-- By Tom Phillips
Well, we finally did it. After years of my staring at the stratospheric ticket prices for "The Book of Mormon" on Broadway, the cost came down a bit, so in these latter days I splurged $300 on two tickets for our 40th wedding anniversary.
I'll refrain from a review, because it's already been endlessly reported that this is a great show, a hilarious send-up of the Mormon religion with dazzling song and dance numbers, a tribute to the young performers from everywhere who keep Broadway bursting with theatrical talent. My favorite song was "We Are Africa!" performed by an all-white, clean-cut corps of Mormon missionaries in a fictional version of Uganda.
Still, what I really loved about the show is that it aims its sharpest satire not at religion but at the real enemy of the truth -- the evil empire of Walt Disney. Many people are not aware of the extent to which Disney has taken over Broadway theater, turning it into a kind of Disney World in Gotham. Disney's corporate creative department churns out plastic productions and formulaic sequels for the tourist trade -- reducing classics like "Mary Poppins" or "Beauty and the Beast" to the tritest of thoughts and the most obvious emotions. If this is what people are taking home, theater has lost its function of renewing the mind.
"The Book of Mormon" fights back -- with a foul-mouthed, genuinely obnoxious, actually intelligent show. It centers on two young Mormon missionaries -- Elder Price, an ambitious all-American type who stifles his doubts about the outlandish beliefs of his church, and prays to be sent to his dream destination -- Orlando! -- and Elder Cunningham, a nerdy loser who troubles the Mormon authorities by "making things up" instead of following their scripts. He's just using his imagination, he pleads, to no avail.
Instead of Orlando, they are assigned to a failed Mormon mission in Africa. After his initial disappointment Elder Price is cheered by the support of his all-American family, and a rousing sendoff from an African-American neighbor in a costume copied from the Disney hit "The Lion King." Elder Price vows to wow the church and the world with unprecedented success in baptizing Africans -- but is shocked on arrival to learn that Uganda is nothing like "The Lion King!" In fact the villagers have an obscene variation on a song from that show, with lyrics translated as "Fuck you, God!" (This is nothing like Uganda, either.. but it does the trick.) Elder Price resumes whining for a transfer to Orlando, out of Africa and away from his loser roommate. But the church refuses.
Without spoiling the story, let's just report that Elder Cunningham's imagination proves to be the key to unprecedented success, and Elder Price winds up idolizing him. The message is clear: "Fuck you, Disney!"
And let all theater people say -- Amen.
-- Copyright 2019 by Tom Phillips
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| "We Are Africa!" |
I'll refrain from a review, because it's already been endlessly reported that this is a great show, a hilarious send-up of the Mormon religion with dazzling song and dance numbers, a tribute to the young performers from everywhere who keep Broadway bursting with theatrical talent. My favorite song was "We Are Africa!" performed by an all-white, clean-cut corps of Mormon missionaries in a fictional version of Uganda.
Still, what I really loved about the show is that it aims its sharpest satire not at religion but at the real enemy of the truth -- the evil empire of Walt Disney. Many people are not aware of the extent to which Disney has taken over Broadway theater, turning it into a kind of Disney World in Gotham. Disney's corporate creative department churns out plastic productions and formulaic sequels for the tourist trade -- reducing classics like "Mary Poppins" or "Beauty and the Beast" to the tritest of thoughts and the most obvious emotions. If this is what people are taking home, theater has lost its function of renewing the mind.
"The Book of Mormon" fights back -- with a foul-mouthed, genuinely obnoxious, actually intelligent show. It centers on two young Mormon missionaries -- Elder Price, an ambitious all-American type who stifles his doubts about the outlandish beliefs of his church, and prays to be sent to his dream destination -- Orlando! -- and Elder Cunningham, a nerdy loser who troubles the Mormon authorities by "making things up" instead of following their scripts. He's just using his imagination, he pleads, to no avail.
Instead of Orlando, they are assigned to a failed Mormon mission in Africa. After his initial disappointment Elder Price is cheered by the support of his all-American family, and a rousing sendoff from an African-American neighbor in a costume copied from the Disney hit "The Lion King." Elder Price vows to wow the church and the world with unprecedented success in baptizing Africans -- but is shocked on arrival to learn that Uganda is nothing like "The Lion King!" In fact the villagers have an obscene variation on a song from that show, with lyrics translated as "Fuck you, God!" (This is nothing like Uganda, either.. but it does the trick.) Elder Price resumes whining for a transfer to Orlando, out of Africa and away from his loser roommate. But the church refuses.
Without spoiling the story, let's just report that Elder Cunningham's imagination proves to be the key to unprecedented success, and Elder Price winds up idolizing him. The message is clear: "Fuck you, Disney!"
And let all theater people say -- Amen.
-- Copyright 2019 by Tom Phillips
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