A Mormon Just Believes! (Spoilers Ahead!)
I admit it — I am a huge musical theatre junkie. I know a strange amount of Broadway trivia, can recite the lyrics of any musical in existence, and can tell you the Tony Award winners of the last five years. However, when I trudged through the rain to see the most popular musical of late history,” The Book of Mormon”, I had no idea what I was in for. With a book, music, and lyrics created by South Park creators, Matt Stone, Trey Parker, and Robert Lopez, the catchy songs and raunchy jokes were consistent throughout the evening. Below is an ABC interview with Matt Stone and Trey Parker discussing the show and their success right after “The Book of Mormon” opened on Broadway.
Despite the jokes and obvious racial and religious stereotyping, the show does have heart and presents that everybody, no matter what their background or personality, can all connect over a mutual desire of hope. Throughout the show, there are obvious inconsistencies with the facts from the show with the actual Mormon faith as well as general inconsistencies between the Mormon missionaries and the African tribe they are trying to convert. Upon first arriving in Africa, one of the missionaries decides to explain the history of the Mormon church in a splasy, funk number; the tribe is not impressed or interested in learning more about the Mormons. When the missionary’s sidekick notices that they are losing interest he then decides to retell the story by inserting American popular cultures and anything to make the story more exciting and relevant to the tribe. This then proves to be an issue when the tribe believes the story and even performs it to honor the Mission President. The Book of Mormon is currently one of the most successful musicals but it is not the first to tackle religious related subject matter.
“Jesus Christ Superstar” is considered to be the top religious related Broadway musical, even remaining popular to this very day with a recent revival. Back in 1971, the Chicago Tribune published that almost 19,000 people were in attendance at a JCS performance in Ravinia park which saw flocks of youth, grandparents, and adults in attendance. One woman said to the paper of her experience, “Who needs to see the stage? We all know the plot. It’s the sound that makes the experience”. The JCS fan base tends to be the most passionate about the music rather than if the story is accurate enough to the Bible or not. The same goes for the audiences of “The Book of Mormon” which reflects in the plot. No matter what you believe or where you come from or how you are feeling today, you can connect with an entire community if you boils down all of your needs into something so basic; hope.
