So, let’s see here.
It’s vulgar. It’s sacrilegious. It’s borderline racist. Its satire is biting. It’s scatalogical. It’s extremely puerile. One character’s name is so obscene it can’t even be printed in the program. It’s massively politically incorrect.
Oh, and one more thing: It’s the funniest show you will see this season.
Less than 16 months ago, the Broadway musical "The Book of Mormon" played to full houses at the Marcus Center – and now it’s back, as the website says, "by popular demand." And who is to argue with this incredibly successful musical that won nine Tony Awards after its debut in 2011.
The house was packed again as the touring Equity cast, the second national tour of the show, told a story that was part Holy Roller, part eighth grade boys with cigarettes in an alley near your house, part "watch this double entendre" and part cocktail of Red Bull, Rockstar, Monster, Gatorade and a maybe even a garnish of cocaine.
Forget the story for a moment and just relish in being able to see a Big Broadway Musical. This show has big production numbers, big dancing, big singing, big songs and big laughs. It’s a spectacle that takes your breath away as you watch these talents move about the stage.
The book for "Mormon" tells the story of two young missionaries, Elder Price (Gabe Gibbs) and Elder Cunningham (Cody Jamison Strand), who have just graduated from the missionary school in Utah. They have been sent to Uganda to entice and convince the natives to join the Church of the Later Day Saints.
Now, Price and Cunningham are two of the whitest people you’ve ever seen, and the culture shock – both for the Africans who live in the village and the missionaries – is fodder for more racist jokes than in all the "Amos 'n' Andy" episodes that ever aired.
Both Gibbs and Strand have joined the tour directly from the Broadway show and couldn’t be more different. Gibbs is skinny, strait-laced, well groomed and graceful. Strand is Chris Farley on steroids. He is the lonely boy, searching for some kind of meaning in a life that before this had been based on his imagination that allows him to tell lies.
Cunningham falls for Nabulungi (a spectacular Candace Quarrels), the lovely daughter of the village chief. One of the running gags through the show is the way Cunningham keeps calling Nabulungi something other than her name, including Nabisco, Nacho Cheese, Jon Bon Jovi, Neosporin, Nagasaki, Nancy Pelosi, Netflix, Neutrogena and Newt Gingrich. See what I mean?
Cunningham and Nabulungi combine for just about the funniest number in the show. She has agreed to be baptized, and Cunningham has absolutely no idea how to go about it – but is eager nonetheless.
And so, with sexual innuendo pouring from each of them, they sing. Close your eyes and think of a short fat guy and a beautiful black woman each feeling the sexual heat.
Cunningham:
I'm about to do it for the first time.
And I'm gonna do it with a girl!
A special girl-
Who makes my heart kind of flutter-
Makes my eyes kind of blur-
I can't believe I'm about
To baptize her!Nabulungi:
He will baptize me!
He will hold me in his arms,
And he will baptize me!
Right in front of everyone
And it will set me free-
When he looks into my eyes.
And he sees just how much
I love being baptized.
That’s just a sample of the kind of music and vulgar humor you'll find at "The Book of Mormon." Tickets are hard to come by, but they are available and it's worth seeing this production.
"Book of Mormon" runs through Sunday and information on tickets and showtimes is available here.
With a history in Milwaukee stretching back decades, Dave tries to bring a unique perspective to his writing, whether it's sports, politics, theater or any other issue.
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