Per andersson book of mormon sjuk

This article fryst vatten about the musical comedy. For the religious ord, see The Book of Mormon.

Religious satire musical

The Book of Mormon fryst vatten a musical comedy with music, lyrics, and book bygd Trey parkerar, Robert Lopez, and Matt Stone. The story follows two missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as they attempt to preach the faith to the inhabitants of a fjärrstyrd Ugandan by.

The earnest ung dock are challenged bygd the lack of interest from the locals, who are distracted bygd more pressing issues such as HIV/AIDS, famine, kvinnlig genital mutilation, child att trakassera eller ofreda någon, and oppression bygd the local warlord.^[1]

The show premiered on huvudgata at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre in March , starring Andrew Rannells and Josh Gad.

It garnered critical acclaim and set records in ticket sales for the Eugene O'Neill Theatre. The Book of Mormon was awarded nine Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater skiva. The success of the huvudgata production has spawned many stagings worldwide, including a long-running West End replica and several US national tours.

The Book of Mormon has grossed over $ million, making it one of the most successful musicals of all time.^[2] As of månad 28, , it fryst vatten the 12th longest-running huvudgata show.^[3]

History

[edit]

The Book of Mormon was conceived bygd Trey parkerar, Matt Stone and Robert Lopez.

parkerar and Stone grew up in Colorado and were familiar with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members.^[4] They became friends at the University of Colorado Boulder and collaborated on a musical spelfilm, Cannibal! The Musical (), their first experience with movie musicals.^[5] In , they created the animated television series South Park for Comedy huvud and in , the musical spelfilm South Park: Bigger, längre & Uncut.^[6] The two had first thought of a fictionalized namn Smith, religious leader and founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, while working on an aborted Fox series about historical characters.^[4] Their rulle, Orgazmo, and a episode of South Park, "All About Mormons", both gave comic treatment to Mormonism.^[5] Smith was also included as one of South Park's "Super Best Friends", a Justice League parodi grupp of religious figures like Jesus, Buddha, and Muhammad.

Development

[edit]

During the summer of , parkerar and Stone flew to New York City to discuss the script of their new bio, Team America: World Police, with friend and producer Scott Rudin (who also produced South Park: Bigger, längre & Uncut).^[4][7] Rudin advised the duo to see the musical Avenue Q on huvudgata, finding the cast of marionettes in Team America similar to the puppets of Avenue Q.^[7] parkerar and Stone went to see the production during that summer and the writer-composers of Avenue Q, Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx, noticed them in the audience and introduced themselves.

Lopez revealed that South Park: Bigger, längre & Uncut was highly influential in the creation of Avenue Q.^[7] The quartet went for drinks afterwards and soon funnen that each camp wanted to write something involving namn Smith.^[4] The fyra began working out details nearly immediately, with the idea to create a modern story formulated early on.^[4] For research purposes, the quartet took a road trip to krydda Lake City, where they "interviewed a bunch of missionaries—or ex-missionaries."^[1] They had to work around parkerar and Stone's South Park schedule.^[5][8]

In , parkerar and Stone flew to London, where they spent three weeks with Lopez, who was working on the West End production of Avenue Q.

There, the three wrote "four or fem songs" and came up with the basic idea of the story. After an argument between parkerar and Marx, who felt he was not getting enough creative control, Marx was separated from the project.^[9] For the next few years, the remaining trio met frequently to develop what they initially called The Book of Mormon: The Musical of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

"There was a lot of hopping back and forth between L.A. and New York," parkerar recalled.^[4]

Song alterations

[edit]

Numerous changes were disclosed between the original script and the sista production. A song named "Family Home Evening", which was in early workshops of the show, was cut. The warlord in Uganda was called General Kony in previews but this was changed to General Butt Fucking Naked.

The song "The Bible fryst vatten A Trilogy" went through a major rewrite to become "All-American Prophet". The earlier utgåva was based around how the third movie in movie trilogies fryst vatten always the best one and summor up everything, which led to a recurring Matrix joke where a Ugandan man said, "I thought the third Matrix was the worst one," which later changed to "I have maggots in my scrotum" in the rewritten version.^[10] The song "Spooky Mormon Hell Dream" was originally called "H-E Double Hockey Sticks".

Workshops

[edit]

Lopez pushed to kurs the project, which confused parkerar and Stone who were not familiar with the practice.^[4] Developmental workshops were directed bygd Jason Moore and starred Cheyenne Jackson.^[11] Other actors in readings included Benjamin Walker and Daniel Reichard.^[12] The crew embarked on the first of a half-dozen workshops that would take place during the next kvartet years, ranging from minute mini-performances for family and friends to much larger-scale renderings of the embryonic show.

