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| The Book of Mormon |
The Tony-winning The Book of Mormon may be one of the most inherently American musicals ever made. It is a detail that is hard to miss from the opening song "Hello!" where the cast is selling a "most amazing book." While it's a story that centers around religion, it may as well be the story of a profession even more American: the door-to-door salesman. Throughout the number, characters enter by ringing invisible doorknobs as the choir builds, occasionally throwing in comical asides within the catchy tune. It's a powerful tool, and one that makes this production at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts particularly exciting. It's a story that is plenty offensive, but it's also passionate to the idea of faith and selling a message. Thankfully the salesmen, or more appropriately Mormons, work well together and fill the show with enough razzle dazzle to sell even the biggest skeptic on this wonderful show.
On its surface, The Book of Mormon could appear vapid or even condescending to the Mormon faith. How could it not when there is an entire number dedicated to sinful repression ("Turn It Off") and the idea of white saviors ("I Am Africa")? But to judge the show solely on the text is to ignore the brilliance that lies underneath the white shirts and black ties. One has to go to the subtext to understand that the story isn't solely about faith being bad, but just that there is room for doubt, even by the most devout. It can be seen in Elder Price (Kevin Clay), whose dream mission is Orlando, Florida. It isn't because he believes it is populated with sin, but that it is a land of "Sea World, and Disney, and Putt-Putt golfing." It emphasizes a point otherwise barely recognized: the men on the mission to preach faith are teenagers, barely able to comprehend the world outside of the pop culture that's been sold to them. This is most evident in "Two by Two" when Elder Price and Elder Cunningham (Jacob Ben-Shmuel) get assigned to Uganda, and their only reference point is The Lion King.
Much like how these Mormons are selling a faith to the Ugandans, pop culture references are also used as currency. Price and Cunningham have probably never been outside of the United States, and thus only know Africa as one stereotyped land of tribal chanting and Tiki masks. The culture shock that comes with the song of doubt, "Hasa Diga Eebowai" is comical in part because of how radical it is to the faith. However, it presents a new test of faith: how do you convince Ugandans to have faith when "80% of us have AIDS"? As much as the musical falls into stereotypes, it becomes ingenious with how it uses them. Without plagiarizing, many of the African songs recollect the Broadway rendition of The Lion King, which helps to demystify the Americanized view of the continent with a darker, more profane text where infestation of many forms makes people miserable. It's all shocking, but only helps to raise the idea of doubt.
This is a detail that even plays into the music, which is a loving riff on classic Broadway melodies. With the Mormons forced to behave in unison, the idea of song and dance becomes its own form of character progression. As Elder Price falls further into doubt, he falls out of the various chorus lines and dance numbers and chooses to pout. There's a notice that Broadway numbers can't cure everything, and itself reflecting doubt of character. The style mixes up throughout the show, as "All-American Prophet" sells the Mormon faith through a jaunty revival number. It features comedy alluding to Jesus being American, itself reflecting how limited the young Mormons' world view is. They are dedicated to the faith, but have no real life context for what they're saying. It's why "I Believe" may be a passionate ballad, but the references to Jesus living on his own planet come across as absurd. Still, Price is so earnest as he sings that it's hard not to understand that he is young, and hopefully his attitude will change in time.
The story is about selling a message, and it's inevitably done through the works that unite Americans, such as Star Wars, "The Hobbit," and the O.J. Simpson trial. These are all referenced in ways somehow related to faith, and they all give a better sense of how warped American world views are. They have been sold something altered, and it's comical to see it paired with the Ugandan set pieces where misery and death from a war lord General (Tyrone L. Robinson) take higher precedent. The selling of faith becomes a form of many things, including escapism through a belief in a better world ("Sal Tlay Ka Siti"). It also isolates those within the faith, as seen through Price's personal struggle to grapple with faith after witnessing a brutal murder. Much like the falsity of the pop culture references, it causes Price to think about what he's been forced to sell in the book of Mormon.
Besides the story pushing profanity in catchy tunes to an all time high, it's somehow a story that satirizes faith not only in religion, but in pop culture and Broadway through knowing winks at a variety of sources. It's about the joy of consumerism, and how selling a message can change people's lives, even if they skewer it in their own perverse ways. It somehow manages to be critical of its characters while also understands why they need faith and each other. It's a story that has heart, even during its most absurd points - of which come to full fruition in the insanely inaccurate "Joseph Smith American Moses" late in the second half. It's a story that is likely to appall at points, but much like creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone's TV series South Park, it works because it's got more to say than jokes about dysentery.
The Book of Mormon is an incredible show, in part because of how shocking its story can be. However, it's a legitimate Broadway show in how it uses song and dance to hide jokes and asides that inform character, including an exploration of the medium's rich history of entertaining audiences. Much like the titular book, it's something that's been song for centuries to change everyone's lives. Having it juxtaposed against the harsh realities of famine and war lords is a novel premise that The Book of Mormon uses to full effect. It's powerful, heartfelt, and feels contemporary in a way that may seem dated in several decades, but definitely captures the early 21st century American culture better than any musical likely will. It may cause you to do spit takes several times per song, but those will be the best spit takes that you ever do.
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