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Films on the to-do list

  • Armageddon Time
  • Black Widow
  • Chimes at Midnight
  • The Killing of a Sacred Deer
  • Last Christmas
  • Remember Sunday
  • Shazam! 2
  • Thor: Love and Thunder
  • Spy Guys

The Book of Mormon (West End)

WHAT: The Book of Mormon
WHERE: The Prince of Wales Theatre, London
WHEN: 7 October 2013

Hello! My name is Elder Price, and I would like to share with you this most amazing book …

So begins the Tony Award-winning comedy musical The Book of Mormon, which opened in the West End earlier this year … and was completely sold out for several months. As we were going down to London, we checked to see if we could get tickets, and there were luckily a few left.

The musical was created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone (South Park) and Robert Lopez (Avenue Q), and we’ve had the US soundtrack for a while now. The soundtrack is catchy, funny … but the musical is so much better. Really, it exceeded our expectations by a lot. What the soundtrack alone fails to put across (aside from all the other dialogue, obviously) are the facial expressions of the actors.

As for the story, we have the ambitious Elder Price (Gavin Creel), who wants to be sent to Orlando, Florida, for his mission. After being paired up with the lovably daft Elder Cunningham (I believe the part was played by Daniel Buckley on the night), the two get their mission: it’s not exactly Disneyland … it’s Uganda. The African village is terrorised by the General (Chris Jarman), suffering from AIDS and famine, poverty-stricken … and the Mormons already there have not exactly made any progress with converting the villagers, who have bigger worries than religion. Can the arrival of the two naive new Elders possibly shake things up?

Also starring Alexia Khadime as Nabulungi, Giles Terera as Mafala Hatimbi, Stephen Ashfield as Elder McKinley/Moroni, and Haydn Oakley as Price’s Dad/Joseph Smith/Mission President, et al.

First off, it’s from the creators of South Park, with one of the co-creators of Avenue Q, so let’s just say it’s not a show if you hate four-letter words. If you’re also very much into religion (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in particular, but that goes without saying), this really isn’t the show for you. If, on the other hand, you find religious satire funny, go for it. It’s an absolute hoot, and you’ll be in stitches. If you have listened to the soundtrack and didn’t see what all the fuss was about, trust me, the show is so much better than the soundtrack!

5 out of 5 name tags.

Traxy

An easily distracted and over-excited introvert who never learns to go to bed at a reasonable time. Enjoys traveling (when there's not a plague on), and taking photos of European architecture. Cares for cats, good coffee and Boardwalk Empire. A child of her time, she did media studies in school and still can't decide what she wants to be when she grows up.

5 thoughts on “The Book of Mormon (West End)

  1. I saw this show on Broadway. At first, I was hating it, and then it just gripped me and I let myself be carried away by it. Was one of the most memorable theater experiences of my life. It’s irreverent as can be, a little gross – but really laugh out loud funny, hysterical.

      1. i knew almost nothing about it when I went other than it was supposed to be great and was written by the South Park people. Once I got passed the grossness, I was all in.

  2. Hmm. I wouldn’t count “people who are into religion” out of the audience for this show. I have a lot of pastor friends who loved it! I myself thought it was smart, well-paced, well written, and had lots of moments to make you think. Lots of religious people enjoy religious satire, and historically some of the most noted authors of religious satire have been — religious people!

    1. Well, there you go! Proof that you shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover! 🙂

      As I’m not into Christianity and all of its offshoots, I can only go by what I’ve noticed by those who ARE, which is generally that heavy swearing and South Parkian crudeness are big no-nos. But maybe the people I’m thinking of are more the evangelical Christian kind, and they seem less relaxed about things in general. Which then would make me wonder why they’d be reading this blog in the first place! ;D

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