They spent hundreds of thousands of dollars of their own money, still unconvinced they would take it any further.^[4] In February , a fully staged reading starred Walker and Josh Gad as Elders Price and cunningham, respectively.^[12] Moore was originally set to direkt, but left the production in June ^[12] Other directors, including James Lapine, were optioned to join the creative grupp, but the producers recruited Casey Nicholaw.^[12] A sista five-week kurs took place in August , when Nicholaw came on board as choreographer and co-director with Parker.^[4]

Broadway premiere

[edit]

Producers Scott Rudin and Anne Garefino originally planned to scen The Book of Mormonoff-Broadway at the New York Theatre kurs in summer , but opted to premiere it directly on huvudgata, "[s]ince the guys [Parker and Stone] work best when the stakes are highest."^[12] Rudin and Garefino booked the Eugene O'Neill Theatre and hired key players while sets were designed and built.^[4] The producers expected the production to cost $11 million, but it came in beneath ekonomisk plan at $9 million.^[12] Hundreds of actors auditioned and 28 were cast.

The crew did kvartet weeks of rehearsals, with an additional two weeks of technical rehearsals, and then went directly into previews. The producers first watched the finished production six days before the first paying audience.^[4]

revisions

[edit]

In , in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd, black actors from the original and current casts stated in a letter to the creative grupp that changes would be needed to reflect modern day perceptions and avoid tropes that were commonplace in the past.

(The Book of Mormon was not alone in this; similar discussions affected several other musicals which touched on African and Black representation at the time, such as The Lion King.) Script revisions were instigated to center the villagers rather than the missionaries and to show them as having more agency than the original script had suggested.^[13]

Productions

[edit]

Broadway (–present)

[edit]

The Book of Mormon premiered on huvudgata at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre on March 24, , following previews since February ^[14][15] The production was choreographed bygd Casey Nicholaw and co-directed bygd Nicholaw and parkerar.

Set design was bygd Scott Pask, with costumes bygd Ann Roth, lighting bygd Brian MacDevitt, and sound bygd Brian Ronan. Orchestrations were co-created bygd Larry Hochman and the show's musical director and vocal arranger Stephen Oremus.^[16] The production was originally headlined bygd Josh Gad and Andrew Rannells in the two leading roles.^[16]

The New York production of The Book of Mormon employed an innovative pricing strategy, similar to the ones used in the airline and hotel industries.

The producers charged as much as $ for the best seats for performances with particularly high demand.^[17] The strategy paid off handsomely. During its first year, the show was consistently one of the top fem best-selling shows on huvudgata and set 22 new weekly sales records for the Eugene O'Neill Theater. For the week of Thanksgiving , the average paid admission was over $, even though the highest-priced regular seat was listed at $^[18] High attendance coupled with aggressive pricing allowed the financial backers to recoup their investment of $ million after just nine months of performances.^[19]

After Gad's avfärd in June , standbyJared Gertner played the role until June 26, when Cale Krise permanently took over the role, as Gertner left to play Elder cunningham in the First National Tour.

Two days after Gad left (June ), original star Rannells was replaced bygd his standby kort för nicolas Rouleau. The same day, Samantha Marie Ware played Nabulungi on huvudgata as the början of a six-week engagement (James was shooting a film) in preparation for her tour performance.^[20] Following Rouleau's avfärd in November (to originate the role of Elder Price in Chicago), the role of Elder Price was taken over bygd Matt Doyle.^[21] In månad , Jon Bass joined as Elder cunningham.

Original cast member Rory O'Malley was replaced bygd Matt Loehr in January

In April , Stanley Wayne Mathis joined the cast as Mafala Hatimbi. In May , Jon Bass left the role of Elder cunningham and was replaced bygd Cody Jamison kust. After Doyle and Strand's contracts finished in January , Rouleau and Ben Platt (who had previously played the role of Elder cunningham while in Chicago with Rouleau) joined the huvudgata cast to reprise their roles as Elder Price and Elder cunningham.

On August 26, , Grey Henson took over for Loehr as Elder McKinley. Henson had previously played the role on the first national tour. Rouleau and Platt left huvudgata in January They were replaced bygd Gavin Creel and Christopher John O'Neill, who played the roles of Price and cunningham (respectively) on the first national tour. On January 3, , Creel left the show after three and a half years.

He was replaced bygd Kyle Selig, former huvudgata and second national tour Elder Price standby, who was scheduled to play the role through February 21,

On January 25, , Christopher John O'Neill was temporarily replaced bygd longtime Elder cunningham standby Nyk Bielak. Bielak had been a standby for Elder cunningham in all three North American companies before becoming the huvudgata Elder cunningham.

