As raunchy, inappropriate and offensive this musical may be, I was laughing my ass off from the first scene until I exited the doors of Ruth Eckerd Hall last night (Feb 17). So if you haven’t yet seen this infamous musical, in short, the plot is along the lines of an unlikely pair of Mormon missionaries are sent to Uganda to convert the natives to their religion. I won’t ruin the ending, but obviously things don’t go as planned. Each scene offers a fresh, satirical and crude — yet realistic — interpretation of the clash of cultures, religions, and values. Being that the writers are the same as dirty cartoon South Park, it’s probably easy to imagine the tone of the humor this musical has to offer. Mockery of many political and religious matters made for very shocking, yet hilarious moments that filled the entire theater with laughter.
As a 21 year old, I loved the dirty jokes, sexual innuendos and nearly constant profanity spoken or sung by the cast, and was also surprised that generations much older than me had similar reactions. My friend who accompanied me said multiple times throughout, “These old people must be close to having heart attacks.” This was an eye opener to us young adults: Older people can have senses of humor, too. That being said, I was a little disheartened by the lack of representation of my own age group at the show. For some reason, going to see a musical isn’t the most common activity for college kids who would rather be at a bar or watching Netflix. With musicals like this on the rise, however, I hope to see the demographic change because the important satirical points, such as holding in “sinful” thoughts and stereotypes about race, religion and gender are most critical to the next generation of adults in the world. Oh, and there is a full bar right outside the theater, if all else fails.
Now that you have my take as a 21-year-old, I’ll give you my religious perspective, since there is obviously a lot of controversy here. There were quite a few scenes that I found myself feeling a little uncomfortable being a religious person, which I’m sure was a mutual feeling with many audience members. Honestly, though, I don’t think the point of the whole musical was to jab any religion, (OK, they may have jabbed Mormons a tad bit… OK, a lot) but instead meant to contribute to an overall theme of how people treat each other, regardless of religion. It could be easy for me to say since my religion wasn’t first-handedly getting ripped to shreds through satire, profanity and dry humor but I do believe that people from any religion can enjoy The Book of Mormon.
It’s definitely not fitting for everyone’s taste, but if it’s not, again, don’t forget there’s a full bar in the lobby. A couple of drinks and everyone is sure to enjoy.
Overall, it’s hard to argue the satirical artistry of the musical. Critically acclaimed, The Book of Mormon is a disgusting, grotesque, hilarious show that I highly recommend to anyone who hasn’t seen it yet.
This article appears in Feb 18-24, 2016.