Review: The Book of Mormon

After many years of missing out on The Book of Mormon, I finally got to see it this past weekend. My husband and I saw it in honor of his birthday. Thankfully, he loved the entire show. My opinion of the show is a bit more complex, so I’m sharing my thoughts here.

I will start this off by saying that the show is very entertaining and a fun way to spend an afternoon (or evening). There is more music than there is dialogue, which is always great in my book. There are some big show-stopper numbers that will end up getting stuck in your head for days after seeing it. The songs weren’t listed in the program, which I thought was kind of strange. Especially since I didn’t understand one of them until a little bit later in the show. And some of them sound similar to each other. They have some catchy tunes, but it will take a while for me to learn the words. (I went into the show only knowing a few of the songs, if that.) I enjoyed the song “Turn it Off.”  And “Making Things Up Again” was great too, even though I kept thinking of the Randy Rainbow parody.

The acting is great. The two lead actors had a lot of energy and put their all into the role. Their comedic timing worked well too. The cast worked well together and no one came off as embarrassed when they had to say some of the more raunchy or offensive lines. They all had great singing lines and did well with the complex choreography. I enjoyed watching them perform. There weren't any celebrities in the show, but that's okay. I could just enjoy it for what it was worth and focus on the characters and story.

Photo of Kevin Clay (Elder Price) and
Connor Peirson (Elder Cunningham) from GramUnion

The scenery is fantastic. They could turn the stage from an airport into an African village and then into a “Spooky Mormon Hell.” Most of the costumes are men wearing white shirts, black pants, and black ties, but the costumes of the villagers emphasize their personalities.

Photo credit: Playbill

Having said that, here’s where my opinion differed from my husband’s. The other night, I heard my husband telling someone that I was laughing so hard throughout the show. The problem is, I wasn’t. I went to the show with very high expectations of hilarity. I used to watch South Park all the time (and was in tears from the movie) and have also seen Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s other movies, which were really funny. And everyone who had seen The Book of Mormon before me was saying how hilarious it was (albeit inappropriate and offensive, which I was prepared for anyway) and how they couldn’t stop laughing the entire time. So I went in ready to laugh my tuchus off. And I did laugh, but only some mild snickers for the most part. It almost felt like I was laughing because everyone else was. Like how a laugh track in a sitcom would make me laugh even if I personally didn’t find something that funny. Please bear in mind that I have a really good sense of humor. I love to laugh whenever possible and look for the funny in everything I can. (I especially need to do that nowadays, and thankfully social media delivers.) I laughed the entire time from Avenue Q and that’s just as offensive and inappropriate. I love when something makes me laugh so hard that I’m doubled over in tears, but The Book of Mormon never got me to that point. I even asked in a theater fan group on Facebook if there was something wrong with me or if the laugh factor was just really hyped up. I got a mix of answers, but I felt better knowing I wasn’t the only person who didn’t laugh super hard the whole way through the show.

This is not to say that you won’t end up in bouts of hysterical laughter. No two theatergoers are alike! This is just how I felt about the show and there could be a bunch of contributing factors. Sometimes just the hype itself is enough, like being told I am going to laugh when I have no idea what I’m going into (this also happened with The Hangover and Bridesmaids). As mentioned before, I don’t think that the offensiveness was an issue. I’ve laughed at many an offensive joke. Almost all of Movie 43 had me rolling on the floor in tears and I still laugh just thinking about it. Perhaps the story was over my head because I’m not as familiar with the background of other religions. (That didn’t stop my husband from laughing though.) Who knows why I wasn’t roaring with laughter?!? Please know that the musical is funny and that’s the intention. Everyone just has different definitions of what constitutes “hilarious.” There was one part toward the end that I did think was really clever and funny, but even that tapered off for me after a bit.

Anyhow, if you are planning to see The Book of Mormon, you should. Don’t let my inability to snort-laugh keep you from it. I am in the minority out of the billions of people who thought it was the funniest thing they’ve ever seen. Just be prepared that there is a lot of dirty language and R-rated humor. I definitely would not let my kids see this until they’re adults and can go on their own (since it would be too awkward to see it with them).