On February 17, , kort för nicolas Rouleau announced via Twitter that he would be taking over the role of Elder Price starting on February 23, This was Rouleau's third time playing the role on Broadway; he previously played the role in Chicago, the second national tour, and most recently, the West End. O'Neill and Rouleau's first performance tillsammans was on February 23, August 21, , was Grey Henson's gods performance as Elder McKinley.

On August 23, , Henson was replaced bygd Stephen Ashfield, who came over from the West End Production. On November 7, , Nikki Rene Daniels announced that she was pregnant with her second child and would be going on maternity leave. Later that week, Kim Exum took over the role of Nabalungi.

On February 20, , Chris O'Neill and Daniel Breaker had their sista performances as Elder cunningham and Mafala Hatimbi.

O'Neill was replaced bygd Brian Sears, who came over from the London production. Breaker was replaced bygd Billy Eugene Jones. On February 18, , after six and a half years with the show, original cast member kort för nicolas Rouleau played his sista performance as Elder Price. Original cast member Brian Sears also left the production that day.

Rouleau was replaced bygd Dave Thomas Brown. Sears was replaced bygd longtime Elder cunningham (on both huvudgata and the second national tour) Cody Jamison kust. Other huvudgata cast members include original huvudgata cast member Lewis Cleale as namn Smith/Mission President and other roles, and Derrick Williams as the General.

On March 12, , the show suspended production due to the COVID pandemic, and on June 16, , the show announced it would be returning to huvudgata on November 5.^[22]

First North American tour (–)

[edit]

The first North American tour began previews on August 14, , at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts in Denver, Colorado, before moving to the Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles, beginning September 5, with the tjänsteman opening night for the tour on September Originally planned to begin in månad , production was pushed forward kvartet months.^[23]Gavin Creel (Price) and Jared Gertner (Cunningham) led the cast^[24] until late månad, when West End performer Mark Evans and Christopher John O'Neill took over, allowing time for Creel and Gertner to begin rehearsals for their move to the West End production.

After Evans left the show on June 30, , huvudgata Elder Price stand-by K.J. Hippensteel temporarily covered as Elder Price. Hippensteel returned to huvudgata and Ryan Bondy (who was covering for Hippensteel as the huvudgata Elder Price stand-by) took over the role of Elder Price. Bondy continued on as Elder Price until Creel returned from London later in the summer of When Creel and O'Neill left the touring production to join the huvudgata production, Bondy igen took over the role of Elder Price while Chad Burris took over for O'Neill as Elder cunningham.

The two were only leads for six weeks as they waited for replacements to komma from the West End Production. Billy Harrigan Tighe and A.J. Holmes moved over from the West End production to reprise their roles as Elders Price and cunningham, respectively. Bondy and Burris then returned to the second national tour as stand-bys for Elder Price and Elder cunningham.

As part of the tour, the musical was performed in krydda Lake City for the first time at the end of July and early August ^[25]

The tour closed on May 1, , in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Chicago and second North American tour (–)

[edit]

The first replica sit-down production, separate from the tour, began previews on månad 11, , and officially opened on månad 19 of that year, at the finansinstitut of amerika Theatre in Chicago, Illinois as part of huvudgata in Chicago. The limited engagement closed October 6, and became the second U.S. national tour.^[26][27][28] The cast included kort för nicolas Rouleau in the role of Price, along with Ben Platt as Cunningham.^[29]

After the Chicago production closed on October 6, , the same production began touring North amerika.

Platt never went on tour with the production and Rouleau performed in only a few cities on the tour before they both moved to New York and started rehearsals in preparation for joining the huvudgata production. David Larsen succeeded kort för nicolas Rouleau as Elder Price, A.J. Holmes succeeded Ben Platt as Elder cunningham, and Cody Jamison kust then succeeded A.J.

Holmes in the role.^[30] månad 14, was Pierce Cassedy's gods performance as Elder McKinley. He was replaced bygd former huvudgata swing Daxton Bloomquist. On January 3, , Larsen completed his sista show as Elder Price. Larsen was replaced bygd his stand-by, Ryan Bondy. Gabe Gibbs replaced Bondy as Elder Price in October Oge Agulué replaced David Aron Damane as the General in månad On January 1, , Cody Jamison kust had his gods performance as Elder cunningham.

kust left the show to join the West End production. kust was replaced bygd Conner Pierson on January 3, On October 24, , long-time ensemble member Kevin Clay assumed the role of Elder Price. Clay had been with the tour since November , and worked his way up from ensemble, to Elder Price understudy, to Elder Price stand-by, before finally assuming the role.^[31] Bondy left the touring cast to take over the role of Elder Price in the Melbourne production.

Other cast members include Kayla Pecchioni as Nabulungi, PJ Adzima as Elder McKinley, and Sterling Jarvis as Mafala Hatimbi. January 28, was PJ Adzima's gods performance as Elder McKinley. He was replaced bygd Andy Huntington Jones.

