Theatre Critique; The Book of Mormon
On Tuesday September 20, the Broadway musical “The Book of Mormon” was performed in the Eugene O’Neill Theatre. The directors of the play are Casey Nicholaw and Trey Parker and the producer is Stuart Thompson. “The Book of Mormon” musical, was created by Trey Parker, Robert Lopez and Matt Stone. Trey Parker and Matt Stone are also the creators of the popular television show “South Park” and their experience in humor writing is evident in the lyrics and script of the musical.
The plot of “The Book of Mormon” revolves around two Mormon missionaries, Kevin Price and Arnold Cunningham, who are sent to Uganda by church leaders in Utah to spread the Mormon faith and convert the locals. The characters are foils of each other, with Elder Price being the cocky, confident, intelligent one and Elder Cunningham being very socially awkward and misunderstanding people’s jokes. During the song “You and Me (But Mostly Me)”, Elder Price can be seen and heard acting in an arrogant manner and ignoring the nuisance that is Elder Cunningham, who he ignores like a fly that keeps buzzing around him. Both men, despite their different personality traits, find ways to display enthusiastic commitment for their missionary work through lyrics in songs such as”Two By Two” and “I Believe”. Lyrics. One such line is sung by Elder Price in “Two by Two” where he sings, “The most important time of a Mormon kid's life is his mission, A chance to go out and help heal the world” whereas Elder Cunningham sings a line about being excited to visit Uganda because it’s in Africa, where the Lion King takes place.
The playwright used dialogue,lyrics and ironic plot twists to highlight the stupidity of the missionary movement. A voice from the sky tells the Elders who their missionary brother will be and where they are going, as if God himself was sending them off. Another such line is in the song “Two by Two” where the characters sing about their missionary work as “fighting for a cause but we're really really nice,” which displays the innocence of the young Elders, an oxymoron itself, who call themselves an “army of Jesus Christ” but are kind and not truly fighting for anything.
Other examples of this were manifested through the various events throughout the play and the juxtaposition of the dogmatism of the Mormons with the reality on the ground. Upon their arrival, the villagers ignored them because many of the people were dying of AIDs and famine hunger and were threatened of cannibalism by the local warlord. A gullible girl sings a song how she want’s to go to Salt Lake City, Utah, where Brigham Young University and the Mormon headquarters are located, because she was convinced by the missionaries that all her problems would be solved through conversion to Mormonism. Nabulungi describes her vision of Salt Lake City as heaven on earth in the song, “Sal Tlay Ka Siti” which takes the very Americanized city and turns into an African paradise of laughter and “waterfalls and unicorns flying”.
The plot continues to bring obstacles to the pair of Elders as they work to convert the natives to Mormonism. Through these challenges that the pair faced the playwrights show how ridiculous organized religion can be, as the natives ask so many questions, that Elder Cunningham makes up lies combining fiction and truth about Mormonism and America. Naively expecting to bring salvation to those in need, these men were completely unprepared to face the desperate living conditions of the natives, and the natives themselves had ideas of paradise instead of realistic lives.
The Book of Mormon musical satirizes the beliefs and practices of the followers of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, colloquially known as Mormons. The primary founding document of the LDS church. The life and death realities and the desperate circumstances in the African setting in which the story takes place helps exaggerate the disconnect between the Mormon doctrine and reality. The Mormon Church was funded by Brigham Young, a disciple of Joseph Smith. Joseph Smith was believed to have been a prophet to whom god revealed a third set of holy books, a sort of third testament, the first two being the Old Testament and the New Testament. Because they believe this prophesy to be a new word god spoke to humanity, Mormons believe they have a duty to share the true Christianity to the world. That is why evangelism and missionary work is fundamental aspect of the Mormon faith.
Inspiration for this play came from early experiences Trey Parker and Matt Stone had with Mormons in Colorado, where they were raised. Parker and Stone traveled with Robert Lopez, the third creator of the show, to Salt Lake City, Utah, where the LDS headquarters is located. They interviewed current and former missionaries for additional research into Mormon Culture.
