*Ding Dong* Hello. My name is Johnny Banks. I’m here to tell you about the most amazing show. Written. By those. Two amazingly funny South Park Blokes. Trey Parker, and Matt Stone. Have brought to the stage. A story sure to offend at least one or two folks.
I’ll stop there, but if you’ve seen The Book of Mormon, you might be able to sing that first paragraph along to the tune of the opening song. I’ve had it stuck in my head since I went to see it a few weeks ago. To tell the truth I’ve listened to the soundtrack a few times over such is the catchiness of all the songs (No wonder it won a Grammy for best musical theatre album).
If you’re familiar with the work of Parker and Stone, you’ll be aware that they’re no strangers to musicals, with their Film “South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut” (oh jeez, I’ve literally just realised the double entendre in the title, only taken me 23years) being an animated musical in its own right. Like South Park, Book of Mormon does not hold back. I knew it was going to push the boundaries of taboos, but I wasn’t expecting to be wide eyed with joyful shock!
It follows the journey of two Mormon Brothers, Elder Price (Robert Colvin) a self-confident, bordering on conceited, member of The Church of Latter Day Saints, and his companion, Elder Cunningham (Connor Pierson) who is slightly more innocent and simple in his mindset, even if he does tend to make things up sometimes, albeit with good intentions for the most part. Much to the dismay of Elder Price, their mission takes them to Uganda to convert local villagers to their cause. There we are treated to an Hakuna Matata type song called “Hasa Diga Eebowai”. Very catchy, but that’s all I’m going to say about that.
That’s all I’m going to say about most of the show, not because I don’t want to give anything away, but because all I can really say is that it is super offensive and my fingers won’t let me type out some of the things I would like to say and touch on. As I said, the songs are all great; “Turn it Off” by the Mormon ensemble, and a very touching “Sal Tlay Ka Siti” sang by Aviva Tulley who plays the love interest of Elder Cunningham, Nabulungi.
The choreography was another thing that really stood out to me, all I could picture was the 2D singing and dancing of South Park, little spins on the spot which made me think that it could easily be animated and still translate well…but that’s not to say the dancing was flat, it just..works.
To summarise, this is something I’d been looking forward to having an opportunity to watch for years, and it far, far, exceeded all my expectations. It would be an understatement to say this is a tongue in cheek comedy, the tongue is going much further inside than the cheek. You must go see it. It will make you cry with laughter.
The Book of Mormon is still showing until 10 September get your tickets here.
Review by Johnny Banks
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