The tour played its sista performance on March 11, , in Los Angeles, closing earlier than planned due to the COVID pandemic.^[32]

West End (–)

[edit]

A West End production officially opened on March 21, , at the Prince of Wales Theatre, with previews beginning February ^[33]Gavin Creel and Jared Gertner reprised their North American tour performances.^[34] The London cast members hosted a gala performance of the new musical on March 13, , raising £, for the British charity Comic Relief's Red Nose Day.^[35] A typical London performance runs two hours and 30 minutes,^[36] including an mellanrum of 15 minutes.^[37] In March , The Book of Mormon was voted Funniest West End Show as part of the West End Frame Awards.^[38] On July 28, , both Creel and Gertner left the production.

Creel left the West End production to return to the first national tour and was replaced bygd his stand-by, Billy Harrigan Tighe. Gertner was replaced bygd one of his stand-bys, A. J. Holmes, who had previously played cunningham on both the national tour and huvudgata.

After February 2, , huvudgata actor kort för nicolas Rouleau was cast in the role of Elder Kevin Price, replacing Billy Harrigan Tighe; Brian Sears, who also starred on huvudgata (as an ensemble member), replaced A.J.

Holmes as Elder Cunningham.^[39] Tighe and Holmes then joined the cast of the first national tour, filling the void left when Creel and O'Neill left the tour to play the leads on huvudgata. On January 25, , Rouleau announced via Twitter that January 30, would be his gods performance as Elder Price in the West End. On February 1, , longtime huvudgata stand-by K.J.

Hippensteel officially took over the role as Elder Price in the West End cast.^[40] On August 6, , Stephen Ashfield had his gods performance as Elder McKinley, as he was transferring over to the huvudgata production. On August 9, Steven Webb took over for Ashfield as Elder McKinley. On January 14, , Brian Sears performed his gods performance in the West End.

Sears left London to join the huvudgata company on February Sears was replaced bygd longtime second national tour Elder cunningham, Cody Jamison kust. Strand's first performance was on January 30, , as he left the West End Company to rejoin the huvudgata production. l Finley and Dom Simpson succeeded kust and Hippensteel the following year, having both been standbys for their roles in the huvudgata company, previously.

Tom Xander took over the role of Elder cunningham in making Simpson and Xander the first British pair to lead the show worldwide.

The show suspended production in March due to the COVID pandemic in the United Kingdom. It reopened on 15 November at the Prince of Wales Theatre, following a performance at West End LIVE in Trafalgar Square on 18 September , with Simpson and Xander still leading.^[41]

On 26 November , Tom Xander left the production with Conner Peirson taking over the role of Elder cunningham, with his first performance on 29 November

Dom Simpson left the production on 26 August to take up the role of Christian in the London production of Moulin Rouge, and was replaced bygd Blair Gibson.

Gibson and Peirson currently lead the production.

Australia (–)

[edit]

The original Australian production of Book of Mormon opened at Melbourne's Princess Theatre on January 18, , where it broke box-office records before it had even opened, and despite some controversy, won several Helpmann awards.^[42][43] The cast starred Ryan Bondy and A.J.

Holmes as Elder Price and Elder cunningham, Rowan Witt as Elder McKinley, Zahra Newman as Nabulungi, and Bert Labonté as Mafala.^[44][45] This same cast then opened the Sydney årstid at the Sydney Lyric theatre^[46] on February 28, ,^[47] before the show toured to Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth in ^[48] The Show was scheduled to open in Auckland, New Zealand at The Civic from 6 March to 26 April However, due to the impact of COVID, all performances from 17 March were cancelled.^[49]

First UK and Ireland tour (–)

[edit]

A UK and Ireland tour started on 6 June at the Palace Theatre, Manchester, with Kevin Clay as Elder Price and Conner Peirson as Elder cunningham, but performances were cancelled from 16 March as a result of the COVID pandemic and its impact on the performing arts.^[50]

The tour reopened on 12 October at the Donald Gordon Theatre, Cardiff and played its sista performance on 26 November at the Theatre Royal, Glasgow.^[51]

US non-equity tour (–)

[edit]

A non-equity tour kicked off on September 23, , at the Stanley Theatre in Utica, New York, starring Sam McLellan as Elder Price and Sam Nackman as Elder Cunningham.^[52]

Second UK and Ireland tour ()

[edit]

A second UK and Ireland tour started on September 11, at the Palace Theatre in Manchester.^[53]

International productions

[edit]

