New York Daily News said:
“A heavenly musical. Oh boy, it’s a real winner. Blissfully original, irreverent, outspoken and hilarious. You catch yourself laughing one minute, mouth agape the next, eventually wiping away tears, and, finally, cheering. Being among the converted is what it’s all about.”
The New York Post said:
“The Book of Mormon is a fiendishly well-crafted, hilariously smart – or maybe smartly hilarious – song-and-dance extravaganza. The show’s a hoot. The show’s a hit. A full-blooded tuner that rejuvenates musicals while displaying a genuine love for the form. An avalanche of filthy gags, butt jokes and wickedly catchy show tunes. Each time you think they can’t possibly top a particularly crazed moment, 10 more follow. By the time The Book of Mormon ends in an orgy of over-the-top cheer, you just can’t wait to get on that ride all over again.”
The Washington Post said:
“Matt and Trey: Where have you been all my life? A pricelessly entertaining act of musical-comedy subversion. The mighty O’Neill himself would have to have given it up for this extraordinarily well-crafted musical assault on all things holy. A marvel. One of the most joyous bundles Broadway has unwrapped in years. Approach the altar of Parker, Stone, and Lopez.”
The Chicago Tribune said:
“The Book of Mormon surely goes further than any other musical in Broadway history. Shrewd, hilariously profane, remarkably well-crafted and wholly hilarious. A night more emotional than many will expect.”
The Los Angeles Times said:
“The Book of Mormon has the propulsive verve of a runaway hit. Boisterously outrageous. It’s hard to imagine anyone topping the ding-dong hilarity set off by The Book of Mormon. It has all the fearlessness one would expect. Sacred cows, let’s just say, are there for the riotous milking. But for all its irreverence, The Book of Mormon has the old-fashioned musical comedy heart of adults who spent much of their adolescence lip-syncing to original cast albums in their finished basements. Nothing is off limits. The farcical stampede is unstoppable. It’s not easy to shock a modern-day audience, but The Book of Mormon succeeds with alarming regularity.”
The Philadelphia Enquirer said:
“The shocking thing about The Book of Mormon is that after all the production numbers that make searing fun of Mormonism, African culture, AIDS, terror, mainline religion and every Western creation myth — after all of that, the show ends up an unbridled celebration of faith. The show is a hoot — and a guilty pleasure. All the time, though, Mormon is coming full circle. The Book of Mormon is a triumph – that’s not too strong a word: For all its outrageous mockery, the show encourages you appreciate whatever creation story gives you comfort and allows you to appropriate mystery. The ultimate feel-good musical.”
The Record said:
“A hilarious musical. The Book of Mormon is gleefully funny. It seldom goes more than 10 seconds without a big laugh. And it’s not just about the jokes. They’re embedded in a satisfying story, supported by witty, character-relevant songs. Most important for its overall success, the show’s creators understand that even a satirical musical needs to have characters you can care about. Mormon is that rare creature that isn’t based on a book or a play or a movie – it came totally out of its creators’ heads. And what they thought up is one of the most purely enjoyable musicals in years.”
Time Out said:
“The season’s best musical. Musical-comedy heaven. Viciously hilarious. You laugh your head off. The Book of Mormon is a mystic revelation, the most exuberantly entertaining Broadway musical in years.”
The Hollywood Reporter said:
“A classic. The show’s delightful contradictions extend to its craftsmanship. In terms of construction and song placement, Mormon masters a classic formula. Number after number hits a bulls-eye. One of the freshest original musicals in recent memory. Hugely entertaining. Explosive laughs. The Book of Mormon is irresistible.”
Variety Magazine said:
“The Book of Mormon is a production as lustrous as the golden statue of the angel Moroni that rotates atop the proscenium. A raucously funny new show. Every song enhances the hilarity, expert staging heightens every gag, and the cast of fresh faces is blissfully good. A show that never quits. The Book of Mormon approaches musical-comedy Rapture.”
The New York Observer said:
“Messrs. Parker, Lopez and Stone’s tuneful score is memorable and hummable, show music that tells stories, deepens characters and gets laughs. So this is the lesson of The Book of Mormon: the elusive trick to succeeding on Broadway today is to write a smart, funny, sweet show, insert tuneful songs and a talented cast and give it a great staging. Subversive, ain’t it?”
And as reported in the British press;
The Independent said:
The creators of South Park have written a Broadway musical about Mormons. A genuine breath of fresh air. Nothing’s sacred for the super-satirists”
The Guardian said:
There is an extended sequence showing Hitler enjoying oral sex with the devil, a blown up x-ray of a rectal blockage caused by a religious text, and its central song involves characters literally sticking up their middle fingers to God: it is safe to say that this Broadway musical is not Les Miserables.
Predictably, it is the work of Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the permanently sniggering but deceptively brilliant duo behind South Park.
The musical – The Book of Mormon – is their Broadway debut. Less predictably, it has become the most critically acclaimed new musical for years.
Jon Stewart, host of the Daily Show, described it as “so good it makes me angry”, and Ben Brantley, the New York Times’s notoriously difficult-to-please theatre critic, apparently underwent a religious conversion during the show, using the kind of evangelical language in his review that the show mocks, beginning with “heaven” and ending with “paradise”, with an “ecstatic” along the way.
Only heavy prayer will get you tickets – that or celebrity status: the night I went Sandra Bullock was sitting in front of me, an experience only slightly more surreal than hearing a whole auditorium singing along to a chorus that goes: “Fuck you, God, in the ass, mouth and cunt.” Sandra’s shoulders shook delightedly.
This terrific musical follows two Mormons, the narcissistic Elder Price (Andrew Rannells) and the socially awkward Elder Cunningham (the wonderful Josh Gad), who are sent to Uganda to convert the natives.
It’s a classic buddy movie set-up combined with the equally classic tale of Americans bossing around other countries, from South Pacific to The Three Amigos. But the joke here is what happens when religious and cinematic idealisation meets reality: “Africa is nothing like The Lion King! I think that movie took a lot of artistic licence!” wails one Mormon upon arrival.
It’s hard to convince people of the relevance of a religion when even its devotees occasionally struggle to explain why a warlord is threatening the village’s women with clitoridectomies.
The music, written by Parker, Stone and Avenue Q’s Robert Lopez, is catchy, catty and scatological, as was Parker and Stone’s brilliant 2004 film, Team America: World Police.
Some critics have marvelled at the show’s “surprising sweetness” but the pair’s longtime fans will raise no eyebrows. Although fearlessly offensive, the two are always deeply moral, even occasionally sentimental, and this show is no exception. The have-it-both-ways conclusion tells us religious prophets were probably all lonely fantasists with self-esteem problems, but if it makes people happy, so what? Parker and Stone reserve their real bile for a far more offensive target: The Lion King.
As if poor Julie Taymor hasn’t suffered enough this year with the humiliating debacle of her deservedly vilified Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark, her more successful Broadway musical is held up for constant ridicule here. The animals in The Lion King shrugged away their worries with Hakuna Matata but the Ugandans here find that their problems (“We haven’t had rain for several days / 80% of us have Aids”) need more so they opt for a cheerful Hasa Diga Eebowai or Fuck you, God.
Even Taymor’s Spider-Man collaborator, Bono, gets an always deserved kicking: “I am Africa! / Just like Bono, I am Africa / Africans are Africans but I am Africa!” sings a distinctly unAfrican Mormon.
The Book of Mormon is funny, it’s fun, the sets and music are excellent and, most of all, it’s smart as hell. Spider-Man, weep and learn.
