Book Of Mormon FTW!

[furtech]

Saw Book of Mormon last night at the Pantages. Winner!



Those unfamiliar with the Mormon Church will see a very entertaining musical- songs you can hum (but probably shouldn't), great singing and acting, lots of humor. Those familiar with the Mormon Church will probably just die. Like the Weasels and Hyenas from Roger Rabbit.

For those familiar with the mockery and even-handed ridicule on South Park, BoM is just as skillfully devised. I even think many Mormons would find it amusing because it's so perky and enthusiastic. It's a kind of blasphemous Hope and Crosby buddy piece. I might go to see it again-- I think if I squinch my eyes a bit, I can totally see it as a long episode of South Park.

"I Believe" is a show-stopper (and I can't wait to hear it on Muzak) and "Hasa Diga Eebowai" is just...perfect. Especially these days.

Possibly the most surreal part of the show was in the Playbill:



The Mormon Church put 3 full page ads in the Playbill. Three. My favorite is "You've seen the play...now read the Book". Weird. The only negative to this is with so many extra ads, Playbill bumped the song list from the program. But hey-- I'm happy Playbill got extra ad-revenue. Good organization (check out PlaybillVault.com for an amazing archive!)

Comments

[frysco.livejournal.com]

Ah,religions and how they differ. :P

Book of Mormon the Musical - generates a 'measured' reaction by the religious group being parodied.

Innocence of Muslims film - generates a Fatwa against the persons who made it, and is used as the cause of riots across the Muslim world.

[martes.livejournal.com]

Well don't forget the Mormons are trying desperately to shake their image of a fringe cult and get accepted by mainstream America. The Muslims don't seem to care what anyone thinks of them.

Although I really think if Mainstream America heard more about the Mormon's more esoteric beliefs, they'd have a really hard time accepting anything.

[iisaw.livejournal.com]

Magic underwear... *snerk*

[furtech.livejournal.com]

BoM is parody in its finest form. The Mormon Church has made itself a target for satire because they have become so politically active in recent years. The Christian Church knows this well, having been the butt of many a joke/parody/cartoon/satire for ages because of their high-profile stances.

Honestly, Parker and Stone have mocked/parodied/satirized many institutions and beliefs I hold dear-- but they do it with such an even hand and with no (IMO) "meanness" that I laugh just as hard at their deconstructions of my world as I do with any of their targets.

The IoM film is an Evil Thing. I just smile at the Fatwa and the sudden, frightened backpeddling of the people behind the "movie". I feel awful for the actors and anyone who innocently was involved. All of those people work hard at their dream of working on movies (you think applying for jobs is depressing...try auditioning a hundred or more times a year and not getting cast). They took on this work in good faith-- they believed they were acting in a low-budget film. None had any idea that their dialogue would be re-recorded by the filmmakers and turned into a piece intentionally designed to insult Muslims and inflame tensions in the Middle East.

[okojosan.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I really feel for those actors who were duped into working on that stupid film. I hope no harm comes to them. :/

[c-eagle.livejournal.com]

You nailed it exactly, buddy.. :>

I tried watching that film too.. it's so amateurish and awful, I can't see how *anyone* could take it seriously... it's like a campy-awful home movie.. If they had their heads screwed on straight, they'd laugh it off like the reaction it deserves, ...then again some reporters have said they would rather embrace it as an excuse to wreak havoc.. twisted motivation... ;/


...Thanks for the review of the show also, Furtech! ^v^

[pogo101.livejournal.com]

Well, kudos to the LDS Church, at least, for showing the al-Qaeda types how to respond to criticism of one's religion: With a smile and a suggestion of a counter-argument, not with violence and demands for censorship.

[furtech.livejournal.com]

You know-- that's a great point. It's nice that the CoJCoLS has taken a, "If they give you lemons, make lemonade," attitude towards the show.

[ladyaxum.livejournal.com]

man i wish i could afford to go see it when it comes to SF... tickets are so expensive. I love the music from it!

[furtech.livejournal.com]

You might be able to find something on Goldstar (they will probably be off-center seats), especially if you can plan way ahead and get tix for a show later in the run.

But this is definitely worth the money. Great show!

[tori04.livejournal.com]

The photo drew my eye first as I scrolled down my friends page, and immediately an earworm of Magic Foot got started, which took my brain a second to even process the WHY of.

[furtech.livejournal.com]

Jared Gertner, the actor in the touring cast of BoM, was the one who replaced Fogler in the Broadway cast of 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee before taking on the role of Elder Cunningham (replacing Josh Gad on Broadway before joining the US tour). So yeah-- definite Magic Feet connection there!

[bladespark.livejournal.com]

Hee. This made me smile. :) (I'm Mormon myself. I haven't seen the show yet, but I really want to!) Though re. the discussion below, I think also part of the difference is that the Mormon Church is a relatively monolithic thing, it can give a single response to all issues which may not necessarily reflect the first instincts of all the members. I'm sure many individual Mormons are uncomfortable with this, but once "The Church" has come out with a stance, most of the members fall in line with it. (Though I differ from "The Church's" stance on a few things myself!) But anyhow, Islam isn't one thing, any more than Christianity is one thing, and individual members and smaller groups within it will react in a wide variety of ways. Don't forget that *most* Muslims haven't rioted or committed any acts of violence or hatred at all, it's just been a very few. And there are more Muslims than Mormons out there. Maybe if there were a billion or so Mormons, a few of them might have rioted over this.

[millencolinf0x.livejournal.com]

I keep hearing such great things about this one, even from people who don't normally enjoy plays.

The Mormon advertising in the playbill is humorous and unexpected! I wouldn't have thought that a religion would embrace this sort of thing.