The Book of Mormon

Let's just get this out of the way at the start: BUY TICKETS NOW!

I am prone to exaggeration, but I promise that I mean it completely and genuinely when I say that The Book of Mormon is the best new musical I've seen in years. Years. Like the blasphemous love child of Avenue Q and Hairspray, this show from the two creators of South Park and one of the creators of Avenue Q is not only riotously funny; it also has a ton of heart. It would be easy to spend two and a half hours making fun of Mormons on stage, but the creators here are actually (I swear to Heavenly Father) after something more than that. I read an interview with the South Park guys today where they describe this is an atheist's love letter to religion, and there's no better description. They completely take the piss out of Mormonism while also celebrating the positive possibilities of faith. It's low humor with a higher calling, balancing juvenile humor with a surprisingly humane, thoughtful, and (dare I say) mature plot and structure.

Here's the incredibly short version of the story: an upstanding, celebrate Mormon youth is partnered with a socially maladjusted nerd as brothers on a mission to Uganda. Hijinks ensue. The other major characters are a young village girl who yearns for opportunity, her father who simply wants to avoid his daughter's ritual circumcision by a corrupt general, and a deeply closeted fellow missionary who can't stop having "spooky Mormon hell dreams." Every moment is played for laughs, but as the show goes on, you find yourself impressively invested in these characters and their potential happiness. Helpful tutorials to the bizarre history of Mormonism are provided throughout. Here's what it is: you're invited to laugh at the absurdities of this religion, the horrors of extreme poverty, and the clash of two disparate cultures, but you're not laughing at the characters. They're all simply too likeable.

And the songs! They're super-catchy. From one that translates to "Fuck you, God," to the eleven o'clock number "I Believe" which is a soaring power ballad that lands the one line of the night that actually made me say, "Oh my God" before devolving into hysterical laughter, there's great pizazz and enthusiasm and showmanship and catchy melodies.

What makes me happiest about this show, other than the fact that it's basically two and a half hours of theatrical Prozac, is that it's an honest to God ORIGINAL musical. It's not based on a movie. It doesn't use pre-existing music. It wasn't stunt cast with random stars. It actually feels fresh, which in the increasingly stale mix of original musicals on Broadway makes it feel like a revelation.

The cast is perfection. Andrew Rannells is adorable as the earnest (and slightly self-obsessed) Elder Price who longs for a world as beautiful and happy as Orlando, Florida. Josh Gad is hilarious as sci-fi geek and compulsive liar Elder Cunningham. Nikki James gets to show off great comic timing and a killer voice as Nabalungi. And Rory O'Malley is all charm and jazz hands as Elder McKinley. In a lesser musical or with a less talented cast, any of them could have walked off with the show. It's a testament to the material and the ensemble that the whole thing blends so seamlessly.

I can't wait to see this again. Heavenly Father be thanked.