I never turn down a chance to be Bloggity’s theatrical stand-in. When he offered the chance to see and write about Broadway Across Canada tour of The Book of Mormon, I jumped at the chance.
It wasn’t my first time seeing the show (I saw a previous Broadway Across Canada tour here in Calgary and saw the production on Broadway in New York) and it still managed to make me laugh out load so hard my throat hurt and drop my jaw in shock.The cast was outstanding and the quality of the production has been consistent in every iteration I’ve seen – really demonstrates the level of care that the creative team continues to pour into the show to keep it top notch. Crazy enough, that doesn’t always happen, especially for dusty old touring productions. The audience laughed hard, out loud, the entire time. With the possible exception of The Rocky Horror Picture Show or Avenue Q, I can’t think of another musical that inspires that kind of riotous energy in an audience. It was straight up fun.
Truly deserving of the long ticket lines, media hype and Tony Awards – this show has everything: tap dancing, romance, demon Starbucks, lullabies, racism, and Jeffery Dahmer… (this is all true by the way).
Actually, it follows the journeys of two young, ernest Mormon missionaries on a challenging mission in Uganda to do ‘something incredible’ and learn the value of friendship. It’s a tight, well-tuned show with one A+ number after another. The hours flew by.
Let’s just be clear that this show is not Disney on Ice. Prepare to laugh and gasp. Mormons are not the butt of the joke, humans are (the Mormon church actually took out an ad in the program). If you’re capable of laughing at yourself and checking your propriety at the door, you’ll be in for a really fun night. A delicious cocktail of jaw-dropping humour from the likes of South Park or Team America, dazzling kick-lined chorus numbers from The Producers, and bromance tales like The Odd Couple. Act 1 locates ‘the line’, dances us to it, and flirts with it. In Act 2, they blow it up with a stick of dynamite. It’s worth the pay off.
Maybe don’t bring your mom.
Thank to you Broadway Across Canada for the invitation! Mike, call me when Hamilton rolls through, and we’ll do this again?
And hey – if you’re a student, check out Broadway Across Canada’s student rush program for this show.