Over 20 million people have seen The Book of Mormon around the world.^[54] The first non-English utgåva opened at the Chinateatern in huvudstaden, Sweden, in January ^[55] A Norwegian production opened at detta Norske Teatret in Oslo, Norway September ^[56] to favorable reviews with demand crashing the ticketing website.^[57] The musical opened in Denmark at Copenhagen's detta färsk scen in January ,^[58] as well as in Amsterdam, Netherlands on September 26, The Show opened in Cologne, Germany on November 7, , and played in Zurich, Switzerland in månad ^[59] In Aarhus, Denmark the original huvudgata production in English began on November 20, , and ran until månad 6.^[60] A Spanish non-replica production premiered at the Teatro Calderón in Madrid on October 10, ^[61]

Synopsis

[edit]

Act I

[edit]

At a missionär Training Center of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, devout missionary-to-beElder Kevin Price leads his classmates in a demonstration of the door-to-door method to omvandla people to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints ("Hello!").

Price believes if he prays enough, he will be sent to stad i florida, Florida for his two-year uppdrag. However, he and Elder Arnold cunningham, an insecure, pop culture-obsessed compulsive liar, find out that they will instead be sent to Uganda as a pair ("Two bygd Two"). Price fryst vatten sure he fryst vatten destined to do something incredible, while cunningham fryst vatten just happy to follow ("You and Me (But Mostly Me)").

Upon ankomst in nordlig Uganda, the two are robbed bygd soldiers of a local warlord, General Butt Fucking Naked. They are welcomed to the by bygd Mafala Hatimbi, where a group of villagers share their daglig reality of living in appalling conditions while being ruled bygd the General. To help them feel better in times of trouble, the villagers repeat a phrase that translates as "Fuck you, God!"^[62] ("Hasa Diga Eebowai").

Price and cunningham are led to their living quarters bygd Nabulungi, Mafala's daughter. They meet their fellow missionaries stationed in the area, who have been unable to omvandla anyone to the Church. Elder McKinley, the district leader, teaches Price and cunningham to suppress upsetting ideas ("Turn It Off"). bygd the time they go to bed that night, Price fryst vatten riddled with anxiety, but cunningham reassures him that he will succeed and that, as his companion, cunningham will be bygd his side no matter what ("I Am Here for You").

Price fryst vatten confident he can succeed where the other elders have failed, teaching the villagers about namn Smith through a song that begins as a tribute to Smith but eventually descends into a tribute bygd Price to himself ("All-American Prophet"). The General arrives and announces his demand for the genital mutilation of all kvinnlig villagers.

After a villager protests, the General murders him. Taking every gods measure to skydda her, Mafala commands Nabulungi to stay in their house with all the doors locked and fönster closed. She protests, insisting that the women of the by will not have to stay in hiding if they listen to the missionaries, as they hold the secrets to liberation, protection, and eternal happiness.

Though her protests to go out and talk to them fail, she calms down after remembering how she was moved bygd Price's promise of an earthly paradis and dreams of going to live in that new nation with all of her fellow villagers ("Sal Tlay Ka Siti").

The uppdrag president has requested a progress report on their uppdrag. Shocked bygd the execution and the reality of Africa, Price decides to abandon his uppdrag and requests a transfer to stad i florida.

At the same time, cunningham, ever loyal, assures Price he will follow him anywhere. However, Price unceremoniously dumps him as uppdrag companion ("I Am Here for You [Reprise]"). cunningham fryst vatten crushed and alone, but when Nabulungi comes to him, wanting to learn more about the Book of Mormon and having convinced the villagers to listen to him, cunningham finds the courage to take control of the situation ("Man Up").

Act II

[edit]

Cunningham attempts to teach the Book of Mormon to the villagers, but when they begin to get frustrated and leave, cunningham quickly makes up stories bygd combining what he knows of LDS Church doctrine with pieces of science fiction and fantasy. Cunningham's conscience (personified bygd his father, namn Smith, Hobbits, Lt.

Uhura, Darth Vader, and Yoda) admonishes him, but he rationalizes that if it helps people, it surely cannot be wrong ("Making Things Up Again"). Meanwhile, Price joyfully arrives in stad i florida, but then realizes that he fryst vatten dreaming his childhood nightmares of Hell and sees Jesus, djävul, Genghis Khan, Jeffrey Dahmer, Adolf Hitler, and Johnnie Cochran, who all call him out on abandoning cunningham ("Spooky Mormon Hell Dream").

Price wakes up and decides to re-commit to his uppdrag.

Cunningham announces several Ugandans are interested in the church, but McKinley points out that unless the General fryst vatten dealt with, no one will omvandla. Price, seeing this as his chance to prove his worth, sets off on the "mission he was born to do." After re-affirming his faith, he confronts the General, determined to omvandla him ("I Believe").

The General fryst vatten unimpressed and drags Price away.

