‘The Book of Mormon’: not your mother’s Broadway musical

It’s been 14 years since “The Book of Mormon” premiered on Broadway and won the Tony Award for best musical, so at this point, no one should go in expecting a family-friendly production. However, this is your reminder that this show was created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the duo that brought you “South Park” and “Team America: World Police.” While it’s just as catchy, “Hasa Diga Eebowai” is not “Hakuna Matata.” “The Book of Mormon” is offensive, insensitive, raunchy and absolutely hilarious. It’s satire at its finest, and it definitely won’t be everyone’s cup of tea.  

Full disclosure: This was not my first time seeing this show. I saw it back in 2016 and LOVED it. I overpaid for a CD of the original Broadway cast recording after the show, and for weeks, it was all I listened to while driving. When the opportunity to see the show again presented itself, I jumped at the chance because of how much I enjoyed it the first time and also because I was curious to see how it had changed.  

When the musical reopened on Broadway after the COVID shutdown, it included updates Parker and Stone made in response to criticism and feedback about how the villagers were portrayed. The pair worked with Black cast members to better flesh out the show’s Ugandan characters. They also changed what was a typewriter in the original iteration of the show to an iPad and cited Facebook as the source of disinformation on how to cure AIDS. Good news, the changes work. 

Obviously, the show singles out Mormonism specifically to pick on. It pokes fun at the belief that Christ spent the three days between the crucifixion and the resurrection in what would one day be upstate New York and that the Garden of Eden was located in Jackson County, Missouri. It roasts Joseph Smith (the all-American prophet; the blonde-haired, blue-eyed voice of God) and his “golden plates” that he’s not allowed to show to anyone. We see Elder Price and Elder Cunningham in their special Mormon underwear, and there’s even a joke about Mormons’ reputation for being so unfailingly polite.  

But “The Book of Mormon” isn’t just about laughing at the idiosyncrasies of that particular faith. It’s a biting satire about how people, usually white people, from first-world countries view people living in developing nations. Missionaries enter the developing world with a white savior complex, oblivious to how the “salvation” they’re offering does far more to boost their own egos rather than address any actual problems people are facing. This disconnect is brought home sharply as the missionaries view the local people as ignorant for believing the insane “cures” for AIDS they found on Facebook, despite the fact that they themselves just arrived from a country where people take horse medication to cure their COVID after reading about it on Facebook. 

I loved this show the second time around. If you’re not easily offended, have a slightly dark sense of humor and appreciate good satire, I think you will love it, too. The musical numbers are upbeat and catchy, the dancing is dynamic and an absolute joy to watch, and the whole thing is so, so fun! The jokes are perfectly timed, well-written and raunchy. Stage musicals tend to lose something when they’re recorded for a small screen (looking at you, “Hamilton”), but if I could get a video of “Spooky Mormon Hell Dream,” I’d watch it on a loop.  

I’d be remiss to end this review without shouting out Diego Enrico. He plays Elder Cunningham and, according to the playbill, this traveling production is his professional debut. Elder Cunningham was the role Josh Gad played on Broadway, and Diego nails it. I’m by no means an expert in musical theater, but Diego, I think you have a very bright career ahead of you.