THE BOOK OF MORMON – Princess Theatre, Melbourne.
Saturday 18 March 2017.
The Book of Mormon is the story of the journey of two young, just recently qualified, Mormons sent on their mission to spread the word of God to Uganda. On arrival they are met by a team of Mormon brothers already there but who have had no success in converting any of the locals. The locals are more concerned with aids, disease, famine, poverty and a War Lord whose name I cannot repeat here. Can the two new boys succeed where the others failed?
Written by South Park’s Trey Parker and Matt Stone, with musical composer/lyricist Robert Lopez, the musical has been running in New York since March 2011 and still playing to sold out audiences there.
Naturally, being written by Parker and Trey, you would expect it to be blasphemous and crude and it doesn’t disappoint in this department. It is not for the easily offended. However it had the audience laughing all the way through the production.
The trio of writers have produced a work of comic genius and a thoroughly entertaining piece of work. The sets are outstanding, the choreography superb, the costumes stunning and the songs catchy. There were times I cringed, but at the same time I was laughing hard.
While actors Ryan Bondy (from Canada) and A.J. Holmes were superb as the two new Mormon arrivals, it is Zahra Newman, playing the village chief’s daughter who delivers the best vocal performance of the evening.
By the end of its run in Melbourne more people are likely to have seen the musical than there are Mormons in Australia. Such is the popularity of this show.
A first class show that is hilarious, irrelevant and yes at times cringe worthy. However it is a gem of a show and I can’t wait to see it again.
Finally, how did the Mormons take to the show? Well apparently in the U.S.A they take out billboards and advertisements where it the show is playing with words like “The book is always better” and “You’ve seen the play now read the book”. Even in Melbourne the Mormons have taken out ads around the city. Who said they don’t have a sense of humour.
The show runs in Melbourne until July at the moment but tickets are getting hard to get. Be quick and go see it. You won’t be disappointed.
Review by Geoff Jenke
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