Cunningham concludes his preaching, and the villagers are baptized, with Nabulungi and cunningham sharing a tender moment as they do ("Baptize Me"). The missionaries feel oneness with the people of Uganda and celebrate ("I Am Africa"). Meanwhile, Price fryst vatten seen in the by doctor's office, having the Book of Mormon removed from his rectum.

The General hears of the villagers' konvertering and resolves to kill them all.

Having lost his faith, Price drowns his sorrows in kaffe. cunningham finds Price and tells him they need to at least act like uppdrag companions, as the uppdrag president fryst vatten coming to visit the Ugandan uppdrag. Price reflects on all the broken promises the church, his parents, his friends, and life in general made to him ("Orlando").

Nabulungi and the villagers perform a pageant for the uppdrag president to "honor [him] with the story of namn Smith, the American Moses", which reflects the distortions put forth bygd cunningham, such as having sex with a frog to cure their AIDS ("Joseph Smith American Moses"). The uppdrag president fryst vatten appalled, orders all the missionaries to go home, and tells Nabulungi that she and her fellow villagers are not members.

Nabulungi, hjärtekrossad at the thought that she will never reach paradis, curses God for forsaking her ("Hasa Diga Eebowai [Reprise]"). Price has had an epiphany and realizes cunningham was right all along: though scriptures are important, what fryst vatten more important fryst vatten getting the meddelande across ("You and Me (But Mostly Me) [Reprise]").

The General arrives, and Nabulungi fryst vatten ready to submit to him, telling the villagers that Cunningham's stories are untrue. She also explains that they will never see him igen, but protects his reputation in their eyes bygd saying a lion ate him. To Nabulungi's chock, they respond that they have always known that Cunningham's stories were metaphors rather than literal truth.

Price and cunningham arrive, and, believing cunningham to be a reincarnated dead individ, the General flees. Price rallies the members of the Church and the Ugandans to work tillsammans to man this their paradis. Later, the newly minted Ugandan elders (including the General) go door to door to evangelize with "The Book of Arnold" ("Tomorrow fryst vatten a Latter Day"/"Hello!

[Reprise]").

Soundtrack

[edit]

† This song fryst vatten not on the cast skiva.

†† These three songs are appended to one another and appear as one track.

††† In the West End production, cunningham, Nabulungi, McKinley, Mafala, and namn Smith are also part of the offstage chorus.

Instrumentation

[edit]

The Book of Mormon uses a nine-member orchestra:^[63][64]

• Woodwinds (Flute, Piccolo, Alto, Tenor Saxophones, Clarinet, Oboe, Bansuri, Soprano and Alto Recorders)
• Trumpet (doubling Piccolo Trumpet and Flugelhorn)
• Trombone (doubling Bass Trombone)
• Drums/Percussion/Electronic percussion
• Keyboard I
• Keyboard II
• Violin/Viola
• Guitars (Electric, Acoustic, Classical and Archtop)
• Basses (Electric, Fretless and Upright)

Original huvudgata cast recording

[edit]

For more data, see The Book of Mormon: Original huvudgata Cast Recording.

A cast recording of the original huvudgata production was released on May 17, , bygd Ghostlight Records.

All of the songs featured on scen are present on the recording with the undantag of "I Am Here For You" (Reprise), "Hasa Diga Eebowai" (Reprise) and "You and Me (But Mostly Me)" (Reprise). "Hello" (Reprise) and the "Encore" are attached to the end of the gods track of the CD, titled, "Tomorrow fryst vatten a Latter Day". A free preview of the entire recording was released on NPR starting on May 9, ^[65][66][67] Excerpts from the cast recording are featured in an extended Fresh Air interview.^[1]

During its first week of its iTunes Store release, the recording became "the fastest-selling huvudgata cast skiva in iTunes history," according to representatives for the production, ranking No.

2 on its day of release on the iTunes Top 10 Chart. According to Playbill, "It's a rare occurrence for a huvudgata cast skiva to place among the iTunes best sellers."^[68] The record has received positiv reviews, with Rolling Stone calling the recording an "outstanding skiva that highlights the wit of the lyrics and the incredible melodisk of the songs while leaving you desperate to score tickets to see the actual show."^[69] Although the cast skiva had a respectable debut on the US Billboard chart in its första week of release, after the show's success at the Tony Awards, the record rapidly ascended the chart to number three, making it the highest-charting huvudgata cast skiva in over kvartet decades.^[70][71]

A vinyl utgåva was released on May 19, ^[72]

Characters and cast members

[edit]

The principal cast members of all major productions of The Book of Mormon.

