Image Courtesy of Joan MarcusThe Book of Mormon
Playing: September 13th to 18th (Each show starts at 8:00 p.m. except for Sunday which starts at 7:30 p.m. in addition to matinees on the weekend at 2:00 p.m.)
Where: Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium
Book, Music, and Lyrics by: Trey Parker, Robert Lopez, and Matt Stone
Starring: Ryan Bondy, Cody Jamison, and Candace Quarrels
Price: With the pre-show Student Rush Ticket Policy, 20 tickets are available per show for $25 per ticket. Student Rush Tickets will be available first come first served to those who show valid student ID at the Jubilee box office two hours before each performance. Tickets also available online.
Yoda, Hitler, a skeleton dressed as a Starbucks cup, and a flamboyant, Southern-accented Jesus walk into a room. It’s not the start of a bad joke — it’s The Book of Mormon.
From September 13 to 18, the Tony Award winning play by “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, takes stage at the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium. In it, two eager Mormon recruits, Elder Price, the egotistical overachiever, and Elder Cunningham, a helium-filled Seth Rogan type (with the energy of someone who’s just shotgunned five energy drinks), embark on a mission to Uganda to spread the word of the Church of the Latter Day Saints. Controversial topics become the butt of every joke and the high note of each musical number. It’s sure to leave audiences feeling offended and guilty after each laugh — but it all works.
From the opening number “Hello!” it’s hard not to be intrigued. The doorbell pressing, cheesy-grinning, overzealous, Mormon recruits captivate with the eagerness of their performances. But this is only the start of the fun and is light fare compared to the depravity that follows.
The “Spooky Mormon Hell Dream” sequence takes audience members on a ride into Mordor — I mean a fiery abyss — where they’re greeted with dancing devils, of course, but also the likes of Jeffery Dahmer, Hitler, Genghis Khan, and Johnnie Cochran. Yes, you read that right.
The Book of Mormon capitalizes on the fact that it’s a musical in order to get away with the onslaught of offensive jokes, testing the waters continuously over its two and a half hour run time. As an audience member, can you really be angry about the performers poking fun at AIDS if it’s paired with smiling faces, synchronized dancing, and cheery, harmonious voices? You can try, but it’s difficult when the rest of the audience is roaring with laughter and awarding each moment of tastelessness with thunderous applause.
Admittedly, joking about guerrillas, female genital mutilation in Africa, homosexuality, and repeating “I have maggots in my scrotum” might not necessarily be taken well by everyone. I found myself covering my mouth in shock that such topics could be incorporated into a comedic musical. And what about the baptism scene? I was waiting for them to sing a rendition of Madonna’s “Like a Virgin” — Madonna might be the only person who would predict a baptism could be analogous to sex.
I was thankful, however, that no children nor my grandfather were in the audience. I don’t know how well the staged religious orgy and “Fuck you God” song would have been received otherwise. But for the most part, the audience seemed to enjoy the sinful display, especially the two guys who dressed the part, wearing white, short-sleeve, button-down shirts with black ties and name tags that read some variation of the Elder family.
Playing up religious and racial stereotypes and mixing them with an impressive cast, production, visuals and numerous set designs, creates nothing shy of an entertaining and shock-filled evening. It’s the details in the airport set with the Airfrica Airlines sign and display of neck pillows, the village with the torn drapery, huts, and DIY clothes line, the “texting” device (aka a typewriter), pink sequence vests, and “golden plates” that add character to the already eccentric musical.
If you’re a traditionalist, religious, black, white, young, female, gay, or lesbian, chances are you’ll be offended. But you’ll also be trying to control your laughter. That’s the true work of genius you’ll witness during The Book of Mormon — if you feeling uncomfortable or offended, just remember your cool little Mormon trick and “Turn it Off.”
