There is no
magic formula for appreciating art. The best I can do as a Humanities professor
and all around supporter of art is to lead friends, family and readers towards
certain interests in disciplines that strike a chord within them. Of these I
find musicals are often difficult to get people interested in because of social
prejudices on how they are only for certain types of people. However, I have
found when teaching of the history of Rock n’ Roll, the musical Memphis works. When paying homage to an
American literary legend with the Wizard of Oz, Wicked finds a strong audience.
Rent changed
Broadway and musicals forever, removing the caveat for audiences that only
Andrew Lloyd Weber or Rogers & Hammerstein are the only acceptable
musicals. One such show that is evident of these changes in bringing art to the
masses, especially young audiences, was Avenue Q, written by Robert Lopez. In
the crowd for an early showing of Avenue Q were South Park creators and show
runners Matt Stone and Trey Parker. In the program Lopez thanked them for being
inspirations. Confused and mildly flattered, Stone and Parker asked Lopez after
the show the reason for the appreciation. “I never could have made Avenue Q if
it wasn’t for you guys making South Park: The movie musical,” Lopez said. “What
are you working on next?” Parker asked. “I’m thinking of doing something with
Mormons.” Parker and Stone looked at each other, later recalling “Really? So
are we!” Over the next seven years, in-between work on South Park and other
shows, Lopez and the South Park gods created what I would consider my favorite
musical of all time – The Book of Mormon.
Way back on
March 19th, my friend Jeff stood in line at the Bank of America Theater in the
Loop at midnight for tickets early in the Chicago run of The Book of Mormon.
Thanking him to the point of gratitude becoming sour, Ally and I counted the
weeks, then days down to when on Sunday, December 23rd we would be
immersed in a musical we had listened to the soundtrack of for over a year. For
Broadway geeks like my fiancé Ally, The Book of Mormon was the caviar of
productions, having sold out months in advance on Broadway, getting tickets
going as high as $400 dollars a show. The first week of the Chicago run brought
in ticket sales of 1.4 million dollars! Add to that 9 Tony awards and you have
a phenomenon of what Trey Parker said “It’s not South Park – our first thought
was, let’s do a really good musical and then weave in our styles.”
Our row A
seats in the Mezzanine of the Bank of America Theater (BOAT), provided Ally,
myself, Jeff and girlfriend Jamie with a perfect view of the stage and most
importantly, visible details of actors. Once the curtains rose, Ally and I
strapped ourselves in for a ride through each number we came to memorize and
the pleasures of a storyline that moves quite well through both acts. In the
first number Hello! a series of
doorbell rings lead to white shirt Mormon missionaries pitching their profit Joseph
Smith’s word of God, or if you are a doubter, pages of oddly written malarkey.
Using a mix of musical counterpoint and comedy, the audience is charmed by the
warm, inviting nature of this musical - a good sign of any art form!
From there
we are treated to the tale of 19/20 year old missionaries the perfectionist,
overzealous Elder Kevin Price and bumbling fool Elder Arnold Cunningham being
teamed up to spend their two years of missionary work in the pit of
civilization in war torn Uganda, instead of Price’s preferred destination of
Orlando, Florida. In You and Me (Mostly Me) Elder Price belts out his misguided
pride in a number that is a direct parody of Wicked’s famous first act closer Defying Gravity. Stone, Parker and Lopez pull no punches with the number
Hasa diga Eebowai, a parody of the
Lion King’s Hakuna Matata. The village leader comes to describe that Eebowai
means “God” and “Hasa diga means – fuck you!” Hang on – the awkwardness gets
worse as the numbers and storyline grow in quality. Did you really expect
anything different from the creators of South Park and Avenue Q?
Throughout
the show and an unusually strong second act (a rare find in my opinion with
musicals) the theater was roaring with laughter, my eyes catching glances of
audience members with tears coming down their red cheeks and wide smiles. Vogue Magazine summed it up best by calling the show
"the filthiest, most offensive, and—surprise—sweetest thing you’ll see on
Broadway this year, and quite possibly the funniest musical ever." There
are tender moments with Sal Tlay ka Siti (Salt Lake City) delivered by the
village leaders daughter about how her dead mother’s dream of escaping violence
and poverty could come true with these missionaries. My favorite number, that
has had me in stitches every time, the Africans religious interpretation of
Mormonism in Joseph Smith, American Moses
is actually a parody of The King and I.
Elder Price’s bad dream, Spooky Mormon
Hell Dream, highlights the overly dramatized Dante-style guilt of organized
religion by placing Kevin Price in hell with dancing demons and fellow dwellers
of Hades.
Ally and I
in all of our giddiness could notice a few disappointed audience members
leaving by the start of the second act. This occurrence bothers me for why
would you spend good money on great theater and not research the show. A friend
of mine who works in Chicago theater calls this “the ignorant, selfish, ‘I got
mine, you get yours’ culture of northern Illinois, southern Wisconsin that
spits on anything slightly outside of their point-of-view or appropriateness.”
Deep down The Book of Mormon, aside from providing long-lasting entertainment,
holds indelible messages of believing in one’s self (Elder Cunningham),
addressing poverty issues, and the uncommon but fresh conclusion that it doesn’t
necessary matter what people believe in as long as it improves their lives and
makes a happier, healthier society for all.
I will
return to The Bank of America Theater in 2013 for another showing of The Book of Mormon, all the while
swimming in the replay value of the soundtrack.