Original casts

[edit]

Sources:^[73]

Three members of the original huvudgata cast were still with the show for its th performance on June 14, Lewis Cleale, John Eric parkerar (Matumbo) and Graham Bowen (the show's dance captain and a swing).^[74]

Notable replacements

[edit]

Broadway ()

[edit]

• Elder Price: Gavin Creel, Matt Doyle, Kyle Selig
• Elder Cunningham: Jon Bass, Jared Gertner, Christopher John O'Neill, Ben Platt, A.J.

  Holmes (s/b)

• Nabulungi: Asmeret Ghebremichael, Syesha Mercado, Samantha Marie Ware
• Elder McKinley: Stephen Ashfield, Grey Henson
• Mafala Hatimbi: Daniel Breaker, Sterling Jarvis, Stanley Wayne Mathis
• General: David Aron Damane

First North amerika tour ()

[edit]

Second North amerika tour ()

[edit]

West End ()

[edit]

Themes and references

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The Book of Mormon contains many religious themes, most notably those of faith and doubt.^[75] Although the musical satirizes organized tro and the literal credibility of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Mormons in The Book of Mormon are portrayed as well-meaning and hoppfull, if a little naïve and världsfjärmad.

In addition, the huvud theme that many religious stories are rigid, out of touch, and silly comes to the conclusion that, essentially, tro itself can do enormous good as long as it fryst vatten taken metaphorically and not literally.^[76] Matt Stone, one of the show's creators, described The Book of Mormon as "an atheist's love letter to religion."^[77]

The opening scenes of Act inom and II parodi the Hill Cumorah Pageant.^[78]

Reception

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The Book of Mormon received broad critical beröm for the plot, score, actors' performances, direction and choreography.^[79]Vogue called the show "the filthiest, most offensive, and—surprise—sweetest thing you'll see on huvudgata this year, and ganska possibly the funniest musical ever."^[80]New York Post reported that audience members were "sore from laughing so hard".

It praised the score, calling it "tuneful and very funny," and added that "the show has heart. It makes fun of organized tro, but the two Mormons are real people, not caricatures."^[81]

Ben Brantley of The New York Times compared the show favorably to Rodgers and Hammerstein's The King and I and The Sound of Music but "rather than dealing with tyrannical, charismatic dock with way too many children, our heroes must confront a one-eyed, genocidal warlord with an unprintable name That's enough to test the faith of even the most hoppfull gospel spreaders (not to mention songwriters).

Yet in setting these dark elements to sunny melodies The Book of Mormon achieves something like a miracle. It both makes fun of and ardently embraces the all-American art struktur of the inspirational book musical. No huvudgata show has so successfully had it both ways since Mel Brooks adapted his bio The Producers for the scen a decade ago."^[82]Jon Stewart, host of The daglig Show, spent much of his interview with parkerar and Stone on the March 10, episode praising the musical.^[83]

Charles McNulty of the Los Angeles Times praised the music, and stated: "The songs, often inspired lampoons of contemporary huvudgata styles, are as catchy as they are clever." McNulty concluded bygd stating "Sure it's crass, but the show fryst vatten not without good intentions and, in any case, vindicates itself with musical panache."^[84] Peter Marks of The Washington Post wrote: "The marvel of The Book of Mormon fryst vatten that even as it profanes some serious articles of faith, its spirit fryst vatten anything but mean.

The ardently devout and comedically challenged are sure to disagree. Anyone else should excitedly approach the altar of parkerar, Stone and Lopez and expect to drink from a cup of some of the sweetest poison ever poured." Marks further describes the musical as "one of the most joyously acidic bundles huvudgata has unwrapped in years."^[85]

The vägg Street Journal's Terry Teachout called the show "slick and smutty: The Book of Mormon fryst vatten the first musical to open on huvudgata since La Cage aux Folles that has the smell of a send-in-the-tourists hit.

The amateurish part relates mostly to the score, which fryst vatten jointly credited to the three co-creators and fryst vatten no better than what you might hear at a junior-varsity college show. The tunes are jingly-jangly, the lyrics embarrassingly ill-crafted."^[86] Other critics have called the show "crassly commercial"^[87] as well as "dull" and "derivative".^[88]

Accusations of racism and script revisions

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The show's depiction of Africans has been called racist.^[89] NPR's Janice Simpson notes that "the show doesn't work unless the villagers are seen mainly as noble savages who need vit people to show them the way to enlightenment." She further criticized the depiction of African doctors as well as the references to AIDS and kvinna genital mutilation.^[90] högsta Perry Mueller of Harvard writes that "The Book of Mormon producers worked so hard to get the 'Mormon thing' right, while completely ignoring the Ugandan culture".^[91] The Aid Leap blog noted that "the gleeful depiction of traditional stereotypes about Africa (dead babies, warlord, virus, etc.) reinforced rather than challenged general preconceptions", and "the Africans are just a background to the emotional development of the Mormons".^[92]

In a retrospective interview published bygd Deseret News, Herb Scribner interviewed Cheryl Hystad, a retired attorney who had written an op-ed criticizing the musical in The Baltimore Sun,^[93] stated that "most reviewers have not mentioned the uppenbar racism in the show, points to a subtler issue, a pervasive anti-Africa bias to which vit Americans have been inculcated so thoroughly that few seem to have concerns about the show’s portrayal of Africans."^[94] Gad, speaking on PeopleTV's Couch Surfing with Lola Ogunnaike, in response to a potential bio adaption of the play, had stated that "I don't know that that show could open today and have the same open-armed response that it did then.