I learned a lot through the message the playwright expressed throughout the play. The message that the playwright expressed at the end of the play is that having religion in a community unifies them, even if the religion is as ridiculous as the musical makes Mormonism seems to the audience. In my opinion, the theme of the play was not directly anti-religious. The message was uplifting and the writers used Mormonism as a front to highlight absurdities in life. The musical demonstrates the utility of an absurd story to get you through difficult and horrible parts of life. Even if religion is based on mythology and imagination, if it helps you overcome life's challenges, then by all means, have it and embrace it.
I was drawn into the story right away because of how the set reflected the elders hopes of where they would be sent for their missionary work. As each elder came on stage, a spotlight lit them up so each one seemed like an individual who had a unique reason for preaching Mormonism. Then, as all the Elders sang together about their trips, they became a unit who all believed in their mission. The lighting continued to assist the storyline while many different events were happening on stage in Uganda. The stage props, costumes and colorful lighting were flawless. The atmosphere of the theater helped the audience feel as if they were not merely watching the play, but rather, as if they were experiencing the events with the characters.
The music of the play made the musical fun and exciting to watch. The music in the United States had a very different tone to it and sounded contemporary. All of the music for the scenes in Uganda had a tribal tone with African beats and huge voice ranges, due to the females and males cast in Uganda rather than just the male elders.
Elder Price and Elder Cunningham, as the main characters were referred, were portrayed by Nic Rouleau and Christopher John O’Neil, respectively. They did an amazing job portraying these characters with Rouleau playing the arrogant and confident Elder Price and O’Neill doing an amazing job being the energetic, emotional Elder Cunningham. They performed very well and were able to engage the audience. O’Neill was able to deliver his lines at the perfect time for the humor to effectively come across. He was courageous and fearlessly invested in his expressive actions and expansive gestures. His face always had a natural smile, which I felt conveyed the playwright’s intention for the missionaries to remain innocent and likable. It would be hard to imagine in real life being anyone besides the character he played on stage. Rouleau, who played Kevin Price, was very good at improvising and reacting within a scene. I felt like he was able to be demonstrate a range of emotions on stage, considering how funny and outrageously he acted. Between the two lead actors, in my opinion, Mr. O’Neill stole the show and emphasized the satire of the show effectively.
The plot of “The Book of Mormon” revolves around two Mormon missionaries, Kevin Price and Arnold Cunningham, who are sent to Uganda by church leaders in Utah to spread the Mormon faith and convert the locals. The characters are foils of each other, with Elder Price being the cocky, confident, intelligent one and Elder Cunningham being very socially awkward and misunderstanding people’s jokes. During the song “You and Me (But Mostly Me)”, Elder Price can be seen and heard acting in an arrogant manner and ignoring the nuisance that is Elder Cunningham, who he ignores like a fly that keeps buzzing around him. Both men, despite their different personality traits, find ways to display enthusiastic commitment for their missionary work through lyrics in songs such as”Two By Two” and “I Believe”. Lyrics. One such line is sung by Elder Price in “Two by Two” where he sings, “The most important time of a Mormon kid's life is his mission, A chance to go out and help heal the world” whereas Elder Cunningham sings a line about being excited to visit Uganda because it’s in Africa, where the Lion King takes place.
The playwright used dialogue,lyrics and ironic plot twists to highlight the stupidity of the missionary movement. A voice from the sky tells the Elders who their missionary brother will be and where they are going, as if God himself was sending them off. Another such line is in the song “Two by Two” where the characters sing about their missionary work as “fighting for a cause but we're really really nice,” which displays the innocence of the young Elders, an oxymoron itself, who call themselves an “army of Jesus Christ” but are kind and not truly fighting for anything.
