A Plague of Locusts: A Review of “The Book of Mormon”
Brigham Young faced a huge challenge when he ran into a plague of locusts outside of Salt Lake City. His band was saved by the unlikely appearance of sea gulls in Utah.
The Mormons could have used the birds last night, as we watched The Book of Mormon, the hottest ticket on Broadway, in a packed house. This is the work of Trey Parker, Robert Lopez, and Matt Stone, of “South Park” fame on cable television. “South Park” is filled with deliberately primitive animation, bushel baskets of profanity and vulgarity, and complete irreverence. It is also usually very funny, and globally accepted. (I watched one particularly raunchy episode while channel surfing one night in Queenstown, New Zealand.)
The same “in your face” messages come across in the play, the origins of which must be explained by the authors’ traumatic experience with Mormons at birth. The treatment is beyond even trenchant satire. It is unrelenting mockery, specifically directed at Mormons but applicable to almost any religion. (Interestingly, critic Terry Teachout in the Wall Street Journal noted that if the play were about Muslims and the Quran the production never would have seen the light of day, such are these politically correct times.. The Mormons are safe because they’re not much of a threat.)
Let me acknowledge that the talent on stage is simply huge. Everyone sings, dances, and acts superbly well, as one once expected all the time on Broadway. There is a brilliant skewering of The Lion King. The music is well done, but not memorable, though it’s clearly not supposed to be. This is a production aimed at simply the immediate moment’s pleasure, not unlike the half-hour TV cartoon.
The first act is poor, despite the musicality. There are too many bits that don’t work, overdone parody, and general set-up for the far better second act. We were seated among a lot of people who paid a lot of money for house seats, and they appeared determined, often with gritted teeth and knotted brow, to enjoy themselves. Josh Gad, Andrew Rannells, and Nikki M, James, the three leads, are incredibly gifted performers, and a pleasure to watch.
But how many times are we supposed to laugh at someone shouting the same profanity, just like witless standup comics who equate obscenity with humor, or at graphic representations of diarrhea? After a while, you wished a Mormon terrorist would arrive to even-up the score a bit. The second act redeemed the show, but probably not the investment. This is a good show with a weak first act, but is the most over-hyped production around. The publicity drives attendance, and those in attendance don’t want to believe they’ve made a mistake.
Oh, yeah, the plot: The Mormon missionaries are send to Uganda to save the natives. Where are the seagulls when you really need them?
© Alan Weiss 2011. All rights reserved.