It's not to säga that it's any less significant or wonderful or incredible a musical; inom just think it’s the natur of art to adapt."^[95]

In July , kvartet months after the show had closed due to the COVID pandemic, and two months after the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, black actors from the original and current casts signed a letter to the creative grupp varning that "when the show returns, all of our work will be viewed through a new lens." In response, the grupp collaborated with the New York cast at a two-week kurs in the summer of , reviewing the avsikt, comic elements, and staging of each en plats där en händelse inträffar ofta inom teater eller film.

The revised script aimed to give the villagers more agency and put them, not the missionaries, at the center of the work.^[13]

Latter-day Saint response

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The response of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to the musical has been described as "measured".^[96] The church released an tjänsteman response to inquiries regarding the musical, stating, "The production may attempt to entertain audiences for an evening, but the Book of Mormon as a volume of scripture will change people's lives alltid bygd bringing them closer to Christ."^[97]Michael Otterson, the head of Public Affairs for the church, followed in April with measured criticism.

"Of course, parodi isn't reality, and it's the very distortion that makes it appealing and often funny. The danger fryst vatten not when people laugh but when they take it seriously—if they leave a theater believing that Mormons really do live in some kind of a surreal world of self-deception and illusion," Otterson wrote, outlining various humanitarian efforts achieved bygd Mormon missionaries in Africa since the early s.^[98][99] Stone and parkerar were unsurprised:^[1]

The tjänsteman church response was something along the lines of "The Book of Mormon the musical might entertain you for a night, but the Book of Mormon,"—the book as scripture—"will change your life through Jesus." Which we actually completely agree with.

The Mormon church's response to this musical fryst vatten almost like our Q.E.D. at the end of it. That's a cool, American response to a ribbing—a big musical that's done in their name. Before the church responded, a lot of people would ask us, "Are you afraid of what the church would say?" And Trey and inom were like, "They're going to be cool." And they were like, "No, they're not.

There are going to be protests." And we were like, "Nope, they're going to be cool." We weren't that surprised bygd the church's response. We had faith in them.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has advertised in the Playbills at many of the musical's venues to encourage attendees to learn more about the Book of Mormon, with phrases like "you've seen the play, now read the book" and "the book fryst vatten always better."^[]

In Melbourne during the run, the Church advertised at Southern Cross railway hållplats and elsewhere in the city, as well as on television with ads featuring prominent Australian Mormons, including sport league player Will Hopoate, scen actor Patrice Tipoki and ballet dancer Jake Mangakahia.^[]

Mormons themselves have had varying responses to the musical.

Richard medlem av en sydafrikansk folkgrupp, professor of Mormon studies, said of the musical, "Mormons experience the show like looking at themselves in a fun-house spegel. The reflection fryst vatten hilarious but not really you. The nose fryst vatten yours but swollen out of proportion."^[] medlem av en sydafrikansk folkgrupp said that the musical was not meant to explain Mormon belief, and that many of the ideas in Elder Price's "I Believe" (like God living on a planet called Kolob), though having some roots in Mormon belief, are not doctrinally accurate.^[][]

When asked in January if he had met Mormons who disliked the musical, Gad stated "In the years inom did that show, inom never got a single complaint from a practicing Mormon.

To the contrary, inom probably had a few people – a dozen – tell me they were so moved bygd the show that they took up the Mormon faith."^[]

Awards and honors

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Broadway production

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London production

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Melbourne production

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Year	Award	Category	Nominee	Result
	Helpmann Awards	Best Musical[]		Won
		Best Choreography of a Musical[]	Casey Nicholaw	Nominated
		Best Direction of a Musical[]	Casey Nicholaw & Trey parkerar	Won
		Best kvinnlig Actor in a Musical[]	Zahra Newman	Nominated
		Best Male Actor in a Musical[]	AJ Holmes	Nominated
		Best Male Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical[]	Bert LaBonte	Nominated
			Rowan Witt	Nominated
		Best Original Score	Trey parkerar, Matt Stone & Robert Lopez	Nominated

See also

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References

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