The wildly entertaining and equally profane satirical musical “The Book of Mormon,” the product of Colorado’s “South Park” creators, is back for a third rousing run with a first-rate cast
Whether you’ve seen the hit before or fear it as somehow anti-religion, it’s worth another look.
Beyond raucous laughter, the audience clearly gets the message: Myth and metaphor are useful, and we humans need them. Same goes for religion — we crave the comfort and lessons of storytelling: “It was a bunch of made-up stuff, but it pointed to something bigger!”
The point is much bigger than knocking a particular faith. The clever work by sends up Americans as clueless in the wider world, knocks white people’s naivete about Africa and people of color in general and applies to anyone venturing beyond a fixed frame of reference.
Billy Harrigan Tighe gives an athletic, hyper-personable performance as Elder Price, the self-assured golden boy who longs for a pretty life, Orlando-style. A mission to Uganda, which is not “Lion King” territory, will throw him off his trajectory.
Standby Coby Getzug was endearing as Elder Cunningham, giving a convincingly nerdy air to the friendless second banana, a designated follower with an over-active imagination. His path can only steer upward, with help from pop-cultural touchstones.
Alexandra Ncube gives beautiful voice to the regularly mispronounced Nabulungi, the young African villager desperate to escape poverty, famine, AIDS and warlords threatening genital mutilation. She longs to venture to the exalted paradise — “Salt Lake City” — and nearly stops the show.
The tale embraces the tradition of the Broadway musical as an antidote to repression. The slick production numbers remain hilariously impactful, as individual, over-the-top flair sneaks out of the tightly regimented movements of the pack of Elders (“Turn It Off!”). choreography echoes the idea of characters yearning to express their identities while keeping strictly in line, enacting the push-pull of playing by the Book, so to speak, versus finding one’s inner hero.
The heroes’ journeys lead to a rewarding end, with help from Ewoks, Darth Vader and others whom the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints never imagined were part of official doctrine. (Hat tip to the Church for putting up with “Book of Mormon” all these years, not only tolerating the crass satire but advertising in the program. That respect for artistic license is admirable.)
The smash Broadway musical comedy, which won nine Tony Awards when it bowed in 2011, lives on — gaining wider relevance on multiple visits. “Book of Mormon” is still wickedly satirical in its take on this most American of religions but ultimately affectionate in its treatment of the Elders. More broadly, the show continues to open the eyes of anyone living with a Disney-fied Western world view.
Joanne Ostrow: 303-954-1830, jostrow@denverpost.com or twitter.com/ostrowdp
THE BOOK OF MORMON
Touring Broadway musical with book, music and lyrics by Trey Parker, Matt Stone and Robert Lopez. Co-directed by Parker and Casey Nicholaw. Starring Billy Harrigan Tighe, A.J. Holmes, Alexandra Ncube. Through Sept. 13. 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday; 2 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. Tickets available at denvercenter.org.