Other examples of this were manifested through the various events throughout the play and the juxtaposition of the dogmatism of the Mormons with the reality on the ground. Upon their arrival, the villagers ignored them because many of the people were dying of AIDs and famine hunger and were threatened of cannibalism by the local warlord. A gullible girl sings a song how she want’s to go to Salt Lake City, Utah, where Brigham Young University and the Mormon headquarters are located, because she was convinced by the missionaries that all her problems would be solved through conversion to Mormonism. Nabulungi describes her vision of Salt Lake City as heaven on earth in the song, “Sal Tlay Ka Siti” which takes the very Americanized city and turns into an African paradise of laughter and “waterfalls and unicorns flying”.
The plot continues to bring obstacles to the pair of Elders as they work to convert the natives to Mormonism. Through these challenges that the pair faced the playwrights show how ridiculous organized religion can be, as the natives ask so many questions, that Elder Cunningham makes up lies combining fiction and truth about Mormonism and America. Naively expecting to bring salvation to those in need, these men were completely unprepared to face the desperate living conditions of the natives, and the natives themselves had ideas of paradise instead of realistic lives.
The Book of Mormon musical satirizes the beliefs and practices of the followers of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, colloquially known as Mormons. The primary founding document of the LDS church. The life and death realities and the desperate circumstances in the African setting in which the story takes place helps exaggerate the disconnect between the Mormon doctrine and reality. The Mormon Church was funded by Brigham Young, a disciple of Joseph Smith. Joseph Smith was believed to have been a prophet to whom god revealed a third set of holy books, a sort of third testament, the first two being the Old Testament and the New Testament. Because they believe this prophesy to be a new word god spoke to humanity, Mormons believe they have a duty to share the true Christianity to the world. That is why evangelism and missionary work is fundamental aspect of the Mormon faith.
Inspiration for this play came from early experiences Trey Parker and Matt Stone had with Mormons in Colorado, where they were raised. Parker and Stone traveled with Robert Lopez, the third creator of the show, to Salt Lake City, Utah, where the LDS headquarters is located. They interviewed current and former missionaries for additional research into Mormon Culture.
I learned a lot through the message the playwright expressed throughout the play. The message that the playwright expressed at the end of the play is that having religion in a community unifies them, even if the religion is as ridiculous as the musical makes Mormonism seems to the audience. In my opinion, the theme of the play was not directly anti-religious. The message was uplifting and the writers used Mormonism as a front to highlight absurdities in life. The musical demonstrates the utility of an absurd story to get you through difficult and horrible parts of life. Even if religion is based on mythology and imagination, if it helps you overcome life's challenges, then by all means, have it and embrace it.
I was drawn into the story right away because of how the set reflected the elders hopes of where they would be sent for their missionary work. As each elder came on stage, a spotlight lit them up so each one seemed like an individual who had a unique reason for preaching Mormonism. Then, as all the Elders sang together about their trips, they became a unit who all believed in their mission. The lighting continued to assist the storyline while many different events were happening on stage in Uganda. The stage props, costumes and colorful lighting were flawless. The atmosphere of the theater helped the audience feel as if they were not merely watching the play, but rather, as if they were experiencing the events with the characters.
The music of the play made the musical fun and exciting to watch. The music in the United States had a very different tone to it and sounded contemporary. All of the music for the scenes in Uganda had a tribal tone with African beats and huge voice ranges, due to the females and males cast in Uganda rather than just the male elders.
Elder Price and Elder Cunningham, as the main characters were referred, were portrayed by Nic Rouleau and Christopher John O’Neil, respectively. They did an amazing job portraying these characters with Rouleau playing the arrogant and confident Elder Price and O’Neill doing an amazing job being the energetic, emotional Elder Cunningham. They performed very well and were able to engage the audience. O’Neill was able to deliver his lines at the perfect time for the humor to effectively come across. He was courageous and fearlessly invested in his expressive actions and expansive gestures. His face always had a natural smile, which I felt conveyed the playwright’s intention for the missionaries to remain innocent and likable. It would be hard to imagine in real life being anyone besides the character he played on stage. Rouleau, who played Kevin Price, was very good at improvising and reacting within a scene. I felt like he was able to be demonstrate a range of emotions on stage, considering how funny and outrageously he acted. Between the two lead actors, in my opinion, Mr. O’Neill stole the show and emphasized the satire of the show effectively.
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