8/22/13 -Review of The Book of Mormon Melanie and I have wanted to see this since it originally hit in New

w York City in 2011. We were praying (or enthusiastically hoping) it would eventually come to Dallas. Well, our dream came true last night. Anyway, the BOM is a satirical (and raunchy) take on the religion of Mormonism (duh). The musical is written and produced by the creators of South Park. Therefore, if you know South Park, you know that BOM will be somewhat different than most Broadway musicals. The show starts with Jesus interacting with Lehi, an Israelite who journeys with his family from the Middle East to the Americas (all true of course). Trey Parker and Matt Stone actually do the voiceovers for these characters and they sound like Randy Marsh and other characters from South Park. The bulk of the musical follows newly trained missionaries, Elders Price and Cunningham, in their saga from Salt Lake City to northern Uganda to convert and baptize Ugandan villagers. The songs are catchy, funny, and fraught with profanity. There are some very funny dance moves by Elders Price and Cunningham (the main characters). The songs are laden with overtly crude and vulgar language and references to sexual organs. The set design is simple; with only a backdrop of Salt Lake Citys iconic LDS cathedral and a couple of crude sets in Africa. There are many references to modern culture, with most to Disney (now that Star Wars is part of the Disney team). There are two musical numbers that will either make you: A) laugh hysterically, B) laugh, C) smirk, D) sit with mouth agape with hand over mouth, or E) leave the theater. Melanie and I laughed hysterically while the woman and her daughter to the right of us sat open-mouthed shaking heads back and forth. Even I said I cant believe it a couple of times and elbowed Melanie. Yes, it will offend some people, but you should have known better. The guy on my left said at intermission that it wasnt as shocking as he had hoped, but after the show, he said he changed his mind. Let me end with this, overall Melanie and I loved it and thought it was fantastic and incredible. Melanie said it may have been the best musical she has seen (and remember she is a singer who has seen many operas and musicals); that says a lot. I can only compare it to a few other Broadway style musicals Ive seen (Tommy, Buddy-The Buddy Holly Story, Spamalot, and My Fair Lady), and or course, this tops them all...by far. I dont think I will ever see a better musical in my life. I am completely pleased with the show and cant think of anything that could have been done better. My rating: 6 out of 5 stars.