Review: The Book of Mormon

The Book of Mormon is every bit as profane, profound and insanely funny as you’d expect a play by the creators of South Park to be. Trey Parker and Matt Stone, with an assist from Robert Lopez (co-creator of Avenue Q), have delivered a divine musical comedy.

The story takes place at that time in every young male Mormon’s life when he begins his two-year mission. Two by two, these “elders” travel via bike to their assigned destinations to share the word and recruit members to the faith. The two elders at the center of this story (Elder Price and Elder Cunningham, played by Billy Harrigan Tighe and A.J. Holmes, respectively), don’t exactly get a plum assignment. They are sent to Uganda, which is nothing like Orlando, Fla., which Elder Price had prayed for and nothing at all like The Lion King, which Elder Cunningham had hoped.

In addition to satirizing Mormonism, the show does a number on any number of other belief systems. But that’s not all: The Book of Mormon savages the so-called “savages” of the host country, ripping African culture, AIDS, female genital mutilation, warlords and more—and it does so grossly, crudely—but hilariously.

The Book of Mormon is, for all intents and purposes, sold out, but a lottery for $25 tickets will be held starting two-and-a-half hours before each performance.